Murder of a Medici Princess

420 Pages·2008·8.17 MB·English

by  Caroline P. Murphy

murder of a medici princess
This page intentionally left blank
caroline p. murphy
Murder of a Medici Princess
1
2008
3
Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further
Oxford University’s objective of excellence
in research, scholarship, and education.
Oxford New York
Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto
With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam
Copyright © 2008 by Caroline P. Murphy
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.
198Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
www.oup.com
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Murphy, Caroline, 1969–
Murder of a Medici Princess/by Caroline P. Murphy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 978-0-19-531439-7
1. Medici, Isabella Romola de', 1542–1576. 2. Princesses—Italy—Florence—Biography
3. Medici, House of. 4.Florence (Italy)—Kings and rulers. 5. Florence (Italy)—Court
and courtiers—History—16th century. 6. Florence (Italy)—History—1421–1737.
7. Tuscany (Italy)—History—1434–1737. I. Title.
DG738.14.M35M87 2008
945'.51107092aB—dc22 2007042498
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
to Brian Murphy
1934–2007

Contents
Map of Florence and Medici Family Tree ix
prologue: A Summer’s Day at Cerreto Guidi 1
i a medici childhood
1 The New Medici 7
2 ‘I Have Never Seen a More Beautiful Baby Girl’ 19
3 Growing up Medici 34
4 Approaching Adulthood 45
ii a medici princess grows up
1 A Bridegroom for Isabella 53
2 Medici Weddings 63
3 Zibellini and a Hat Full of Musk 69
4 The Duke and Duchess of Bracciano 78
5 ‘My Brother and I’ 86
6 Overcome by Sorrow 95
iii the first lady of florence
1 After Eleonora 109
2 At Home with Paolo and Isabella 120
3 Debt 128
4 Conflict 133
5 The Baroncelli 141
6 The Theatre of Isabella 149
7 Fidelities 159
8 Troilo 165
9 A ‘Clandestine’ Affair 170
iv medici machinations
1 The Imperial Sister-in-Law 181
2 Family Lives 189
3 Grand Duke 198
contents
4 Cammilla 204
5 ‘I Turchi’ 211
6 Lepanto and Don Giovanni 218
7 Putti 225
8 Bianca 232
9 An Assassination 237
10 The Best of Times 243
v the troubles of a medici princess
1 The Decline of Cosimo 253
2 The Children’s Negotiation 260
3 ‘My Coming’ 267
4 The New Ambassador 272
5 Leonora 278
6 The Duelling Season 282
7 The Pucci Conspiracy 289
8 Troilo,Bandito 294
vi final acts
1 The New Year 305
2 A Trip to Cafaggiolo 314
3 A Trip to Cerreto Guidi 319
4 ‘As If She Imagined What Was in Store for Her’ 323
5 Post-Mortem 328
6 The Culling Continued 334
7 The Assassin’s Tale 339
epilogue: Isabella Eterna 345
Bibliography 353
Notes 361
List of plates 381
Acknowledgements 383
Index 385
Map of Florence and Medici Family Tree
View of Florence with Medici emblem