The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play, written by the English ramatist John Webster and first performed in 1614 at the Globe Theatre in London, and published for the first time in 1623. It is loosely based on true events that occurred between about 1508 and 1513, recounted in William Painter's The Palace of Pleasure (1567). The Duchess was Giovanna d'Aragona, whose father, Arrigo d'Aragona, Marquis of Gerace, was an illegitimate son of Ferdinand I of Naples. Her husbands were Alfonso Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, and (as in the play) Antonio Bologna.