Status
Available
Publication
Oxford University Press (2008), 416 pages
Description
From the Publisher: 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 To tell this dramatic story, Murphy draws on a vast trove of newly discovered and unpublished documents, ranging from Isabella's own letters, to the loose-tongued dispatches of ambassadors to Florence, to contemporary descriptions of the opulent parties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. Herethen is a narrative of compelling and epic proportions, magnificent and alluring, decadent and ultimately tragic.… (more)
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LibraryThing member Opinionated
A very interesting study of the Life and Times of Grand Duke Cosimo of Florence and his children, particularly the Princess Isabella. For anyone who has visited Florence and Tuscany, this book will be particularly evocative as the key locations are all still there. If you've visited The Palazzo
And Caroline Murphy is fortunate that the sources are relatively good, and she makes the most of them. The Isabella De Medici she paints is free spirited, erudite, fun loving with a healthy disrespect for her buffoon of a husband. And while her father reigns and dotes on her, she is able to get away with an independence most Renaissance women could only marvel at. But with the death of her father and the ascension of her melancholic brother Francesco to the dukedom, things start to go badly wrong...
Murphy tells a great story. Instinctively you want to cheer on Isabella, boo her mean brother, and lament her woeful husband. The ending is inevitable and all the sadder for it. Recommended for anyone with any interest in Italy or the Renaissance
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Vecchio, the Uffici, the Vasari Corridor, the Ponte Santa Trinita, the Pittl Palace, and other key sites in Florence this will all be very evocativeAnd Caroline Murphy is fortunate that the sources are relatively good, and she makes the most of them. The Isabella De Medici she paints is free spirited, erudite, fun loving with a healthy disrespect for her buffoon of a husband. And while her father reigns and dotes on her, she is able to get away with an independence most Renaissance women could only marvel at. But with the death of her father and the ascension of her melancholic brother Francesco to the dukedom, things start to go badly wrong...
Murphy tells a great story. Instinctively you want to cheer on Isabella, boo her mean brother, and lament her woeful husband. The ending is inevitable and all the sadder for it. Recommended for anyone with any interest in Italy or the Renaissance
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LibraryThing member ReadingItAll
Intelligent, gifted, cultured and independent - all traits that were not encouraged in a young woman of Renaissance Florence. Isabella de Medici was the beautiful daughter of a doting father who supported her artistic independence...he didn't even allow marriage to hinder this freedom!
But all was
Carolyn Murphy is a master storyteller, drawing from the "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."
In a genre that is filled with book after book written about the British and French Royal Houses - it is my hope that these newly discovered manuscripts provide the history necessary for more stories of the Italian Royals.
But all was
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to come to an end with the death of Grand Duke Cosimo I- who was succeeded by Francesco. Isabella's older brother didn't approve of his sister's behavior and sent her to the home of her abusive husband. Intrigue, mystery, love affairs...this book has everything you expect and hope for in the telling of a Royal story. Carolyn Murphy is a master storyteller, drawing from the "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."
In a genre that is filled with book after book written about the British and French Royal Houses - it is my hope that these newly discovered manuscripts provide the history necessary for more stories of the Italian Royals.
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LibraryThing member SaraPoole
Part of my fascination with the Renaissance stems from the extraordinary alignment of beauty and corruption that characterizes the period. Just as some of the most magnificent prose in the English language was written in the highly repressive “police state” environment of Elizabethan England,
Born at once to privilege and repression in a relentlessly male-dominated society, Isabella was a brilliant woman, fluent in five languages, devoted to the arts, high-spirited and daring. While her father lived, her life was her own as much as any woman of the time could hope. But with his death, her brother and husband conspired to kill her in circumstances that have haunting echoes in today’s “honor killings”.
Murphy’s research is impeccable, as is her ability to bring a distant time to life. Isabella emerges as a living, breathing woman who blazed a dazzling path across the Renaissance sky and whose fall to earth casts light into the darkest corners of that complex time.
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art and culture flowered amid the endemic greed, violence, brutality, and repression of Medici Florence. Murphy’s insightful foray into the life and times of Isabella de Medici goes a long way toward illuminating how this came to be.Born at once to privilege and repression in a relentlessly male-dominated society, Isabella was a brilliant woman, fluent in five languages, devoted to the arts, high-spirited and daring. While her father lived, her life was her own as much as any woman of the time could hope. But with his death, her brother and husband conspired to kill her in circumstances that have haunting echoes in today’s “honor killings”.
Murphy’s research is impeccable, as is her ability to bring a distant time to life. Isabella emerges as a living, breathing woman who blazed a dazzling path across the Renaissance sky and whose fall to earth casts light into the darkest corners of that complex time.
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LibraryThing member Kasthu
Isabella de Medici, a daughter of the most powerful family in 16th century Italy, was the sixteenth-century version of a socialite. Married to Paolo Giordano Orsini, she chose to live apart from him, holding parties at her home in Florence and taking on her husband’s cousin Troilo as her lover
The book’s title is a bit misleading. The vast majority of the book is dedicated to Isabella’s life, as well as the fraught political situation in northern Italy at the time. Even so, there’s not much focus on what Isabella was like; yes, she loved parties and all of that, but we never see what Isabella was like as a person, really. However, she was known for having a sarcastic sense of humor. However, the author does a great job at describing 16th century life: what people ate, what they wore, and what they did for fun. It’s things like that that make history more interesting.
The murder, as such, disappointed me, however. Literally only 20 pages are devoted to the death of Isabella, and there’s not really much to go on here—how did Isabella really die? Who really killed her? The author doesn’t even try to hazard a guess here, so we’re left with more questions than answers; disappointing, in my opinion. I guess we’ll never know what truly happened at that remote country villa. In addition, the book is written in a very dry tone, and it doesn’t move at a smooth pace at times. Still, Isabella de Medici is an intriguing woman, unique in that she was able to make her own decisions in a world where women really didn’t have many options.
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while her Paolo stayed in Rome. Isabella was also the favored daughter of Cosimo de Medici, one of the early modern period’s great social climbers. Later, in 1576, Paolo and Isabella’s older brother would conspire to have her murdered.The book’s title is a bit misleading. The vast majority of the book is dedicated to Isabella’s life, as well as the fraught political situation in northern Italy at the time. Even so, there’s not much focus on what Isabella was like; yes, she loved parties and all of that, but we never see what Isabella was like as a person, really. However, she was known for having a sarcastic sense of humor. However, the author does a great job at describing 16th century life: what people ate, what they wore, and what they did for fun. It’s things like that that make history more interesting.
The murder, as such, disappointed me, however. Literally only 20 pages are devoted to the death of Isabella, and there’s not really much to go on here—how did Isabella really die? Who really killed her? The author doesn’t even try to hazard a guess here, so we’re left with more questions than answers; disappointing, in my opinion. I guess we’ll never know what truly happened at that remote country villa. In addition, the book is written in a very dry tone, and it doesn’t move at a smooth pace at times. Still, Isabella de Medici is an intriguing woman, unique in that she was able to make her own decisions in a world where women really didn’t have many options.
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LibraryThing member dianaleez
Caroline P. Murphy's 'Murder of a Medici Princess' is a well-wrought biography of an intriguing and little known historical figure. Isabella de'Medici, daughter of the famed Cosimo, was in many ways his spiritual heir.
Sacrificed to the usual Medici 'marriage of convenience,' Isabella managed for
Murphy's portrayal of corrupt and compelling Renaissance Florence is both vivid and exact. But what may please the scholar/history student may not be what the general reader is looking for. And this is neither historical fiction nor a romance; it is a well-drawn scholarly biography which can be gritty and dry and pedantic as need be.
Murphy's Isabella is an interesting woman; she is unique, and it is up to the reader to decide if she is admirable.
Murphy's book is definitely admirable. But it is unfortunate that its market niche isn't a bit clearer.
Sacrificed to the usual Medici 'marriage of convenience,' Isabella managed for
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many years to live life on her own terms (not an easy feat for anyone of any gender at any time). Then, of course, the reckoning had to be paid - Cosimo died and Isabella had to face her enemies without his protection. And the price of her unconventional and unaccommodating life was 'the death of a Medici princess.' Murphy's portrayal of corrupt and compelling Renaissance Florence is both vivid and exact. But what may please the scholar/history student may not be what the general reader is looking for. And this is neither historical fiction nor a romance; it is a well-drawn scholarly biography which can be gritty and dry and pedantic as need be.
Murphy's Isabella is an interesting woman; she is unique, and it is up to the reader to decide if she is admirable.
Murphy's book is definitely admirable. But it is unfortunate that its market niche isn't a bit clearer.
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LibraryThing member Imprinted
This book was an absolute joy to read! The narrative is lively, the author asks and answers provocative questions about the lives of women in 16th century Italy, and she provides the right amount of cultural, political, and historical context to help you understand Isabella de Medici's life beyond
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just the known biographical facts. Unlike the previous reviewer, I enjoyed every word of it even though I was aware of the sad outcome. The only quibble I have with the author is that she confusingly Italianized the names of individuals best known to history by English speakers by other names (i.e., Don Giovanni for Don John of Austria; Christina di Lorena for Christine of Lorraine). Highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member madamepince
Jeez, I would have put her lights out years before.
LibraryThing member antiquary
This book if a life of Isabella, daughter of Cosimo de Medici, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany (not to be confused with Cosimo the elder), who was the rather nominal wife of Paolo Giordano Orsini, duke of Bracciano. Despite her marriage, she managed to spent nearly all her life as a favored member
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of her father's court while her husband squandered his resources in Rome in riotous living and a marginal military career. She was a patron of musicians and poets and presided over elaborate parties at her own estate. As long as her father lived, she led a charmed life, but after he died, her brother the new Grand Duke Francesco apparently signed off on her murder by her husband, being irritated by the way her leading lover Troilo Orsini had murdered a rival over and fled to Florentine exile circles at the French court, to say nothing of the fact that she was apparently an active accomplice in the murder of a mistress of the husband of the duke's official mistress (the intrigues got very complex). Her sister-in-law, involved in similar intrigues, was also killed just beforehand. Her death (considerably cleaned up) furnished a subplot in Webster's Jacobean tragedy The White Devil (primarily about her husband's mistress) and her son Virginio survived to pay a state visit to England and see the first performance of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, whose "Duke Orsino" was apparently a compliment to him. (see The First Night of Twelfth Night) Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008
Physical description
416 p.; 9.3 inches
ISBN
0195314395 / 9780195314397