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Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

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Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#2
tl;dr; - Scientists did DNA testing on the remains of the Grand Duke and his wife, and found malaria. The rival theory is poisoning by the relative who was next in line for the Ducal throne. HOWEVER, this test result solves nothing:

> But is there any guarantee that Francesco was not also poisoned?

> “Perhaps not,” Ochoa said, “but the genetic evidence presented in our study decreases the margin for speculation.”

> Gisella Caccone, a senior research scientist also at Yale and a study coauthor, agrees. “We can say that they had malaria, we cannot say that they were not poisoned as well,” Caccone said in an email.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#3
post #2

tl;dr; - Scientists did DNA testing on the remains of the Grand Duke and his wife, and found malaria. The rival theory is poisoning by the relative who was next in line for the Ducal throne. HOWEVER, this test result solves nothing: > But is there any guarantee that Francesco was not also poisoned? > “Perhaps not,” Ochoa said, “but the genetic evidence presented in our study decreases the margin for speculation.” > G…

Maybe they were poisoned, had malaria, were stabbed, and also suffocated and drowned, all at the same time?

"solves" is a silly thing to ask for in matters of probability. I think this test result adds data which shifts probabilities, and that's the best we'll get.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#4
post #2

tl;dr; - Scientists did DNA testing on the remains of the Grand Duke and his wife, and found malaria. The rival theory is poisoning by the relative who was next in line for the Ducal throne. HOWEVER, this test result solves nothing: > But is there any guarantee that Francesco was not also poisoned? > “Perhaps not,” Ochoa said, “but the genetic evidence presented in our study decreases the margin for speculation.” > G…

Maybe they were poisoned, had malaria, were stabbed, and also suffocated and drowned, all at the same time? "solves" is a silly thing to ask for in matters of probability. I think this test result adds data which shifts probabilities, and that's the best we'll get.

Maybe they were poisoned, had malaria, were stabbed, and also suffocated and drowned, all at the same time?

Just now learning Grigori Rasputin died of malaria.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#6
My family has spent centuries marrying into an alternative claimant to the Grand Duke of Tuscany who did not inherit through Ferdinando I. We were planning to use this as an excuse to invade Italy and put the scion of our own dynasty on the throne and establish ourselves as royalty in the annals of history.

Unfortunately, this + the unification of Italy may have irredeemably foiled our plan.

Not sure what to do now, should I find a wife with a better claim?

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#7
post #6

My family has spent centuries marrying into an alternative claimant to the Grand Duke of Tuscany who did not inherit through Ferdinando I. We were planning to use this as an excuse to invade Italy and put the scion of our own dynasty on the throne and establish ourselves as royalty in the annals of history. Unfortunately, this + the unification of Italy may have irredeemably foiled our plan. Not sure what to do now,…

> Not sure what to do now, should I find a wife with a better claim?

Naah. You start an AI company!

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#8
post #6

My family has spent centuries marrying into an alternative claimant to the Grand Duke of Tuscany who did not inherit through Ferdinando I. We were planning to use this as an excuse to invade Italy and put the scion of our own dynasty on the throne and establish ourselves as royalty in the annals of history. Unfortunately, this + the unification of Italy may have irredeemably foiled our plan. Not sure what to do now,…

Not sure, but I would 100% buy a copy of your family cookbook.

Just imagine the titles you could use.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#9
post #6

My family has spent centuries marrying into an alternative claimant to the Grand Duke of Tuscany who did not inherit through Ferdinando I. We were planning to use this as an excuse to invade Italy and put the scion of our own dynasty on the throne and establish ourselves as royalty in the annals of history. Unfortunately, this + the unification of Italy may have irredeemably foiled our plan. Not sure what to do now,…

You could marry your claim to an ideological framework upholding the Divine Right of Kings and traditionalist conservatism, causing it to live for centuries longer in the form of monarchy enthusiast cranks.

Re: Medici family mystery may be solved after more than 400 years

#10
post #6

My family has spent centuries marrying into an alternative claimant to the Grand Duke of Tuscany who did not inherit through Ferdinando I. We were planning to use this as an excuse to invade Italy and put the scion of our own dynasty on the throne and establish ourselves as royalty in the annals of history. Unfortunately, this + the unification of Italy may have irredeemably foiled our plan. Not sure what to do now,…

Just fund your own group of grave diggers with PhDs and an attached museum.
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