Francesco Maria de' Medici (12 November 1660 – 3 February 1711) was a member of the

House of Medici The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo de' Medici, Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first h ...

. He was successively a Governor of Siena, cardinal and later the heir of the duchy of Montefeltro by right of his mother.

Biography

Medici was born in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and was the second son of

Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was Grand Duchy of Tuscany, grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo II de' Medici and Archduchess Maria Mad ...

and his wife Vittoria della Rovere. He was the product of a reconciliation between his parents after his mother found the

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

in bed with one of his pages. He was the younger brother of the Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. His maternal cousins included the Austrian bishop of Olmütz and the

Duke of Mantua During its Timeline of Mantua, history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of ...

. In 1683 he was appointed to governor of

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, a position he maintained until his death. Three years later in September 1686 he was created cardinal with the permission of

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI (; ; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 until his death on 12 August 1689. Political and religious tensions with ...

.Moroni, p 93 Francesco Maria exerted a notable influence in the

conclave A conclave is a gathering of the College of Cardinals convened to appoint the pope of the Catholic Church. Catholics consider the pope to be the apostolic successor of Saint Peter and the earthly head of the Catholic Church. Concerns around ...

s of 1689 and 1700. Despite having this influence with the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, he lived mainly at Villa di Lappeggi outside

. In his tenancy of the villa, Lappeggi was restored and became known as the seat of his personal court where various parties and much revelry took place. At the death of his mother in March 1694, Medici succeeded to the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, her allodial possessions, once the possession of the House of La Rovere. He acted as mentor to his nephew Grand Prince of Tuscany, heir to the Tuscan throne. When it became clear that the Grand Prince and his wife Violante Beatrice of Bavaria were not going to produce an heir, Cosimo III looked towards his brother to solve the problem facing the Tuscan succession. The question of an heir was further exacerbated when the union between Prince Gian Gastone and Anna Maria of Saxe-Lauenburg also remained barren. In 1709, when his health had already deteriorated, he obtained the Papal dispensation from the cardinalate, and was forced to marry Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga, daughter of

Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla Vincenzo Gonzaga (1634 – 28 April 1714) was the reigning Duchy of Guastalla, Duke of Guastalla and by birth member of the House of Gonzaga. Early life Vincenzo was born as the second son of Andrea Gonzaga, Count of San Paolo (d. 1686) and hi ...

, in an attempt to save the dynasty. Married by proxy on 16 June 1709, the couple were married in person on 14 July 1709. Contemporaries agreed that Gonzaga was an attractive woman with beautiful skin, eyes, mouth, and waist. However, it was soon clear that the marriage was not to be a fruitful union. Gonzaga was repulsed by her husband, refusing to fulfil her marital duties with a man twenty-six years her senior. Despite requisitioning the assistance of her old confessor from Guastalla, Cosimo III could not cajole her into submitting, as she allegedly feared contracting venereal diseases. Medici had her surmount this predicament and eventually the marriage was consummated. However, no heirs were born leaving Francesco Maria devastated. Medici retired to Bagno a Ripoli where he died in 1711 from dropsy, leaving behind exorbitant debts.Acton, p 251 His wife outlived him till 1742 having gone mad.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* Acton, Harold: ''The Last Medici'', Macmillan, London, 1980, * Moroni, Gaetano: ''Dizionario di Erudizione Storico Ecclesiastica da San Pietro'', Tipografia Emiliana, 1847

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Francesco Maria 1660 births 1711 deaths Francesco Maria 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian cardinals 18th-century Italian cardinals Tuscan nobility Deaths from edema Governors of Siena Francesco Maria de' Medici Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence Resigned cardinals Clergy from Florence Sons of dukes