A Forgotten Princess

This evening I am going to bring your attention to Isabella de Medici, a Renaissance princess of Florence. Have you heard of her? I would be surprised if you have. I have just finished Caroline Murphy's biography of her and think that Isabella is a character worthy of particular note.

Isabella de Medici lived in sixteenth century Florence during a time when women rarely achieved financial independence and were controlled by their closest male relatives. Despite this, Isabella managed to acquire her own villa separate from her family; take a lover and live independently from her husband who resided in Rome. Intrigued?

Perhaps what is most interesting about Isabella's life is the protection she received from her father whilst he remained alive. Although he arranged her marriage to Paolo Orsini, Cosimo helped to ensure that Isabella did not join her husband in Rome after their wedding and purposely kept her at home. He then gave her her own villa to reside in in Florence.

For her part, Isabella feigned illness after illness, infinite interruptions and purposeful problems which always prevented her from staying with her husband in Rome. In fact, such were her protests that she never moved to her husband's residence for the entire length of their marriage. Such a feat was unheard of during a time when women were viewed as their husband's property and were controlled by them.

And while the cat's away the mice will play and so it was that Isabella began an affair with her husband's cousin, Troilo Orsini, which would eventually lead to both of their deaths. Yet while they lived love flourished between them.

Yet the succession of Isabella's brother to the Grand Dukedom of Florence after her father's death brought a dramatic change to Isabella's existence. Francesco disapproved of Isabella's lifestyle and the percieved dishonour it brought to the Medici family. As a result, he commissioned Isabella's husband to kill her and he did. Troilo had already fled into exile and years later he too was hunted down and killed.

I mention this rare and tragic story because I think that Isabella lived such a modern existence during a time when honour and convention were synonymous with politics and power and to live outside of the rules was to risk reputation and as a result one's own political position. Yet is it justifiable that she was killed for loving a man other than her husband? Would we accept that as a plausible argument for murder today? After her death her brother attempted to remove her from history altogether but I think that this woman should be revered and praised.