House of Capuletti
Proud and valiant, the Capuletti are counted among the first families of Verona. Though they are of no noble descent, they hold their status as free citizens very high. Over the centuries, Capuletti have gained great influence in the city’s affairs. They were counsellors to the Prince, but lost such position due to their continuing feud with the Montecchi. Their war could be seen as a smaller version of a far more important conflict: The feud between the Emperor and the Pope. Odoardo Capuletti had joined the Emperor’s service and gained glory on the battlefield while Rinaldo Montecchi, his great rival, supported the Holy See.
Odoardo Capuletti
...fought the Emperor’s wars as a Condottieri who offered his military service for gold. Rumour spread that he secretly dreamed of becoming Lord of Verona. But all his ambitions of whichever nature shattered when Pope and Emperor made peace. Capuletti was dismissed and returned home where he filled his days with endless hate for the Montecchi. No matter what people say about him, even a Montecchi must admit that Odoardo is a true knight. But old age had darkened his soul…
Caterina Capuletti
...was born in an minor branch of Rome’s famous Colonna family. A younger daughter, she was destined to join a convent but religious life was never something Caterina desired. When her family needed to forge an alliance with the Imperial party, she offered herself as bride for Odoardo, an older man she never met before. Not wanting to give a more valuable bride to a man of lower status, the family agreed. Since then, Caterina has settled into marriage life with a husband who was merely around for years. Only one daughter came from their union, many children were lost. With Odoardo on the battlefield, Caterina searched her pleasures elsewhere after Giulietta’s birth. Her affairs produce endless gossip, but Odoardo rejects such words as Montecchi propaganda.
Giulietta
...is the jewel of the House of Capuletti. As only daughter she is considered quite a match when she reaches adulthood. As a child, Giulietta was fragile as a flower and escaped death more than once. This, however, hasn’t warmed her Mother’s heart but her nurse’s. It was Giulietta’s begging which convinced her parents that the Nurse must stay. Nowadays, Caterina is searching for an eligible man to marry her daughter. Giulietta does not care at all. Her views of love are deeply shaped by Dante’s and Petrarch’s Sonnets dedicated to their beloved muses. She dreams of being loved in the same way by a man with a pure heart. Her days are spent quite lonely with no one but her Nurse for company. Her father prefers to keep her inside in order to protect her from the bloody feud.
Tebaldo
...is the son of Odoardo Capuletti’s late brother. Growing up with knowledge that Montecchi men may have murdered his father, hate shaped his feelings ever since. As long as Odoardo was still hoping for a son of his own, Tebaldo was destined to become a priest or even better a cardinal. The wild boy hated the thought of it alone. Tebaldo grew up as a spoiled and indulgent child with a cruel streak within him. Finally, his uncle named him his heir and took his nephew with him to the battlefields where he was knighted and slaughtered dozens of men in a wild rage. Tebaldo never admitted, but he desires his cousin Giulietta and hopes to make her his bride one day.
