Caterina de' Medici, Governor of Siena
Caterina de' Medici (2 May 1593 – 17 April 1629) was a Tuscan noblewoman of the Medici family. She became Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat as the second wife of Duke Ferdinando and Governor of Siena from 1627. She was the second daughter of Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany and his wife Christina of Lorraine.
Biography
The second daughter and third child of Grand Duke Ferdinando I and his wife, Christina of Lorraine, Caterina, named after the eponymous Queen of France (who was also her great-grandmother) was born in Florence on 2 May 1593.
Caterina was considered as a potential spouse to Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, heir to the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, but his Anglican religion presented an insurmountable barrier.[1]
Eventually, she married in 1617 Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat;[2] the marriage, however, was childless.
Upon being made a widow in 1626, she returned to Tuscany. Her nephew, Grand Duke Ferdinando II, created her Governess of Siena in 1627, where she died of smallpox two years later.[3]
In later life, Caterina garnered a reputation for intense piety.[4] Historian Colonel G.F. Young asserts that she bore a striking resemblance to her brother Cosimo II and sister Claudia.[4] She was interred in the Medicean necropolis, the Basilica of San Lorenzo.[4]
Ancestors
Ancestors of Caterina de' Medici, Governor of Siena | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
References
- ^ Clare Jackson, Devil-Land: England under Siege, 1588–1688 (Penguin, 2022), p. 139.
- ^ Parrott 1997, p. 37.
- ^ Young, p 530
- ^ a b c Young, p 387
Sources
- Parrott, David (1997). "The Mantuan Succession, 1627–31: A Sovereignty Dispute in Early Modern Europe". The English Historical Review. CXII, Issue 445, February (445). Oxford Academic: 20–65. doi:10.1093/ehr/CXII.445.20.
- Young, G.F.: The Medici: Volume II, John Murray, London, 1920
Caterina de' Medici, Governor of Siena Born: 2 May 1593 Died: 17 April 1629 | ||
Italian royalty | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Duchess of Mantua 1617–1626 | Succeeded by |
Duchess of Montferrat 1617–1626 | ||
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Fabrizio Colloredo | Governor of Siena 1627–1629 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- none
- none
- Princess Maria Anna*
- Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen*
- Princess Maria Elisabeth*
- Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma*
- Princess Maria Johanna Gabriela*
- Princess Maria Josepha*
- Maria Carolina, Queen of Naples and Sicily*
- Maria Antonia, Queen of France*
- Maria Theresia, Queen of Saxony*
- Maria Clementina, Duchess of Calabria*
- Princess Maria Luisa*
- Maria Theresa, Queen of Sardinia*
- Auguste Ferdinande, Princess Luitpold of Bavaria*
- Maria Isabella, Countess of Trapani*
- Maria Luisa, Princess of Isenburg-Büdingen*
- Princess Maria Antonietta*
- Louise, Crown Princess of Saxony*
- Maria Theresa, Archduchess Charles Stephen of Austria*
- Karoline Marie, Princess Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha*
- Helena, Duchess Philipp of Württemberg*
- Rosa, Duchess of Württemberg*
- Princess Dolores*
- Maria Immaculata, Nobile Inigo Neri Sereneri*
- Margarita, Marchioness Taliani di Marchio*
- Princess Maria Antonia, Mrs. Luis Pérez*
^did not have a royal or noble birth