In 1585 a new pope was elected and amid the confusion of change Vittoria and Bracciano married and left Rome. In the play the Pope is misnamed Paul IV (he was in fact the former-Cardinal Montalto Sixtus V, Paul IV having died in 1559). Eight months later the Duke died and the Medici family, wishing to protect their family interests, challenged his will, which placed Vittoria to be in charge of his fortune. When Vittoria refused to co-operate, according to the play, the Medicis arranged for her to be killed. She was stabbed to death in Padua by Ludovico Orsini, a relative of her first husband.