Pisa, Yale DNA Study Ties 1587 Medici Death to 2 Malaria Species
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Jul 16
Pisa, Yale DNA Study Ties 1587 Medici Death to 2 Malaria Species
3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Jul 16
Summary
Genetic traces from Francesco I de’ Medici’s ribs showed two malaria parasites — Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium malariae — in a June iScience study aimed at resolving the 400-year mystery over his 1587 death.
The Pisa-Yale team says ancient DNA offers firmer evidence than earlier paleo-immunology, while court records describing intermittent fever and the couple’s stay near marshy Poggio a Caiano fit a malaria infection.
Samples from Francesco’s brother Giovanni, who died 25 years earlier after a coastal Tuscany trip, also contained malaria DNA, including a previously unknown P. falciparum strain.
The findings weaken the long-running arsenic murder theory tied to rival brother Ferdinando, but they do not fully exclude poisoning; backers of the 2006 toxicology study still cite records of skin eruptions and swelling.
Beyond the Medici case, researchers say the results help fill a gap in evidence on malaria’s spread and evolution in Renaissance central Italy.