Guastallines

The County of Guastalla, which she had inherited from her father, was laid claim to by another branch of the family, and the affair carried before Pope Clement VIII and Emperor Charles V, whereupon she settled the matter by selling her estates to Ferrante Gonzaga, thereby also increasing her resources for the religious foundations she had in mind.

In 1536, Torelli established the Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul, a congregation of women to assist the Barnabite fathers in the missions.

[1] When Pope Paul IV imposed the rule of cloister on the Angelicals, whom their foundress had destined for works of active charity, particularly the care of the sick and orphans, in 1557 she instituted another community, also at Milan, for whom she built a house between the Roman and the Tosa gate, known as the Collegio della Guastalla.

From 1938 the College moved to San Fruttuoso di Monza, placing its headquarters in Villa Barbò Pallavicini, a prestigious neoclassical building with a large park, a patrician residence built in 1815.

Today, after nearly five centuries, the College of Guastalla welcomes student of all grades, from the two-year nursery program to high school.