Beatrice d’Este is the Duchess of Milan in the Italian arc of Invisible Cities, pregnant by Graz’zt — who is also her husband, Ludovico il Moro — with a son destined to be “emperor of the world”.
| Type | Character (duchess) |
| House | Este of Ferrara |
| Spouse | Ludovico il Moro / Graz’zt |
| Spanish entry | Beatrice d’Este |
Description
Of the house of Ferrara, one of the weightiest families in Italy though not among the five powers that divided the spheres of influence. She is held to be the greatest beauty and the most graceful of all; after the alliances with Florence she married the duke, brought luster to his court, and some associate her with the rise of the arts.
At five months of pregnancy she appears marked and stained by Graz’zt: tail, scourge, life-draining. She mentally dominates whoever looks at her and hunts desires. “The son will be born to rule.” Her words: “It was a very good fuck. I will never regret the son born of my womb: he will be emperor of the world.”
Her maid Celestina, a red-haired girl, sweet and lethal, uses poisons and attacks from behind.
Fate
The source has her throat cut in childbirth by Melania the assassin — “the woman born of the dead” — whom the dead woman herself names. Some echoes also identify her as host of Malcantete, queen of the succubi and intimate enemy of Graz’zt.
Open questions
- The outcome of the final fight against her, in nocturnal Milan, is not recorded.
See also
- Caterina Sforza — the other great lady of the Milanese-Imolese arc