Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

Since the mysterious deaths of a husband and wife in the Medici family, a powerful Italian dynasty that ruled Florence and Tuscany almost uninterruptedly from 1434 to 1737, rumors have swirled about what led to the couple’s untimely demise. Now, scientists believe they have an answer — it wasn’t murder, but malaria. In 1587, Grand Duke Francesco I de’ Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello, died within hours of each other after days of agony. At the time, logic dictated the culprit to be malaria because the couple had shown symptoms of the illness, including a telltale intermittent fever. But rumors of an assassination immediately spread, pointing to Francesco’s younger brother and rival, Ferdinando, as the perpetrator. Ferdinando was next in line to the throne, but he was at risk of being passed over in favor of Francesco’s illegitimate son, Antonio.