Murder of a Medici Princess must read – John Beyerlein –
This is one of the first books I read on my Kindle. At that time I did not realize that for the Kindle world to work properly and sort the good from the bad we as readers need to write reviews, good or bad, for the works we read. This one is very good. When I finished it, it immediately went back on my to be read list. I like to speculate about history, the history of Europe in the sixteenth century is a rich field for that. Caroline Murphy sheds light on persons who I was previously unaware of, both in this and her other excellent book,The Pope’s Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice della Rovere, which also immediately went back on my to be read list.
John Beyerlein,Liz & Dick.
Caroline Murphy’s “Murder of a Medici Princess” contains the requisite elements of a fascinating novel: an independent, free-thinking heroine; a gorgeous Italian setting; dark dealings; and a tragic end.
What makes it all the more compelling is that it’s true.
The hedonistic, cultured life and brutal death of Isabella de Medici is one of the Renaissance’s lesser known events; however, Ms Murphy renders a very modern and vivid account of this daughter of the illustrious Medici family, who insisted on living life on her own terms and paid the ultimate price. Her story reads like a masterful fusion of history and suspense – a textured combination of the sumptuous excesses and glamour of Florence in its splendor and of treacherous familial backstabbings, intrigue, and corruption. As the book progresses, the darkness that overcomes this brilliant but unstable family that helped make Florence great mirrors the crumbling of their patron city as the premier centerpiece of the Renaissance.
With a keen eye for detail and a sensitive gift for rendering the intricacies of the past for the lay reader, The Murder of a Medici Princess” is historical biography at its shining best. : In Murder of a Medici Princess, Caroline Murphy illuminates the brilliant life and tragic death of Isabella de Medici, one of the brightest stars in the dazzling world of Renaissance Italy, the daughter of Duke Cosimo I, ruler of Florence and Tuscany.
Murphy is a superb storyteller, and her fast-paced narrative captures the intrigue, the scandal, the romantic affairs, and the violence that were commonplace in the Florentine court. She brings to life an extraordinary woman, fluent in five languages, a free-spirited patron of the arts, a daredevil, a practical joker, and a passionate lover. Isabella, in fact, conducted numerous affairs, including a ten-year relationship with the cousin of her violent and possessive husband. Her permissive lifestyle, however, came to an end upon the death of her father, who was succeeded by her disapproving older brother Francesco. Considering Isabella’s ways to be licentious and a disgrace upon the family, he permitted her increasingly enraged husband to murder her in a remote Medici villa. To tell this dramatic story, Murphy draws on a vast trove of newly discovered and unpublished documents, ranging from Isabella’s own letters, to the loose-tongued dispatches of ambassadors to Florence, to contemporary descriptions of the opulent parties and balls, salons and hunts in which Isabella and her associates participated. Murphy resurrects the exciting atmosphere of Renaissance Florence, weaving Isabella’s beloved city into her story, evoking the intellectual and artistic community that thrived during her time. Palaces and gardens in the city become places of creativity and intrigue, sites of seduction, and grounds for betrayal.
Here then is a narrative of compelling and epic proportions, magnificent and alluring, decadent and ultimately tragic. Murder of a Medici Princess
- Mistress of the Vatican
- The Borgias and Their Enemies: 1431-1519
- Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici
- The Devil’s Queen: A Novel of Catherine de Medici
- Lucia
Murder of a Medici Princess
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