Category=AGA
Category=NHD
Category=NHTB
David Rizzio
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
European history
forthcoming
intellectual history
Italian diaspora
Italian Studies
Mary
Media and Heritage Studies
Palace of Holyroodhouse
Queen of Scots
Renaissance
Scottish art history
Scottish court
Scottish Early Modern History
Scottish History
Scottish material culture
Scottish Reformation
Scottish visual culture
Product details
- ISBN 9781399552417
- Dimensions: 170 x 244mm
- Publication Date: 31 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
This book studies the multifaceted impact of David Rizzio (c. 1533-1566), the Italian musician and courtier whose murder at the Palace of Holyroodhouse reshaped the destiny of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Remembered as a figure of scandal and romance, Rizzio has inspired fascination for over 450 years. This book traces his many reimaginings across Britain and continental Europe, from early diplomatic newsletters to various art forms including painting, literature and music.
By following his story across Scotland, England, France, Italy, Germany and Spain, chapters in the book highlight the strikingly transnational reach of his legend. They show how Rizzio became a cultural icon and reassess his enduring significance in Scottish/British cultural memory and identity and their wider European contexts.
Emanuela Patti is Lecturer in Italian at the University of Edinburgh. She is the author of Pasolini After Dante (2016) and Opera aperta: Italian electronic literature from the 1960s to the present (2022).
