Ferdinando I de' Medici
Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 17 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. He expanded the culture of Tuscany, which included presenting the opera Euridice by Jacopo Peri. Ferdinando supported Henry IV of France following the assassination of Henry III of France and provided him with financial support.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferdinando I de' Medici (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born Aug 9, 1549, died Feb 17, 1609.1
About
He expanded the Naviglio canal and started an irrigation project in the Val di Chiana. Ferdinando died on 17 February 1609.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferdinando I de' Medici, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
- Medici Oriental PressFounder13
Early life and education
Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at the time of his birth) of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Toledo, the daughter of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca, the Spanish viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples.
He was made a Cardinal in 1562 at the age of 13, but was never ordained into the priesthood. At Rome, he proved an able administrator. He founded the Villa Medici in Rome. He acquired the large collection of antiquities established by Andrea della Valle in 1584, as well as other works of art like the Medici lions. These were subsequently divided among the various Medici estates.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferdinando I de' Medici (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: patron of the arts, Catholic priest, politician.7
Personal life
- BornAug 9, 1549, Florence8
- DiedFeb 17, 1609, Florence9
- CitizenshipGrand Duchy of Tuscany10
- SpouseChristina of Lorraine married 158911 12
For the first two years of his reign, he retained position as cardinal, but Ferdinando gave it up in order to marry Christina of Lorraine in 1589. The couple had a large reception at the Villa di Poggio a Caiano. Christina's dowry was fairly large; it included 600,000 crowns in cash as well as jewellery with a value of 50,000 crowns. Also, the rights of the Duchy of Urbino were transferred to Christina after the death of Queen Catherine de' Medici of France and thus assumed by future Medici rulers.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferdinando I de' Medici (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
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- 2WikipediaFerdinando I de' Medici on Wikipedia
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- 12Wikidataspouse, as reported
- 13WikidataMedici Oriental Press, Founder
- 14Wikimedia CommonsFerdinando I de' Medici photo by Scipione Pulzone, Public domain