Vittoria Accoramboni, Duchess of Bracciano (15 February 155722 December 1585) was an Italian noblewoman. Her life became the basis for John Webster's play The White Devil, several novels, and a novella by Stendhal.
Biography
She was born in Gubbio in Umbria, Papal States, the tenth child in a family belonging to the minor nobility of Gubbio, who migrated to Rome with a view to bettering their fortunes. After refusing several offers of marriage for Vittoria, her father betrothed her to Francesco Peretti, a man of no position, but a nephew of Cardinal Montalto, who was regarded as likely to become pope.
Vittoria was admired and worshipped by the cleverest and most brilliant men in Rome, and being luxurious and extravagant although poor, she and her husband were soon plunged in debt.