Maddalena Visconti

Maddalena Visconti (1366 – 17 July 1404) was a daughter of Bernabò Visconti and his wife Beatrice Regina della Scala. Maddalena was Duchess of Bavaria-Landshut by her marriage to Frederick, Duke of Bavaria. Family Maddalena was born in Milan and was the twelfth of seventeen children born to her parents. Maddalena's maternal grandparents were Mastino II della Scala and his wife Taddea da Carrara. Her paternal grandparents were Stefano Visconti and his wife Valentina Doria. Her father Bernabò was a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the Church. He seized the papal city of Bologna, rejected the Pope and his authority, confiscated ecclesiastical property, and forbade any of his subjects to have any dealings with the Curia. He was excommunicated as a heretic in 1363 by Pope Urban V, who preached crusade against him. When Bernabò was in one of his frequent rages, only her mother Beatrice Regina was able to approach him.