Porzia de' Medici (1537–1565) was an Italian missionary and illegitimate daughter of

Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence Alessandro de' Medici (22 July 1510 – 6 January 1537), nicknamed "il Moro" due to his dark complexion, Duke of Penne and the first Duke of the Florentine Republic (from 1532), was ruler of Florence from 1530 to his death in 1537. The first Me ...

and an unknown mother. She was born after the assassination of Alessandro and was placed as a young child in the Augustinian convent of San Clemente in Via San Gallo. The convent was founded by

Maria Salviati Maria Salviati (17 July 1499 – 29 December 1543) was a Florentine noblewoman, the daughter of Lucrezia di Lorenzo de' Medici and Jacopo Salviati. She married Giovanni delle Bande Nere and was the mother of Cosimo I de Medici. Her husband ...

, the mother of

Cosimo I de' Medici Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second and last duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first grand duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death. Cosimo I succeeded his cousin to the duchy. ...

, to shelter the illegitimate daughters of Alessandro. Porzia took her final vows and became a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

nun. Eventually she became the abbess of the convent.Langdon (2006), p. 124 Porzia was in close contact with members of the de' Medici family, including her half-sister

Giulia de' Medici Giulia Romola di Alessandro de' Medici (c. 1535 – c. 1588) was the illegitimate daughter of Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence and his mistress Taddea Malaspina. Following her father's assassination, she was reared at the court of Cosi ...

and her half-brother Giulio. A mural was painted depicting Porzia with

Francesco Francesco, the Italian language, Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis (given name), Francis", is one of the List of most popular given names, most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name inclu ...

, Ferdinando,

Giovanni Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...

, and Garzia, the four sons of

. That mural has since been lost. Her half-sister Giulia often visited Porzia at her convent.Langdon (2006), p. 125 She died in the convent at the age of twenty-seven.

Notes

References

*Langdon, Gabrielle (2006). ''Medici Women: Portraits of Power, Love, and Betrayal''. University of Toronto Press. 1538 births 1565 deaths Porzia de' Medici Nobility from the Republic of Florence 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Female Roman Catholic missionaries Daughters of dukes {{Italy-reli-bio-stub