A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Galigai, Eleonora
GALIGAI, ELEONORA.
Galigai was the family name of the Marechal d'Ancre, who married Eleonora, the daughter of a joiner, and a washerwoman in Italy; she enjoyed for some time an irresistible dominion in France; and perished at last by a judicial sentence pronounced upon her for crimes, some of which were not proved, and others impossible to be committed. She was foster-sister to Mary de Medicis, who loved her with the tenderest affection. It was doubtless the favour she enjoyed with this princess that induced Concini to marry her; for she was exceedingly plain. Her talents, however. made amends for her personal defects; she governed Mary de Medicis so completely, that she was virtually queen, and afterwards regent of France. Her excessive insolence so disgusted Louis the Thirteenth, the son of her protectress, that he gave her up to the envy and hatred of the court. Her husband was assassinated by the king's order, and she was brought to a trial, in which, for want of other crimes, she was accused of sorcery. Being asked by what magic she had so fascinated the queen, she replied, "By the power which strong minds naturally possess over the weak." She was condemned in May, and executed in July, 1617. She left a son and a daughter. The latter died soon after her mother; the son, though he lost his nobility, retired to Italy, with an ample fortune, which had been accumulated by the avarice of his parents.