At the height of his political power, Cosimo de' Medici is being overwhelmed with illness and personal tragedy. Who will succeed him to his invisible, nameless throne? His son Piero, who unfortunately is a middle-aged man so sick no one thinks he will live for much longer.

For maps, bibliographies, and more, go to medicipodcast.com.

Support the show through Venmo: @ Chad-Denton-15 or https://www.patreon.com/medicipodcast.

The theme music is “La Disperata”, composed by Vincenzo Ruffo (ca. 1510-1587) and performed by Jon Sayles.