Parisina Malatesta

Laura Malatesta (140421 May 1425), better known as Parisina Malatesta, was an Italian marchioness. She was the daughter of Andrea Malatesta, lord of Cesena, and his second wife, Lucrezia Ordelaffi. She had an affair with her illegitimate stepson, Ugo d'Este, and both were beheaded by her husband, Marquis Niccolò III d'Este of Ferrara. Edward Gibbon acquainted English readers with the story in 1796, after which Lord Byron wrote the poem Parisina, which was followed by operas of the same name by Donizetti and Mascagni. Biography Parisina was only a few days old when her mother was poisoned by her father, Cecco Ordelaffi. She grew up in the court of her uncle, Carlo Malatesta, in Rimini.