Florentine practical jokes

Practical jokes made by Florentines during the height of the Italian Renaissance, could be said to be made famous by Lorenzo de' Medici (the Magnificent), were often outrageous and "took things too far." Later generations found these practical jokes to be often downright cruel.

Related Topics:
Practical jokes - Italian Renaissance - Lorenzo de' Medici

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A somewhat famous example was of a practical joke that Lorenzo "the Magnificent" and his friends played on a doctor friend of theirs. They took the doctor, got him drunk, and shipped him off to the country. They then spread the rumor that the doctor had died, even convincing the doctor's wife he was dead. When the doctor made his way back to Florence a couple months later, dishelved and pale, his wife refused to let him back into his house, thinking he was a ghost.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~