Selected Letters, 15141543

The voluminous correspondence of Maria Salviati de Medici. In recent years, there has been an upsurge of interest in Maria Salviati de Medici, specifically, in her role in Medici governance and her relationships with other members of the Medici court. Maria Salviatis surviving correspondence documents a life spent close to the centers of Medici power in Florence and Rome, giving witness to its failures, resurrection, and eventual triumph. Presented here for the first time in English, this book is a representative sample of Marias surviving letters that document her remarkable life through a tumultuous period of Italian Renaissance history. While she earned the exasperation of some, she gained the respect of many more. Maria ended her life as an influential dowager, powerful intercessor for local Tuscans of all strata, and wise elder in Duke Cosimo Is court. The first critical, analytical, biographical work on Maria Salviati de Medicis life and letter-writing in English.