02863cam a22003373u 4500 77395 UtSlPG 20260610134807.0 m cr n 260607r20251861utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d UtSlPG fr iso639-1 BX Chasles, Philarète, 1798-1873 Virginie de Leyva Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg, 2025 1 online resource : multiple file formats text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Release date is 2025-12-03 Laurent Vogel (This file was produced from images generously made available by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica)) "Virginie de Leyva" by Philarète Chasles is a historical account written in the mid-19th century. Drawing on original legal records, it reconstructs the scandal of the Signora di Monza—Sister Virginia Maria—an aristocrat forced into vows in early seventeenth-century Lombardy, and the web of passion, crime, and clerical casuistry that followed. Centered on Virginia, the Machiavellian neighbor Osio, and the corrupt confessor Arrighone, it unfolds against Spanish-ruled Italy. The work uses this case to probe what civilization and morality mean beneath polished forms and pious rhetoric. The opening of the work dedicates the narrative to Thackeray, poses sharp questions about true civilization versus empty forms, and invokes Fénelon to argue that moral life must grow from the inner soul, not external discipline. Chasles then introduces the scholar Dandolo, secluded in the Apennines and mining archives, whose discoveries lead to the Monza trial; he situates the story in an Italy made decadent by Spanish domination, baroque taste, and social servility. The narrative sketches Virginia’s lineage and forced profession at thirteen, her beauty and seigneurial power, the lax convent culture, the casuist guidance of Arrighone, and the proximity of the adroit Osio. It proceeds to Cardinal Federico Borromeo’s discreet visit and Virginia’s audacious demand to marry, followed by her removal to Milan, the nocturnal flight of two nuns and the violent Lambro assaults that trigger public scandal, apathetic bystanders, and the first interrogations—signaling the broader exposure of justice, power, and moral decay that the case will reveal. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Originally published: Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1861 Leyva, Virginia Maria de, 1575-1650 Monasticism and religious orders for women Convents -- Italy https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5831417q https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/77395 118115 118115