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The mysterious death of Francesco I de' Medici and Bianca Cappello: an arsenic murder?

BMJ 2006; 333 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.38996.682234.AE (Published 21 December 2006) Cite this as: BMJ 2006;333:1299

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Time of Deaths

Dear authors:

In the notes to your article, you mention the document, the Book of
Marriages and Deaths, Year 1587, kept by Monsignor Bernardo Baldovinetti,
that states that His Serene Highness Francesco, Grand Duke of Tuscany died
between 04:00 and 05:00 on the 19th October 1587, and that la Serenissima
Gran Duchessa Bianca died at 15:00 on 20th October 1587. The document
states that consists of an interval of twelve hours.

According to my calculations, that would make an interval of some
twenty-three hours, not twelve hours. How did you compensate for the
discrepancy in your work?

I am a China scholar, and in traditional China, time was measured in
double-hours. Thus, each day consisted of twelve double-hours.

Was this true of Italy in 1587? If so, would this explain the
discrepancy?

Kind regards,

Jack Sweeney
mojavecowboy@yahoo.com

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

08 January 2007
Jack F. Sweeney
Professor
Wuhan, Hubei, China 430083