Medici Tuscany under Francesco I

Francesco I succeeded Cosimo I as Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1574. His court in Florence and its villas displayed Medici wealth through art, architecture, scientific experiment and luxury manufacture, while government remained closely tied to family interest and European diplomacy.

Francesco’s long relationship with the Venetian Bianca Cappello became a public dynastic controversy. They married after the deaths of their first spouses, and their own deaths within hours of one another in 1587 generated enduring rumours of poisoning and succession intrigue involving Francesco’s brother Ferdinando.

Bianca fictionalises these relationships and the political value of a union between a Venetian noblewoman and the Medici ruler.