Apology for a Murder

by Lorenzino De' Medici, Andrew Brown (Translator)

Famed for having killed his cousin Alessandro, the Duke of Florence, in 1537, but also for writing accomplished literary works, including a comedy and several poems, Lorenzino de' Medici remains one of the most enigmatic figures of Italian literature. In his masterpiece, Apology for a Murder, he reveals the inner motives behind his act, portraying himself as a hero to be numbered alongside the great tyrannicides of ancient Rome and Greece.

Lorenzino himself, in 1548, was murdered by two soldiers hired either by the emperor Charles V or by Cosimo, Alessandro's successor as Duke, and this volume includes the dramatic account of his killing by Francesco Bibboni, one of the assassins, as well as a selection of Lorenzino's poems, giving a fully rounded image of the antihero of Alfred de Musset's Lorenzaccio.

Genres: Classics, History, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

Published May 21, 2019

Reviews

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent way to spend two enjoyable hours in the underbelly of the Italian Renaissance. Political intrigue and murder for hire with a cast that ranges from the Pope to a thug who really enjoys his work. And it's all more or less true.

[clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second half reads like a string of Tripadvisor reviews from a road trip through Italy.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is accurate. Lorenzino de’ Medici explains why he murdered his cousin in cold blood, allegedly for a republican cause against tyranny, but Lorenzaccio seems like an unreliable narrator. However, his writing is eloquent and educated, and he makes a good case against his victim.

Comparatively, the second section by Lorenzino’s murderer is straight-forward. He doesn’t explain or justify himself in flowery words—it was beneficial for him and he cashed in.

This is a quick and interesting read, both for showing the rawness of the renaissance and also for the comparative texts of men discussing murder, perhaps, ultimately, for the same reason: themselves.

[Julia]

A very interesting read and perhaps even essential if you are interested in the duchy of Tuscany. I understand why they also included Francesco Bibboni's account; it gives you a more complete overview of this historical event. The introduction was good but the comparison to Adolf Hitler was unnecessary and I will forever and always doubt copy-paste comparisons between two immensely different contexts. Maybe I already forgot or I missed it but I feel like this edition could use a paragraph or two on the context in which it was written: was it right after he did it? Some years after? Where did he write it? Did anyone respond to it with their own text? I want to know!

However, the text written by Lorenzino (or Lorenzacchio or Lorenzo, depending on which side you are on) is definitely the most valuable in this edition and that was exactly what I was coming for. Not an apology, but more a written rationalization of his act, Lorenzino tries to explain why he did what he has done. One quote especially stood out to me:

'The city of Florence, after all, has from ancient times been the possession of its people; it thus ensues that all those who rule it without being elected by the people to do so are tyrants, as was the case with the Medici family, which gained control of our city for many years with the consent and participation of a minority of the people.'

I find this interesting because Lorenzino claims that those who rule without being chosen by the people are by definition tyrants and it immediately makes me wonder if Cosimo, his successor, has read this text. (I assume so). Because in some of his commissioned artwork he emphasizes the fact that he was in fact chosen by the people (and is thus not a tyrant), despite not being a republic anymore (but a duchy.. and he even wanted to become grand-duke!). Maybe this is not just because of this text by Lorenzino but also just because of the assassination of Alessandro, the first duke. (Fun fact, Cosimo basically never relates himself to Alessandro as his successor. He does not call himself als second duke of tuscany, no no. He is (as far as I know) basically always refered to as 'MAGNO ETRURIAE DUCI PRIMO', so the FIRST GRAND duke.) Ok and last oberservation: I find it interesting that Lorenzino still refers to 'our city', despite being voluntarily exiled.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk

[Tamára · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Linde · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s a lovely nineteenth-century painting by Enrico Pollastrini at Pistoia depicting the fateful moment Lorenzo/Lorenzino/Lorenzaccio de’ Medici tries to justify in this little book, which is as good as I remember.

First, Lorenzo explains Alessandro’s tyranny with several historical references (boy really knew his history!). Second, Lorenzo argues that Alessandro really wasn’t a Medici, even if Lorenzo II de’ Medici (the Urbino one) was his father, which actually makes sense when Lorenzino says it. Then he accuses the Florentine civic body for being afraid losers who didn’t care enough about their fatherland on multiple occasions (nice!). After that, Lorenzo basically shames everyone else for not doing what he did (also valid).

If I had been Lorenzo I would probably have done the same. Writing this so-called apology I mean, not assassinate Alessandro in his bedchamber (I would have come up with something even more interesting, so the painters were even more intrigued). With his high education and quality upbringing, Lorenzo knows how to honey his words and easily justify this tyrannicide.

To me it seems that Lorenzo’s assassination of Alessandro became a little daughter to Judith slaying Holofernes in art. I find the paintings so very intriguing. Their (supposed) family relation makes Lorenzo and Alessandro’s dealing so much more interesting than biblical Judith and her tyrant. Lorenzo’s own assassination, which occurred eleven years later, also yielded a nice painting by Bezzuoli.

In any case, Cosimo’s branch was officially done for with the death of Alessandro.

(Note on this edition: Alma double-spaced Lorenzo’s text to fill up their 101 pages, which I kinda hate…)

Review of first read in 2020: I enjoyed this super short book with Lorenzino’s essay and “apology” (which it really wasn’t, it was more of an argumentation) about why he killed his cousin/bastard brother the Duke of Florence Alessandro de’ Medici. This piece is very unique in all of world’s literature as not everyone confesses to murder (of their family) and writes a book about it, defending themselves. I found it both haunting and amusing at the same time, seeing as Lorenzino enchants the reader to feel compassion for his actions as he gives the reasons why he felt he needed to do it. Small masterpiece!

[Henna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apology for a Murder includes both Lorenzino de Medici's piece where he tries to justify the murder of his cousin Alessandro, the Duke of Florence, and an account of Lorenzino's death written by Captain Francesco Bibboni, a soldier who kills Lorenzino. Both accounts are brilliant in their own way: Lorenzino certainly knows how to write a compelling argument and Bibboni is not ashamed of his actions and gives a rather honest account of a live of Renaissance mercenary.

As Andrew Brown says, Lorenzino was not a popular man. He was called 'nasty Lorenzo' and spend his days with Alessandro. People saw them as close friends and Lorenzino as Alessandro's accomplice. In Apology for a Murder Lorenzino tries his hardest to convince the reader that he was never a friend for Alessandro, who was a tyrant and therefore Lorenzino should be celebrated because he freed the people of Florence from tyrant's grasp. It is uncertain whether Lorenzino lied or not - Alessandro was a tyrant, but there is no prove of Lorenzino's motives either way. Apology for a Murder could be genuine, but it could also be propaganda where Lorenzino tried to clear his name. Either way, it's an interesting historical text and Lorenzino has a way with words.

Bibboni's account, however, was my favourite because it gives a detailed account of the life of assassin/mercenary soldier in Renaissance Europe - and the historian in me loves that kind of rich source, particularly since Bibboni does not apologise for his actions. Rather, he states how things are and the soldiers are only doing what they were hired to do, whether it was moral or not. These kind of texts - both Lorenzino and Bibboni's texts - are why I love studying history so much. It is not so much about the truth, but the perspective and here we have two entirely different perspectives, which gives us plenty to think about.

[Tova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly the wildest primary source I've ever read. The first part is complete with lots of gaslighting, interesting rhetoric, and extreme verbose language, which resembles my academic writing. The second part was a much more casual vibe complete with some very anachronistic British slang. I had the time of my life reading it though, super engaging and I wish all primary sources I read for class were this engaging. Full RTC.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very odd 'apologia' giving the reasons why Lorenzino murdered his powerful relative (Alessandro De' Medici) in Renaissance Florence and a subsequent short memoir by the man who (in turn) killed the assassin. Really didn't know what to think: first part is very flowery and you get a sense of how Lorenzino thought he was committing a political act: in his mind, he would be acclaimed a liberator or hero for doing so, compared with ancient Greek heroes who did the same in their time. This was not the case however and the murderer went into hiding for a good eleven years, living under an assumed name until Captain Francesco Bibboni sought him out and killed the killer. The two writing styles are intriguing and completely different- with Bibboni's being translated like a hardboiled classic mystery writer (if one lived in 16th Century Italy). In any case, Lorenzino's murder was seen as just rewards and the assassins were rewarded. The book concludes with a few of Lorenzino De' Medici's poems.

[Heidi Laine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luin englanniksi. Kiinnostava historiallinen dokumentti, tai oikeastaan kaksi, sillä sisältää sekä Lorenzinon apologian herttua Alessandron murhasta, sekä hänet itsensä murhanneen palkkatappaja Bibbonin kertomuksen. Vain kolme tähteä kuitenkin siksi, että dokumenttien historiallista konteksia, kirjoittamisen olosuhteita ja julkaisuhistoriaa olisi ollut hyvä esitellä enemmän. Nyt ne näyttäytyivät pikemmin kuriositeetteina kuin ajankuvana. Lämmin lukusuositus historiallisten aikalaiskuvausten ystäville yhtä kaikki.

[Josh Swinscoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice short read. It's interesting to see how Lorenzino tries and justifies his tyrannicide, and how the events should have ultimately ended out. The second part about the murder of Lorenzino is simple, not complex language, though it can be a bit repetitive, though it does have some good parts.

My favourite part of this book was "I was pretty miffed and slashed out at his head, and chopped it in two"

Overall, would recommend as its a nice quick read from the time

[James Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quite fascinating window into history, written by one of the participants in event. For anyone interested in events in Renaissance Italy, the Medici family or the history of Florence, this is essential and compelling reading.

[Hugo Simão · Rating 3 out of 5]

An eloquent defense of a murder followed by an interesting (if repetitive) account of the man o killed the assassin. Worth reading if you enjoy the Italian renaissance.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A couple of interesting historical documents here, exploring a mid 16th century conspiracy and two homicides.

[Herb · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first true crime novels, right there.

[Jacquelynn Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great read. Very intense and felt like I was actually there to witness everything written.

[S]

fun read

[kikbim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Basically a 'why I killed my kinsman and was totally in the right' pamphlet. The result of Renaissance hijinks.

[Leila]

I just know lorenzino de medici would have the most unhinged instagram stories. Azaelia banks esque

[Bruno Leal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. It literally happened. Justifying a murder-post-murder with an actual eloquence that makes him seem, still human somehow.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intriguing story, but of particular interest were the vocabulary choices Brown made when translating Bibboni's account. It made for a really enjoyable read.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no idea what this would be going into it, but hoped it would be interesting and that it was. Raises more questions than it answers in a good way, in that it has shone a light on a relatively obscure piece of history (at least in the UK?) That I will read more into. What a strange and curious nugget of information this was, and what luck there were two autobiographical pieces that time preserved!

[Nina Misson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you were ever wondering - it's okay to murder for the sake of democracy, especially if the murdered tyrant happens to be the bastard son of your father. The Medici knew how to party.