Toynbee "Ghisolabella"
daughter of Alberto de' Caccianemici of Bologna, and sister of Venètico Caccianemici (or, as D. calls him, Venedico Caccianemico), who is said to have handed her over to the evil passions of the marquis of Este (either Obizzo II or his son Azzo VIII, but probably the former), in order to curry favour with him; she married, in or before 1270, Niccolò da Fontana of Ferrara, so that it was most likely previous to that date that the outrage took place. The early commentators and editors write the name 'Ghisola bella' in two words, and assume that she was so called on account of her beauty ('per eccellenzia, però che avanzava in bellezza tutte le donne bolognesi a quello tempo, fu chiamata la Ghisola bella', says the Anonimo Fiorentino); but her actual name was Ghisolabella or Ghislabella, as is proved by her will (dated Sept. 1, 1281, at which time she was living at Bologna), in which she is described as 'D. Ghislabella, filia quondam domini Alberti de Cazanimitis, et uxor domini Nichollay de Fontana'; in the will she is also described as 'sane and in good health'. The date of her death is uncertain. [See I. Del Lungo, DtD, pp. 235 ff.]

G. is mentioned by Caccianemico (in Bolgia I of Circle VIII of Hell), who informs D. that he was the intermediary between her and the marquis, [Inf. xviii. 55-56]. [Caccianemico, Venedico.]

Benvenuto, who identifies the marquis with Azzo VIII, says:

. . . iste Azo fuit summe magnificus et pulcerrimus corpore; ideo bene debuit convenire cum pulcerrima ad extinguendum flammam ardentis amoris sui . . . diversa erat fama huius facti in vulgo. Aliqui enim mitius loquentes, dicebant, quod ista pulcra fuerat seducta et subtracta fraude praeter conscientiam fratris sui. Alii vero dicebant, quod dictus Marchio incognitus, mutato habitu, ivit Bononiam, et intrans domum istius amici sui, manifestavit se et causam sui adventus. Et Veneticus, quamvis esset de Caccianimicis, nescivit expellere istum familiarem inimicum.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press