"[4] This official version of events was not generally believed, and the Ferrarese ambassador, Ercole Cortile, obtained information that Isabella was "strangled at midday" by her husband in the presence of several named servants.

[5] Isabella was the second sudden death in an isolated country villa in the Medici family, her cousin Leonora having died of a similar "accident" only a few days before.

[6] Most historians assume that Paolo Giordano killed his wife, in reprisal for carrying on a love affair with his cousin Troilo Orsini, or that he acted on instructions of Isabella's brother, the grand duke.

Wanted by both the Papal and Tuscan police, Paolo Giordano took refuge in northern Italy, first in Venice and then in Abano and Salò with his mistress, whom he married on 20 April 1585.

[10] The Medici (Francesco and Cardinal Ferdinando) wished to secure movable assets in possession of Vittoria for their nephew Virginio Orsini, Paolo Giordano's son from his first marriage and principal heir.