Letters to Her Sons, 1447-1470

The seventy-three surviving letters written by Florentine widow, Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi(c.1406-1471), to her distant sons first appeared in print well over a century ago, but arehere translated intoEnglish in their entirety for the first time. Whether for the professionalhistorian or for the general reader interested in Renaissance Florence, they constitute a mostprecious testimony regarding bothprivate and public life in the mid-fifteenth century, withthemes ranging from familial relations, motherhood, marriage, and aspects of materialculture to the harsh realities of political exile meted out bythe Medici to their perceivedopponents, these latter including her husband and, subsequently, her sons.