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Don Pietro de' Medici (3 June 1554 – 25 April 1604) was the youngest son of 
At the end of 1577, he went for the first of many stays at the Spanish court. He remained in Spain until the end of 1578. During this visit he gained a reputation as a spendthrift and a rake. He left Tuscany in October 1579 to bring Italian troops to Spain and lead them during the mission to Portugal. He stayed in Lisbon until the end of 1582 when he returned to Spain where his presence is documented in 1583 and 1584.
His correspondence proves that he had serious money problems. He came to Italy in July 1584 to ask his brothers to cover his debts, incurring their disapproval for living with a woman with a questionable reputation. The Medici court tried to arrange a marriage for Pietro. In July 1586 he went back to Spain, where he continued to accumulate debts. He came back to Italy in November 1587 after
Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
Life
Rise to power
Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...
and Eleonora di Toledo.
Early in 1571 he went to Rome and in the spring of 1575 he went to Venice. In 1571 he married his first cousin Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo
Eleonora di Garzia di Toledo or Leonor Álvarez de Toledo Osorio (March 1553 – 10 July 1576), more often known as "Leonora" or "Dianora", was the daughter of García Álvarez de Toledo, 4th Marquis of Villafranca, Duke of Fernandina. Leonor ...
, whom he accused of adultery and strangled with a dog leash in July 1576 at the Villa Medici at Cafaggiolo
The Villa Medicea di Cafaggiolo is a villa situated near the Tuscan town of Barberino di Mugello in the valley of the River Sieve, some 25 kilometres north of Florence, central Italy. It was one of the oldest and most favoured of the Me ...
. He also had her supposed lover Bernardino Antinori
Marchesi Antinori Srl is an Italian wine company that can trace its history back to 1385. They are one of the biggest wine companies in Italy, and their innovations played a large part in the " Super-Tuscan" revolution of the 1970s.
Antinori is ...
imprisoned and killed.
At the end of 1577, he went for the first of many stays at the Spanish court. He remained in Spain until the end of 1578. During this visit he gained a reputation as a spendthrift and a rake. He left Tuscany in October 1579 to bring Italian troops to Spain and lead them during the mission to Portugal. He stayed in Lisbon until the end of 1582 when he returned to Spain where his presence is documented in 1583 and 1584.
His correspondence proves that he had serious money problems. He came to Italy in July 1584 to ask his brothers to cover his debts, incurring their disapproval for living with a woman with a questionable reputation. The Medici court tried to arrange a marriage for Pietro. In July 1586 he went back to Spain, where he continued to accumulate debts. He came back to Italy in November 1587 after Francesco I de' Medici
Francesco I (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 until his death in 1587. He was a member of the House of Medici.
Biography
Born in Florence, Francesco was the son of Cosimo I de' Medic ...
's death and stayed until September 1589, when he went back to Spain.
His marriage to Dona Beatriz de Lara, daughter of Manuel de Menezes, the Portuguese Duke of Vila Real
Duke of Vila Real (in Portuguese ''Duque de Vila Real'') was a Portuguese title of nobility created by royal decree, dated from February 28, 1585, by King Philip I of Portugal (also known as Philip II of Spain), and granted to ''Dom'' Manuel de M ...
, in 1593 did little to stabilize him economically and emotionally. Pietro continued to see his lover Antonia de Carvajal who gave him five children out of wedlock. He also had an illegitimate son with Maria della Ribera.
He kept writing to his brother Ferdinando I de' Medici
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 3 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Early life
Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at t ...
, asking for a portion of the family fortune to cover his debts. In 1596 he came to Italy to appeal in vain to the Pope to side with him in the controversy. Pietro died, deeply in debt, before turning 50. After his death his illegitimate children were all brought to Florence to be cared for by the Medici. Pietro was buried in the Monasterio de la Santissima Trinidad in Madrid. His corpse was later brought to Florence by Cosimo II de' Medici.
References
Ancestry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Don Pietro De' 1554 births 1604 deaths Pietro de' Medici, Don 16th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian nobility Pietro de' Medici Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence