Alessandro Farnese, the Duke of Parma, died in the French town of Arras in 1592, at the age of 47.
At the time, it was thought he died of pneumonia while campaigning in the Low Countries.
But a group of Italian historians have suggested he may have been murdered.
Historians found contemporary documents that indicate that while the military commander was indeed suffering from exhaustion and illness at the time of his death, those symptoms alone were not enough to have killed him.
His mummified remains, still wrapped in robes, were exhumed last week at the Church of Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma, and will be analysed by forensic experts from a specialist unit of Italy’s Carabinieri police force as well as pathologists from a hospital in the northern city.
“We’re looking for traces of poison in his bones or in the scraps of clothing that remain,” historian Anna Zaniboni Mattioli told The Telegraph.
“He had a lot of enemies.
“His military successes caused a great deal of jealousy among other commanders.”
Farnese, the duke of Parma and Piacenza, fought against Dutch rebels in the Netherlands on behalf of Phillip II, the Habsburg King of Spain.
The king appointed Farnese governor-general of the Netherlands, and the duke was also involved in the planning of the Spanish Armada plan to invade England with a naval fleet in 1588.
Among the suspects for his possible poisoning is Philip II himself.
“Farnese had become a very troublesome figure for the king, who was planning to get rid of him because he had become too powerful,” Zaniboni Mattioli said.
Even if experts find traces of poison, it will not tell them who murdered the duke.
That will forever remain a mystery.
