CARLO GESUALDO
Aug 31, 2018 · 7 min read

When Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa near Naples, had his wife and her lover murdered in bed together in 1590, the scandal and the crime became widely known and much written about. Sophisticated society in Italy, at that time, certainly had room for talented and independent-minded women, especially in musical circles. But they lived in what was still, essentially, a patriarchal world. Accordingly, Gesualdo’s extreme response to marital betrayal was regarded…

