Background
Antonia was born in Milan and was the tenth of her parents" seventeen children.
Antonia was born in Milan and was the tenth of her parents" seventeen children.
Another sister, Agnes, married Francesco I Gonzaga and was executed for supposed adultery in 1391. Antonia"s youngest sister Elisabetta was married to Ernest, Duke of Bavaria. Her father, Bernabò was a cruel and ruthless despot, and an implacable enemy of the Church.
He seized the papal city of Bologna, rejected the Pope and his authority, confiscated ecclesiastical property, and forbade any of his subjects to have any dealings with the Curia.
He was excommunicated as a heretic in 1363 by Pope Urban V, who preached crusade against him. When Bernabò was in one of his frequent rages, only Beatrice Regina (her mother) was able to approach him.
This was different from other family marriages because most of Antonia"s sisters married members of the House of Wittelsbach.
