The Black Prince of Florence by Catherine Fletcher

The Black Prince of Florence by Catherine Fletcher

Ruler of Florence for seven bloody years, 1531 to 1537, Alessandro de' Medici was arguably the first person of color to serve as a head of state in the Western world. Born out of wedlock to a dark-skinned maid and Lorenzo de' Medici, he was the last legitimate heir to the line of Lorenzo the Magnificent. When Alessandro's noble father died of syphilis, the family looked to him. Groomed for power, he carved a path through the backstabbing world of Italian politics in a time when cardinals, popes, and princes vied for wealth and advantage. By the age of nineteen, he was prince of Florence, inheritor of the legacy of the grandest dynasty of the Italian Renaissance.

Alessandro faced down family rivalry and enormous resistance from Florence's oligarchs, who called him a womanizer-which he undoubtedly was--and a tyrant. Yet this real-life counterpart to Machiavelli's Prince kept his grip on power until he was assassinated at the age of 26 during a late-night tryst arranged by his scheming cousins. After his death, his brief but colorful reign was criticized by those who had murdered him in a failed attempt to restore the Florentine republic. For the first time, the true story is told in The Black Prince of Florence.

Catherine Fletcher tells the riveting tale of Alessandro's unexpected rise and spectacular fall, unraveling centuries-old mysteries, exposing forgeries, and bringing to life the epic personalities of the Medicis, Borgias, and others as they waged sordid campaigns to rise to the top. Drawing on new research and first-hand sources, this biography of a most intriguing Renaissance figure combines archival scholarship with discussions of race and class that are still relevant today.

Fletcher, Catherine: - Catherine Fletcher is Lecturer in Public History at the University of Sheffield. Her first book, Our Man in Rome: Henry VIII and his Italian Ambassador, was published in 2012. Catherine graduated with a first-class degree in Politics and Communication Studies from the University of Liverpool and worked for the BBC Political Unit before studying for a PhD in History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She held fellowships at the Institute of Historical Research, the British School at Rome and the European University Institute before taking up her current post in 2012. She has published widely on aspects of early modern political culture and diplomacy. Catherine is a regular media contributor and has been a guest on two editions of BBC Radio 4's 'In Our Time' among other programmes. She has been a historical adviser to the new TV production of Wolf Hall and blogs at History Matters.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780190612726
ISBN 10	019061272X
Title	The Black Prince of Florence
Author	Catherine Fletcher
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	OUP India
Year published	2016-09-01
Number of pages	338
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.