The case is so cold by now it's a veritable mountain of marble. Was it murder or malaria that ended the lives of the Second Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife? Most of the historians who debated Reinaissance Italy's greatest mystery are long in their own tombs, and yet, more than four hundred years after the fact, a cold case has cracked and the mystery is resolved.
Italian scientists just announced that they've discovered arsenic in the remains of the Tuscan Duke (see the remains, such as they are, photographed at right, from the Associated Press). If true, it settles the question once and for all: his brother murdered him and his wife in 1587 for his throne.
A kind Clews visitor (known and loved in true crime junkie circles as "Foose,") sent us a link to the story, and elegantly summarized the mystery:
Possibly the announcement that arsenic has been found in what remains of the liver of Francesco is premature, but it's rather interesting. Brother Ferdinando had motive -- Bianca Cappello (formerly Francesco's mistress) had tried to pass off another woman's baby as her own (and heir to the throne). Ferdinando also, rather colorfully, was a Roman Cardinal, so the Gospel and ambition must have struggled for dominance in his breast. Also, the two brothers came from rather a homicidal family -- sister Isabella was murdered by her husband, and allegedly their youngest brother was murdered by yet another brother. And victim Bianca was accused of poisoning her husband's first wife -- a Venetian exile, she was his mistress for many years.
Plus, there's Shakespearean overtones -- the story at the time was that Bianca tried to poison unloved brother-in-law Ferdinando at the banquet, watched husband Francesco drink the fatal draught by mistake and realizing all was lost, picked up the goblet and drank the rest herself. Did Shakespeare adapt this popular royalty rumor for the climax of Hamlet?
For me, I stand in awe at the advancements in science that can lead to the finding of poison in a four-hundred-year-old corpse -- the remains of a member of the Italian royalty, a man who himself patronized the sciences -- resolving one of the abiding classical murder mysteries.
For more:Wikipedia on Francesco I de' MediciMSNBC: Scientists May Have Found Medici MurderWashington Times: Is Murder Mystery of Medicis Solved?
Solved?
Thank you for that question mark. Indeed, it seems this case is far from cut and dried. Firstly,
'After the deaths, [Ferdinando de' Medici] ordered immediate autopsies -- an unusual step, apparently taken to protect himself from future accusations.'
*Ordering* autopsies of his presumed victims is indeed a highly unlikely step taken by a killer, whatever Ms Lippi may say to explain it.
'Miss Lippi and three other scientists [...] tested organ remains found in broken terra-cotta jars buried under the crypt in the Church of Santa Maria a Bonistallo, near Francesco's villa. Miss Lippi says DNA tests showed it was "highly probable" that one set belonged to Francesco.'
(both quotes are taken from the Washington Post link above)
Secondly, Ms Lippi is far from presenting proof that the remains she analyzed were those of Francesco and Bianca. As to that low concentration of arsenic in Francesco's beard hairs, arsenic was taken as a medicine in those days, and if he was ill, he may well have taken too high a dose of it in the end, going by the motto "much does much". Of course, someone may have taken care of the well-hated Bianca the very moment her only protector was no longer to be reckoned with.
(BTW, the Greek word "arsenicos" means "manly, virile". Arsenic was much recommended and frequently taken as a remedy against impotence throughout the centuries; and Francesco de'Medici seems well to have had some problems in that regard.)
As for Ms Lippi trumpeting her finds about asserting for sure that this was wholesale murder and Ferdinando did it...? Sorry, but I'd say there's only one thing for certain, e.g. that Ms Lippi's case is one of jumping to the conclusions she had set out to prove from the very beginning, and furthermore one of gross sensationalism and attention-seeking.
What I'm waiting for now is someone to unearth queen Elizabeth I and announcing that she was poisoned too -- since, sure as he11, he'll find her bones stuffed with lead. For decades, that good lady used a lot of makeup, to cover her pock marks, that contained a lot of lead white...
Sorry to have objected, but such historians and such ways of rewriting history just get on my nerves.
miriam
P.S. Being much interested in history and true crime, too, though not blogging myself, I want to thank you for your very entertaining and well-written articles.
Posted by: miriam | January 19, 2007 at 05:35 PM