Beatrice Cenci (1577 - 1599). Beatrice Cenci was a young Roman noblewoman who murdered her father, Count Francesco Cenci. The subsequent, lurid murder trial in Rome gave rise to an enduring legend about her. She was condemned and beheaded for the crime in 1599. Beatrice was the daughter of Ersilia Santacroce and Count Francesco Cenci, a violent and dissolute man. When Beatrice was seven years old her mother died; Beatrice and her elder sister Antonina were sent to a small monastery, Santa Croce a Montecitorio for Franciscan Tertiary nuns in the Colonna district of Rome. The family lived in Rome at the Palazzo Cenci in the rione Regola. The members of the extended family living together included Count Francesco's second wife, Lucrezia Petroni; Beatrice's elder brother, Giacomo; and Bernardo, Francesco's son from his second marriage. They also possessed a castle, La Rocca of Petrella Salto, a small village in the Abruzzi mountains northeast of Rome. According to historical details leading to the legend, Francesco Cenci abused his first wife Ersilia Santa Croce and his sons and raped Beatrice multiple times, thus being guilty of incest. He was jailed for other crimes, but due to his noble status, he was freed early. Beatrice tried to inform the authorities about the frequent mistreatment, but nothing happened, although many in Rome knew what kind of person her father was. When he found out that his daughter had reported him, he sent Beatrice and Lucrezia away from Rome to live in the family's castle at La Petrella del Salto. The four Cencis decided they had no alternative but to try to get rid of Count Francesco, and together organised a plot. In 1598, during one of Francesco's stays at the castle, two vassals, helped them to drug him, but this failed to kill Francesco. Following this Beatrice, her siblings, and their stepmother bludgeoned Francesco to death with a hammer and threw the body off a balcony to make it look like an accident. No one believed the death to be accidental, however. Eventually his absence was noticed and the papal police tried to find out what happened. Beatrice's lover was tortured and died without revealing the truth. Meanwhile, a family friend who was aware of the murder ordered the killing of the second vassal to avoid any risk. Nonetheless, the plot was discovered and the four members of the Cenci family were arrested, found guilty, and sentenced to death. The common people of Rome, knowing the reasons for the murder, protested against the tribunal's decision, obtaining a short postponement of the execution. Pope Clement VIII, however, fearing a spate of familial murders, showed no mercy. At dawn on 11 September 1599, they were taken to Sant'Angelo Bridge, where the scaffold was usually built. In the cart to the scaffold, Giacomo was subjected to continual torture. On reaching the scaffold, his head was smashed with a mallet. His corpse was then quartered. The public spectacle continued with the executions of first Lucrezia and finally Beatrice. Both took their turns on the block to be beheaded with a small axe. Only the 12-year-old, Bernardo, was spared, but he was led to the scaffold and forced to witness the execution of his relatives before returning to prison and having his properties confiscated. It was decreed that Bernardo should then become a galley slave for the remainder of his life. However, he was released a year later. Beatrice was buried in the church of San Pietro in Montorio. Beatrice has become a symbol to the people of Rome of resistance against the arrogant aristocracy, and a legend arose. It is related that every year on the night before the anniversary of her death, she comes back to the bridge where she was executed, carrying her severed head. Beatrice Cenci has been the subject of a number of literary and musical works, Philip Massinger's play The Unnatural Combat contains specific echoes of the case and antedates the Romantic revival of Beatrice by 200 years. Percy Bysshe Shelley's verse drama The Cenci: A Tragedy in Five Acts. Les Cenci, a short story by Stendhal. Beatrix Cenci, a verse drama, by Polish poet, Juliusz Slowacki. Beatrice Cenci, a novel by Francesco Domenico Guerrazzi. Beatrice Cenci, a poem by Sarah Piatt, American poet. Beatrix Cenci, by Astolphe de Custine. Nemesis, tragedy by Alfred Nobel. Beatrice Cenci, a play by Alberto Moravia. Beatriz Cenci, a verse drama by Goncalves Dias. Beatrix Cenci, opera by Alberto Ginastera, based on the Shelley play. Beatrice Cenci, opera by Berthold Goldschmidt, based on the Shelley play. Les Cenci, play by Antonin Artaud, adaptation of the Shelley play. The Cenci, essay by Alexandre Dumas in Volume 1 of Celebrated Crimes. Legende und Wahrheit der Beatrice Cenci, short story by Stefan Zweig.