Medici family's famous hunting grounds may have killed them, report suggests

Live Science ^ | June 9, 2023 | Anna Demming

[SunkenCiv]

At least one Medici was plagued by a deadly strain of malaria, analysis of organ tissue from the Medici family tomb reveals...

The researchers found evidence of the parasite that causes malaria, and made the first observation of a parasite from that time in history that remains structurally intact.

The Medicis were an ultra-powerful, wealthy banking family that exerted great influence in Renaissance Florence, eventually becoming rulers of the Duchy of Tuscany in the 16th century.

Because of their power and status, they buried their dead like monarchs in the San Lorenzo Basilica in central Florence, keeping the skeletal remains of the bodies in coffins with the organs removed and stored in separate terracotta jars that often bore just the Medici family crest.

In the new study, published May 18 in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers analyzed tissue samples in an attempt to match the organ remains with their respective bodies. By chance, the researchers discovered the parasite-like structures on red blood cells...

Further analysis confirmed that these structures were the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Scientists knew that malaria was endemic in the region from the second or third century until the early 20th century, but had assumed the endemic malaria species was P. Vivax, which causes a milder form of the disease. P. falciparum, which is more deadly, usually favors tropical climates.

It's likely that the Medici who was infected experienced a severe relapsing fever, though the researchers can't say for sure whether malaria actually killed this individual.

The new study marks the first time the pathogen itself was microscopically observed, rather than detecting proteins the parasite produces.

[SunkenCiv]

In this Renaissance painting, we see Cosimo, Giovanni and Piero Medici. Some of their family members may have died from deadly malaria, possibly from mosquitos in their hunting grounds.

Image credit: Peter Barritt/Alamy Stock Photo

[SunkenCiv]

Skeeters.

[minnesota_bound]

I bet they wished they had DDT.

[refreshed]

There are a lot of assumptions made in the article, not the least of which at the individual caught that particular type of malaria locally. They made their money through trade, correct? Wouldn’t that apply some sort of travel? I suppose it is possible they caught the disease while hunting on there hunting grounds, but there is no evidence of that.

[refreshed]

Sorry about the typos. I am trying to do this voice to text.

[refreshed]

There are a lot of assumptions made in the article, not the least of which is that the individual caught that particular type of malaria locally. They made their money through trade, correct? Wouldn’t that apply some sort of travel? I suppose it is possible they caught the disease while hunting on their hunting grounds, but there is no evidence of that.

[nutmeg]

Your threads are always SO interesting… 🙂

[vetvetdoug]

DDT almost had malaria eradicated when Rachael Carson published her book, “Silent Spring”, using falsified and incorrect data stating that DDT had a myriad of bad effects. Had it not been banned worldwide malaria would be a post script in epidemiological studies.

[SunkenCiv]

There is a health risk to DDT, not least because it’s chemically very stable and doesn’t break down for probably centuries. Its use knocked down malaria pretty hard here and there, but as with all things with instructions for use, lack of reading comprehension (and illiteracy, and if a little is good..., and who-cares attitudes) it wasn’t necessarily used effectively.

Malaria, OTOH, is hardly harmful at all... /sarc

I keep seeing ads on YouTube for a simple method of mosquito eradication, it appears to use lemons cut in half.

That’ll be a good way to gather insect protein for our Soylent Green future.

[SunkenCiv]

The Medici family began with a different business, run as was usually the case throughout the world prior to WWII, out the home. So successful were they, they started lending money to others needing what we now call seed money, but did their due diligence. They were not the first to do so in Florence, and private lending rather than what we have in modern banking systems was also the rule during the Roman Empire.

The Medici bank wound up opening offices in cities throughout Europe, and may not have been the first international lender, but definitely helped transform lending into an acceptable form we recognize today. Sometimes the Medici family did travel, but I suspect that was more of a last resort thing in the case of their businesses.

So, they could have been exposed to malaria anywhere, technically. The Arno valley though is still a good place to be carved up and carried away in pieces by mosquitoes, so there's probably not a good reason to doubt this new suggestion.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!