Ancient-DNA Analysis Solves 500-Year-Old Mystery of What Killed 2 Medici Brothers

Ancient DNA May Solve Mystery of the Medici Brothers’ Deaths

An AI reconstruction of the Medici brothers in Renaissance Florence. Credit: Greek Reporter Archive A centuries-old mystery surrounding the Medici brothers may finally be solved after researchers found genetic evidence that both were infected with the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The findings challenge long-standing speculation that political intrigue or poisoning caused their deaths. Instead, the study suggests malaria may have playe…

Ancient-DNA analysis solves 500-year-old mystery of what killed 2 Medici brothers

Two brothers from the wealthy and powerful Medici family died of malaria and were not poisoned as a rumor had suggested, archaeologists have confirmed based on a DNA analysis of the brothers' skeletons. The analysis also revealed a unique, mutated strain of malaria that may hold the key to understanding the evolution of the disease in Europe.The Medici family rose to power in the 15th century by creating the largest bank in Europe. The family us…

Ancient DNA from the Medici brothers in Florence confirms malaria killed them, but it also exposes an old parasite strain and ends the poison rumour

Science News: A groundbreaking genetic study confirms that malaria, not poison, was responsible for the deaths of Medici brothers in Renaissance Italy, revealing a new strain of the malaria parasite.

Scientists finally know how Italy’s Renaissance-era Medici brothers died

Findings confirm one of the brothers wasn’t poisoned to death, contrary to widely-held view

Medici brothers' remains reveal Renaissance-era malaria strains, closing the book on a murder mystery

In 1562, Cardinal Giovanni de Medici, a scion of the dynastic family that dominated politics and banking in Tuscany during the Renaissance, died of malaria. Twenty-five years later, his older brother, Grand Duke Francesco de Medici, succumbed to the same disease.