David Riccio

(born c. 1533, Pancalieri, near Turin, Piedmont — died March 9, 1566, Edinburgh, Scot.) Secretary to Mary, Queen of Scots. The son of a musician, he accompanied the duke of Savoy's ambassador to Scotland and entered Mary's service as a musician (1561). He became her close adviser and helped arrange her marriage to Lord Darnley (1565). Disliked because of his arrogance, Riccio was an impediment to the Scottish nobles' plan to remove Mary. While at dinner in Mary's palace, he was seized by an armed band of nobles, including Lord Ruthven, and stabbed to death.

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