Francesco de' Medici (16 October 1614 – 25 July 1634) was the fourth son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and his wife,

Maria Maddalena of Austria Maria Maddalena of Austria (Maria Magdalena; 7 October 1589 – 1 November 1631) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from the accession of her husband, Cosimo II, in 1609 until his death in 1621. With him, she had eight children, including a duchess of ...

.Young, p 410 He died unmarried.

Biography

Prince Francesco was born at the

Palazzo Pitti The Palazzo Pitti (), in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast, mainly Renaissance, palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present ...

in Florence, the capital of his father's grand duchy. The Medici family had been connected to Tuscany for over three centuries and had been its sovereign rulers since 1569. Little is known about his childhood, other than that he was raised alongside his brother Mattias. He was a Tuscan prince by birth and entitled to the style of ''Highness''. His siblings included the future Duchess of Parma,

Archduchess Anna of Austria Anna of Austria (7 July 1528 – 16 October 1590), a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg, was Duchess of Bavaria from 1550 until 1579, by her marriage with Duke Albert V. Family Born at the Bohemian court in Prague, Anna was the third ...

and

Grand Duke Ferdinando II Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was remembered by his contemporaries as a man of culture and ...

, himself father of the penultimate Medici grand duke. He pursued a military career.Young, p 531 Along with his mother and Mattias, he visited Austria in 1631 in order to meet his uncle the

Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were de ...

. He fought in the Battle of Lützen during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

but fled the scene. His elder brother, Grand Duke Ferdinando, reprimanded him for his conduct in a letter dated 14 July. He died from plague during the Siege of Ratisbon, 1634.

Ancestors

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Young, G. F., ''The Medici: Volume 3'', E. P. Dutton and Company, 1920

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Francesco De Francesco Tuscan princes 1614 births 1634 deaths Nobility from Florence 17th-century Italian nobility Italian people of the Thirty Years' War 17th-century deaths from plague (disease) Military personnel from Florence