Eleonora de' Medici

Infobox Monarch|royal|consort
name = Eleonora de' Medici
title = Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat


caption = Portrait of Eleonora de' Medici by Peter Paul Rubens
spouse = Vincenzo I Gonzaga
royal house = House of Medici
father = Francesco I de' Medici
mother = Johanna, Archduchess of Austria
date of birth = February 28, 1567
place of birth = Florence, Italy
date of death = September 9, 1611
place of death = Cavriana, Italy|

Eleonora de' Medici (February 28, 1567 [cite web |url=http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/artdok/volltexte/2008/425/pdf/Davis_Fontes6.pdf |title=Giorgio Vasari |accessdate=2008-06-25 |author=Charles Davis |pages=17 |date=2008-04-25 it icon] cite web |url=http://geneweb.inria.fr/roglo?lang=en;i=169416 |title=Eleonora de' Medici |accessdate=2008-06-25 |work=GeneWeb |date=2008-01-21 ] – September 9, 1611) was the eldest child of Francesco I de' Medici and Johanna of Austria. In 1578, when Eleonora was eleven her mother died, [cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-08/03/content_6469505.htm |title=Murder-riddle Medici princess found |accessdate=2008-06-30 |last=Yan |first=Wang |date=2007-08-03 |work=Xinhua News Agency ] and her father later married Bianca Cappello. [cite web |url=http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/reprint/333/7582/1299.pdf |title=The mysterious death of Francesco I de' Medici and Bianca Cappello: an arsenic murder? |accessdate=2008-06-27 |author=Mari, Francesco |coauthors=Polettini, Aldo; Lippi, Donatella; Polettini, Elisabetta Bertol |work=British Medical Journal |date=2006-06-17 ] Medici was one of seven children. One of her sisters Marie de' Medici became queen of France and was the mother of Louis XIII of France, [cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/178/000092899/ |title=Marie de Medici |accessdate=2008-07-14 |publisher=Soylent Communications ] Marie made her sister Eleonora the godmother of Louis. [cite book |title=Painters and Their Works |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=LoSQhHjfwpoC&printsec=titlepage&dq=#PPP1,M1 |last=James |first=Ralph N. |year=1897 |publisher=University of Michigan |location=Michigan |asin=B000Z6GQ0C |pages=421 ] Eleonora and Marie also had another sister called Anna who sadly died at the age of 14, the rest of Eleonora and Marie's siblings died during childhood also. [cite web |url=http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/habsburger/abb10v.html |title=Johanna of Austria |accessdate=2008-06-30 |last=Vogt-Lüerssen |first=Maike |work=kleio.org]

Marriage

Medici married Vincenzo I Gonzaga on April 29, 1584. [cite web |url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p11205.htm#i112050 |title=Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duca di Mantova |accessdate=2008-06-27 |author=John Cardinal |work=thePeerage.com |date=2007-03-10 ] Three of her sons would become Dukes of Mantua and Montferrat and her daughter Eleonore would become a Holy Roman Empress. Her children were:

*Francesco IV Gonzaga (May 7, 1586 – December 22 1612), Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat between February 9 and December 22, 1612.
*Ferdinando I Gonzaga (April 26, 1587 – October 29, 1626), Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.
*Guglielmo Dominico (1589 – 1591), died during childhood
*Margerita Gonzaga (2 October 1591 – 7 February 1632) , wife of Henry II, Duke of Lorraine
*Vincenzo II Gonzaga (January 7, 1594 – December 25 1627), Duke of Mantua and Marquess of Montferrat from 1626 until his death.
*Eleonore Gonzaga (September 23, 1598 – June 27, 1655), wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Her two daughters were possible second wives to Philip III of Spain, after the death of his wife Margaret of Austria. In 1608 she arranged the marriage of her eldest son Francesco to Margaret of Savoy, this marriage produced three chilidren, only the eldest daughter Maria reached adult hood, Maria was the mother of Eleanor Gonzaga who became Holy Roman Emperess by her marriage to Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, they were the parents of four children, among them was Eleonora Maria Josefa of Austria and Maria Anna Josepha, Archduchess of Austria.

Ancestors

Eleonora's mother was a descendant of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castile. [cite web |url=http://worldroots.com/brigitte/famous/e/eleonoremedicianc1566.htm |title=Ancestors of Eleonore de' Medici |accessdate=2008-07-14 |author=Leo van de Pas |publisher=Worldroots.com ] Isabella is a descendant of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. John is the son of Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault. Edward's mother was Isabella of France, who is a descendant of the French King and Edward's father was Edward II of England, who was a descendent of English kings.

Death

Eleonora died on September 9, 1611 in Cavriana, Italy, when she was 44. [cite web |url=http://www.kleio.org/en/history/famtree/medici/abb100y.html |title=Eleonora de' Medici, Duchess of Mantua |accessdate=2008-06-30 |last=Vogt-Lüerssen |first=Maike |work=kleio.org ] Her husband outlived her by only one year, dying in 1612. [cite web |url=http://www.medici.org/news/dom/dom092001.html |title=Is Vincenzo I Gonzaga impotent? |accessdate=2008-06-30 |work=The Medici Archive Project |date=2001-09 ] , their son Francesco succeeded them, Francesco gave Eleonora a surviving granddaughter, Maria Gonzaga. Her sister Marie had now lost her only sibling to reach adulthood, Marie herself died in 1642.

See also

* Descendants of Cosimo I de Medici
* Marie de' Medici
* House of Medici

References