藏在骨头里的真相：古 DNA 改写美第奇家族四百年的"毒杀"传说

If you had to name a byword for "power and intrigue" in European history, the Medici family would surely be on the list.

A few centuries ago they controlled the famous Italian city of Florence, rich beyond measure, and even produced several popes.

And with such power came countless court rumors, the most famous of which was a "poisoning mystery" more than four hundred years old.

In 1587, the family's Grand Duke Francesco suddenly fell ill at 46 and died days later, almost at the same time as his wife Bianca.

The two died so suddenly that a rumor quickly spread through the court: they had been poisoned with arsenic.

The finger pointed straight at Francesco's brother Ferdinando, a cardinal and the biggest beneficiary, since the throne passed to him once his brother was gone.

For over four hundred years, this tale of "brother against brother" was retold again and again in books and films.

This year, though, researchers from Yale and Pisa decided to re-examine the old case with science.

From the rib bones of Francesco and another brother who died young, Giovanni, they extracted ancient DNA preserved for centuries.

In the bones of both men, they detected Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite behind the deadliest form of malaria.

In other words, what most likely took their lives was malaria itself.

The fever, chills, and rapid decline described back then really do look more like the symptoms of malaria.

And so a murder legend passed down for four centuries was quietly rewritten by genes buried deep in old bone.