Fresh scientific analysis is casting doubt on one of Italy’s best-known historical murder suspicions. Francesco I de’ Medici, long believed by some to have been killed with arsenic in 1587, may instead have died from malaria, according to experts studying DNA taken from bone samples.
For years, suspicion focused on the Medici ruler’s brother, who was thought to have had a role in the deaths of Francesco and his bride. That poisoning theory helped fuel a centuries-old mystery around the powerful Florentine family and the circumstances of the couple’s sudden deaths.
Now, researchers say genetic evidence offers a different explanation. The bone analysis appears to point toward malaria rather than deliberate poisoning, suggesting that disease may have been responsible in a case long shaped by intrigue and political suspicion.
The findings do not erase the historical fascination surrounding the Medici dynasty, but they do shift the debate toward medical evidence. If confirmed, the study would recast Francesco I de’ Medici’s death as a likely illness-related event instead of an assassination by arsenic.
