WI: 1562, No Murder and Malaria for the Medici

1562 was a annus horribilis for the Medici, and would forever after cast a dark pall over the Medici image that Cosimo I had struggled so hard to improve after the trashcan fire that was Alessandro il Moro's reign.

Cosimo persuaded his wife, Leonor de Toledo to accompany him and his sons to inspect the new fortifications of Pisa. Despite doctors' warning against malaria, Leonor accompanied him. Unfortunately, her second son, Giovanni, contracted the disease and died in November. Her third son, Garzia, caught it too, and died a few days later in December. Finally, a week after Garzia, Leonor herself died of malaria.

Of course, Cosimo came back to Florence alone and Dane Rumour set to work. The story ran that Giovanni and Garzia had had an argument and Garzia had stabbed his brother to death. On hearing this, in a rage, Cosimo ran Garzia through with a sword and Leonor died shortly thereafter from grief at having married into such a family.

Cosimo released the official cause of death but it took until an autopsy in the 21st century to prove that tbe duke had been telling the truth. To give an idea of how pervasive the rumours were, when the duchess of Lauenburg married the younger son of Grand Duke Cosimo III a 150 years later, she remarked that she refused to go to Florence because the Medici had a reputation of murdering their consorts. Admittedly, her refusal was based on the murder of Cosimo and Leonor's favourite daughter (by her husband), Isabella in July 1576, and a month later, the Medici family psycho, Cosimo's youngest son, Pietro, strangled his wife with the dog leash.

So, what if Cosimo and Leonor go to Pisa with Garzia and Giovanni and everyone comes back alive? With Giovanni already in the clergy, it seems unlikely IMO that Ferdinando (OTL grand duke) will get pushed into the clergy as well. Maybe he'd wind up in the Order of Malta or something like that. But Garzia as a boy unfettered by clerical skirts would be the one to marry his cousin who had the unfortunate dog-walking accident OTL. Which would remove another rumour from the mill...
 
Maybe Pietro will caught and die of malaria before killing his wife (who was also his cousin, as she was if I remember well the daughter of Leonor’s brother and in any case surely a member of her family).
Isabella also maybe need to be widowed before being killed... Ferdinando likely will not became Cardinal before his uncle’s death but still the church for him is likely
 
Maybe Pietro will caught and die of malaria before killing his wife (who was also his cousin, as she was if I remember well the daughter of Leonor’s brother and in any case surely a member of her family).
Isabella also maybe need to be widowed before being killed... Ferdinando likely will not became Cardinal before his uncle’s death but still the church for him is likely

I'm not sure if Pietro was with on the inspection trip, but it'd remove a future headache. The younger Leonor de Toledo (Dianora) was the daughter of Garcia de Toledo (Eleonora's older brother).

Isabella may simply need another husband, point. The problem was that she was daddy's favourite (which was why he wanted to keep her at home and why she had as much independence as she was allowed). Unfortunately, daddy married her to a frigging psycho (the Orsini weren't renowned for their stability IIRC. Even Isabella's husband's grandmother, the daughter of Pope Julius II had been pitied for her marriage into such a cursed family).
However, IIRC, her role as Cosimo's favourite formerly belonged to eldest sister, Maria. Maria was promised to Alfonso II but Cosimo continually delayed the wedding and eventually Maria died without ever having become duchess of Ferrara. Then Lucrezia took over the role, and AFAIK, Cosimo tried to keep her IN FLORENCE even AFTER she had married Alfonso. So by the time it came Isabella's turn he was determined to keep her close by. Hence he married her to Orsini. Maybe if her older sisters hadn't died, Cosimo would allow Isabella to marry elsewhere (where? Although I doubt it).

Ferdinando still winding up in orders is probably pretty possible - look how many of Ferdinando II's brothers became clerics - but at the same time, I wonder if Cosimo won't decide on another fate for his son rather than have two sons on the church.
 
Right, Ferdinando also was a son of Cosimo (I do not why I thinked he was a grandson) so here he can have another destiny. I was suggesting to have Cosimo bring only Pietro with him in that journey (or having him caught the malaria in another place). If Maria became Duchess of Ferrara and Cosimo still wanted a wedding with the Orsini the bride will likely be Lucrezia and Isabella will be free for another wedding or remain unmarried
 
Right, Ferdinando also was a son of Cosimo (I do not why I thinked he was a grandson) so here he can have another destiny. I was suggesting to have Cosimo bring only Pietro with him in that journey (or having him caught the malaria in another place). If Maria became Duchess of Ferrara and Cosimo still wanted a wedding with the Orsini the bride will likely be Lucrezia and Isabella will be free for another wedding or remain unmarried

Well, AIUI Isabella was allowed as much freedom as she was because she was dad's favorite. Her sister-in-law, Dianora, followed her example (it would seem too much). I think with her diminished role as only surviving daughter of Cosimo here (if Maria and Lucrezia both survive - although Maria died in 1557 (rumoured also to have been murdered by her dad), and Lucrezia in April 1561), Isabella might not be allowed as much freedom as she was OTL, and dad won't be so attached to her.

However, the fact that Maria was rumoured to have a secret lover and have died at her dad's hands in 1557 suggest that Cosimo was swimming against the tide from then already. However, Isabella is the middle sister, and despite Cosimo's favouritism, would be the logical candidate to replace Maria (as opposed to Lucrezia).

How's this sound:
Maria dies in 1557. With much reluctance, Cosimo agrees that her next sister, Isabella, is to take her place in the betrothal to Alfonso II of Ferrara.
Lucrezia is then married elsewhere (? I'd imagine Cosimo would need to avoid being seen as too pro-French (Alfonso was Louis XII's grandson), since he holds part of his territory by grace of the emperor, so Lucrezia might wind up with a Habsburg/half Habsburg prince (duke of Parma perhaps?). Or a Spanish cousin rather than Orsini).
In 1560, Isabella gives birth to a stillborn child for Alfonso II. She has a daughter, named Isabella d'Este in 1562. Cosimo goes off to inspect his fortifications, Duchess Eleonora is unable to go with him (pick a reason), so he takes his youger sons, Pedriccio and Garzia along. His son, Giovanni, newly made a cardinal and lately bishop of Pisa accompanies them on his way to set up house in the capital of his diocese.
At Livorno, Giovanni leaves them, while Garzia and Pedriccio stay with dad. However, all three soon contract malaria in the maremma. For a while, it is despaired of that the Christmas will be decked in anything but mourning. Isabella miscarries a child when she hears the news. It would've been a boy. There are rumours at the Ferrarese court that her husband is not the baby's father and that the duchess is too light (not to mention that she's rumoured to have lovers - including Alfonso's brother (Luigi) and his half-uncle, the son of Laura Dianti.
Then a Christmas miracle happens and Cosimo and the boys pull through. They return to Florence in a weakened state.
 
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