Italian musician David Rizzio was private secretary to which British monarch?
David Rizzio plot element in Caleb Carr's Sherlock Holmes story "The Italian Secretary", Holmes vocally dismissing the idea that Rizzio was ever anything more than entertainment. Thomas Randolph listed these men as participants in Rizzio's murder: with the preachers; John Knox and John Craig. David Rizzio David Rizzio, sometimes written as David Riccio or David Rizzo (c. 1533 – 9 March 1566), was an Italian courtier, born close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots.
David Rizzio the catalyst for the downfall of Darnley, and it had serious consequences for Mary's subsequent career. Mary was having dinner with Rizzio and a few ladies-in-waiting when Darnley joined them, accused his wife of adultery and then had someone murder Rizzio, who was hiding behind Mary. Mary was held at gunpoint and Rizzio was stabbed numerous times. His body took 56 dagger wounds. Rizzio (whose name appears in Italian records as David Riccio di Pancalieri in Piemonte) went first from Turin to the Court of the Duke of Savoy, then at Nice. However, finding no opportunities for advancement there, he