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(1 of 3) by Darren Peterson Ital334, Prof. Barbara Nucci, May 1999 |
A Chronology
of
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Articles
Baths of Baiae; Observations and Inferences The Casamari Abbey Christianity- The First 400 Years Agriculture in the Roman Empire Pope Julius II Fonseca The Parthenopean Republic |
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| Eleonora’s
father, Don Clemente Henriquez de Fonseca Pimentel Chaves was born in Beja,
Portugal in 1723. In 1750 he immigrated to Rome where he met
Caterina Lopez de Leon who was destined to become his wife and bear him
a daughter.(Macciocchi, 27) Eleonora
Pimentel Fonseca was born in Rome on the 13th of January, 1752.(Une,
Online)
The family that she was born into was part of the aristocracy. However, in addition to being noble and cultured her family also had a tendency to rebel against the prevailing political dogma. (Macciocchi, 30) Eleonora would not only inherit these traits, she would multiply them 10 fold. I don’t think that Eleonora, or anyone else for that matter, had any idea of where destiny would lead her. Sometime near 1760 Don Clemente Henriquez de Fonseca Pimentel Chaves made the announcement that the family was to move to Naples where the Bourbons reigned (Macciocchi, 41). The exact year is something of a mystery to me due to the fact that I have two conflicting sources. (Une, Online) claims that it was in 1761 while (Macciocchi, 41) places it in 1760. Eleonora spent her teenage years enriching herself through education. She learned Latin, Greek, Italian, French, English and perfected her native Portuguese. She completed her lingual arsenal with the addition of the Neapolitan dialect.(Une, Online) The best professors were hired and Eleonora’s family ensured that she kept company with only those who were able to appreciate and stimulate her intellect. In addition to being multi-lingual she was also interested in science, philosophy and the theory of the democratic government. The ideals of the French revolution served to ignite Eleonora’s passion. She was beginning to become conscious of the plight of the less fortunate and she found herself compelled to work for the well being of the people and national freedom.(Une, Online) The next major event in her life was her marriage to Marquis of Fonseca in 1784(Barnhart, 1588) That date is disputed by Serge Kollwelter who places her wedding in 1778. (Une, Online) The marriage produced one child; a boy that was named Francesco. Sadly though, the baby lived only eight months before falling victim to a fatal epidemic. Eleonora’s marriage was not a happy one. After six (or ten -- depending on the beginning date) years of struggle Don Clemente de Fonseca, Eleonora’s father, requested that she be released from the ties of matrimony. (Une, Online)
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