Isabella (Medici) de Medici (1542 - 1576)

Born 31 Aug 1542 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Ancestors

Wife of Paolo Giordano Orsini — married 3 Sep 1558 (to 16 Jul 1576) in Poggio a Caiano, Italy

Descendants

Died 16 Jul 1576 at age 33 in Cerreto Guidi, Province of Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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Biography

Isabella was born in 1542. She was the daughter of Cosimo I de Medici and Eleonora di Toledo. She was married to Paolo Giordano Orsini (son of Girolamo Orsini and Francesca Sforza). She was very independent for a woman of her day. She was murdered in 1576, probably by her husband, in retaliation for her adulterous relationship with Paolo's cousin, Troilo Orsini, himself murdered a few months later in Paris. Five days before Isabella's death, her sister-in-law and friend Leonora "Dianora" of Toledo was also murdered by her husband, Pietro de Medici, for adultery. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

Sources

1. ↑ Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley, Northern Italy (3) Chapter 3 B Grand Dukes of Tuscany (Medici) (http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20ITALY%20after%201400.htm#CosimoIdied1574B)
2. ↑ Litta, Pompeo. Famiglie celebri di Italia. Medici di Firenze. Tavola XIV. Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie, FOL-NE-49 (D), Gallica
3. ↑ Wikipedia Isabella de' Medici

See also:

• Langdon, Gabrielle. Medici Women: Portraits of Power, Love, and Betrayal in the Court of Duke Cosimo I. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2006.
• Murphy, Caroline P. Isabella de'Medici: The Glorious Life and Tragic End of a Renaissance Princess. London, UK: Faber and Faber, 2011.