Regency and Death
When Gian Galeazzo died of a fever on 3 September 1402, Caterina became Regent for her son Gian Maria who was fourteen years old. The Duchy was riven by strife and numerous revolts as rival factions between Gian Galeazzo's legitimate and illegitimate heirs contested for land and power during her regency. Caterina's faction was led by Francesco Barbavara, Count of Valsesia, and a member of the regency council. The faction led by her enemy, the condottiero Facino Cane, however prevailed; thus he, along with the illegitimate sons of Gian Galeazzo, created doubts about Caterina's loyalty in her son's mind. Convinced of his mother's treachery, Gian Maria had Caterina arrested on 18 August 1404 and imprisoned in her own castle of Monza, where she died on 17 October 1404, allegedly of poisoning. She was about forty-three years old.
Her son Gian Maria was assassinated in 1412 by a group of Milanese Ghibellines. Caterina's second son Filippo Maria succeeded him as Duke of Milan.
Read more about this topic: Caterina Visconti
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“If society gives up the right to impose the death penalty, then self help will appear again and personal vendettas will be around the corner.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)