Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

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Image:Cosimo I de' Medici in Armour by Agnolo Bronzino.jpeg Cosimo I de' Medici (June 12, 1519, Florence [1] – April 21, 1574, Castello) was the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1537 to 1574, during the waning days of the Renaissance.

Son of the famous condottiere Giovanni dalle Bande Nere from Forlì, Cosimo came to power when Alessandro de' Medici was assassinated in 1537 because Alessandro's only male issue was illegitimate. He was from a different branch of the family, but many of the influential men in Florence favored him, in some cases perhaps hoping to rule through him, since he was only 17. However, he proved strong-willed and ambitious and was immediately recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. He restored the power of the Medici, who thereafter ruled Florence until the last of the Medici Grand Dukes, Gian Gastone de' Medici (1671–1737). The governmental structures he set up endured beyond that to the time when the grand duchy was absorbed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Image:Firenze.CosimoI.JPG When the Florentine exiles heard of the death of Alessandro, they marshaled their forces with support from France and from disgruntled neighbors of Florence. During this time, he had an illegitmate daughter:

Bia (1537 – 1542)

Toward the end of July 1537, they marched into Tuscany under the leadership of Bernardo Salviati and Piero Strozzi. When Cosimo heard of their approach, he sent his best troops under Alessandro Vitelli to engage the enemy, which they did at Montemurlo, a fortress that belonged to the Nerli. After defeating the exile's army, Vitelli stormed the fortress, where Strozzi and a few of his companions had retreated to safety. It fell after only a few hours, and Cosimo celebrated his first victory. The prominent prisoners were subsequently beheaded on the Piazza or in the Bargello. Strozzi's body was found with a bloody sword next to it and a note quoting Virgil, but many believe that his suicide was faked.

Cosimo next turned on his neighbors of Lucca and Siena. With the support of the Emperor, he laid siege to Siena, even though it was occupied by Spanish troops. In 1557, after a 15-month siege, he finally took the city, although its population had been diminished from forty thousand to eight thousand.

In 1559, he added Montalcino to his territories and formed the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. He was a despotic ruler and also found it necessary to lay heavy tax burdens on his subjects, thus laying the groundwork for the future dissatisfaction and rebellion that eventually brought about the downfall of his successors. Despite his economic difficulties, he was a lavish patron of the arts and also developed the Florentine navy, which eventually took part in the Battle of Lepanto.

In the last 10 years of his reign, he gave up the active rule to his son and successor Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

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Cosimo and the arts

Among his many accomplishments was the creation of the Uffizi, originally intended to house the government, now one of the world's great art galleries. He also finished the Pitti Palace as a home for the Medici and created the magnificent Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti. He was a great patron of the arts, supporting, among others, Vasari, Cellini, and the architect Lanci.

A large bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I by Giambologna, erected in 1598, still stands today in the Piazza della Signoria, the main square of Florence.

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Marriage and family

Image:Eleanora of Toledo.jpgIn 1539, he married Eleonora di Toledo (1519–1562), the daughter of Don Pedro Alvarez de Toledo, the Spanish viceroy of Naples. Her married name was Leonor de Toledo-de' Medici. Her face is still familiar to many because of her solemn and distant portraits by Agnolo Bronzino. The most famous of them, with her son Giovanni, hangs in the Uffizi Gallery. She provided the Medici with the Pitti Palace and eight sons to ensure male succession and three daughters to connect the Medici with noble and ruling houses in Italy. She was a patron of the new Jesuit order, and her private chapel in the Palazzo della Signoria was decorated by Bronzino, who had originally arrived in Florence to provide festive decor for her wedding. She died, with her sons Giovanni and Garzia, in 1562, when she was only forty; all three of them were struck down by malaria while traveling to Pisa.

Cosimo's children [2] were:

Maria (April 3, 1540 – November 19, 1557)
Francesco (March 25, 1541 – October 19, 1587)
Isabella (August 31, 1542 – July 16, 1576), who was murdered by her husband Paolo Giordano Orsini because of her infidelity
Giovanni (September 28, 1543 – November 1562), bishop of Pisa and cardinal
Lucrezia (June 7, 1545 – April 21, 1561), wife (1560) of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Modena
Pietro (Pedricco) (August 10, 1546 – June 10, 1547)
Garzia (July 5, 1547 – December 12, 1562)
Antonio (1548 – 1548)
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (July 30, 1549 – February 17, 1609)
Anna (1553 – 1553)
Pietro (June 3, 1554 – April 25, 1604), who murdered his wife because of her infidelity

In 1570, he married a second time to Camilla Martelli (died 1574). They have 3 children:

(Unnamed daughter, died before being baptised) (1566 – 1566)
Giovanni (1567 – 1621)
Virginia (May 29, 1568 – January 15, 1615), wife of Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena