The Tragedies of the Medici (Dodo Press) (Paperback)

The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 14th to 18th century. The family had three popes (Leo X, Clement VII, and Leo XI), numerous rulers of Florence and later members of the French and English royalty. Like other signore families they dominated their city's government. They were able to bring Florence under their family's power, allowing for an environment where art and humanism could flourish. Maria de' Medici (1540-1557) was the eldest daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. She was engaged to Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, but died at the age of seventeen, before the marriage could take place. According to one unreliable legend, recounted in Edgcumbe Staley's The Tragedies of the Medici, Maria was lovely and kept closely guarded from men, but managed to meet a young lover, Malatesta de' Malatesti, in secret. According to the story, she was stabbed in the heart by her father after he caught the young lovers together.