Speaker: Dr Catherine Fletcher

Alessandro de’ Medici reigned as Prince of Florence 1531 – 1537. The illegitimate son of a Medici duke and a ‘half-Negro’ maidservant, he was propelled to power at the age of only nineteen. Betrothed to the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor, he faced family rivalry and enormous hostility from Florence’s oligarchs, who called him a womanizer and tyrant. This real-life counterpart to Machiavelli’s Prince kept his grip on power until he was assassinated by his scheming cousin.

Catherine Fletcher is a historian of Renaissance and early modern Europe. Her first book, The Divorce of Henry VIII, brought to life the world of the Papal court at the time of the Tudors. Subsequently, Catherine worked with the set team on the BBC’s adaptation of Wolf Hall, advising the production on the historical detail of religious ceremony, dress and furnishings. She broadcasts frequently for BBC Radio 4 on Italian Renaissance history and is currently a BBC New Generation Thinker. Catherine now holds the position of Associate Professor in History and Heritage at Swansea University, has previously held fellowships at the British School at Rome and the European University Institute, and has taught at Royal Holloway, Durham and Sheffield universities.

Visit www.swansea.ac.uk/dace. 

Picture courtesy of Sheffield Cathedral.