Imperia

Derived from Latin imperium meaning "command; authority; rule, power; empire". This was the name of an obscure saint, who was venerated in Mauprévoir, France (also known as Impère and Impérie). It was also borne by the famous Italian courtesan Imperia Cognati (1486-1512), in whose case it was probably a pseudonym. Honoré de Balzac later used it in his short story La belle Impéria (1832), where it belongs to a fictional courtesan who is active at the Council of Constance (1414/1418); a statue of Imperia was erected at the entrance of the harbour of Konstanz in 1993. A similar name, Bel-imperia, was employed by Elizabethan dramatist Thomas Kyd for a character in his play The Spanish Tragedy (written between 1582 and 1592).