Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici | |
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Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany | |
Mother | Marguerite Louise d'Orléans |
Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (11 August 1667 – 18 February 1743) was an Italian noblewoman who was the last
Anna Maria Luisa was the only daughter of
In 1713 Cosimo III altered the Tuscan laws of succession to allow the accession of his daughter, and spent his final years canvassing the European powers to agree to recognise this statute. However, in 1735, as part of a territorial arrangement, the European powers appointed Duke Francis Stephen of Lorraine as heir, and he duly ascended the Tuscan throne in her stead. After the death of Johann Wilhelm, Anna Maria Luisa returned to Florence, where she enjoyed the rank of first lady until the accession of her brother Gian Gastone, who banished her to the Villa La Quiete. When Gian Gastone died in 1737, Francis Stephen's envoy offered Anna Maria Luisa the position of nominal regent of Tuscany, but she declined. Her death, in 1743, brought the grand ducal House of Medici to an end. Her remains were interred in the Medicean necropolis, Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, which she helped complete.
Biography
Early life
Despite her mother's efforts to induce a miscarriage by means of riding,
Her parents' relationship was quarrelsome; Marguerite Louise took every chance to humiliate Cosimo.
Electress of the Palatinate
In 1669, Anna Maria Luisa was considered as a potential bride to
Following refusals from
She departed for
The Electress became pregnant in 1692; however, she miscarried.[4] It is thought incorrectly by some historians that soon after arrival she contracted syphilis from the Elector, which they think explains why Anna Maria Luisa and Johann Wilhelm failed to produce any children.[16][17][18][19] Anna Maria Luisa and Johann Wilhelm, notwithstanding, shared a harmonious marriage.[20] The Electress spent her time enjoying balls, musical performances and other festivities.[21] He commissioned a theatre for her where the comedies of French playwright Molière were performed.[21] Because Anna Maria Luisa patronised many musicians, the contemporary Palatine court enjoyed regard as an international centre of music.[22] She invited Fortunato Chelleri to court and appointed him maestro di cappella ("music teacher"). Agostino Steffani, a polymath, was sponsored by the Electress from his arrival in Düsseldorf, in 1703, until her return to Tuscany; the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini library in Florence houses two editions of his chamber duets.[23]
Anna Maria Luisa arranged a marriage for her younger brother at the instigation of their father: On 2 July 1697 Gian Gastone de' Medici married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, heiress of the eponymous duchy, in Düsseldorf.[24] Gian Gastone's wife repulsed him, and for that reason, they separated in 1708.[25]
The same year as Gian Gastone's marriage, the
Tuscan succession
Cosimo III wished to alter the male-only Tuscan line of succession so as to allow the accession of his daughter, Anna Maria Luisa, in the event of a male-line succession failure. But his plan was met with fierce opposition from the European powers.[27] Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Tuscany's nominal feudal over-lord, subscribed, but only if he should succeed her.[27] Cosimo and she were at odds with the proposal. Without a concord in sight, the "Tuscan question" became dormant.[28]
Some years later, as the question of the succession became more urgent, Cardinal
Following the death of his heir apparent,
In June 1717, Cosimo declared his wish that the
Return to Florence
The Elector Palatine died in June 1716. His widow, Anna Maria Luisa, returned to Florence in October 1717.
On 4 April 1718
On 25 October 1723, six days before his death, Cosimo III distributed a final proclamation commanding that Tuscany shall stay independent; Anna Maria Luisa shall succeed uninhibited after Gian Gastone; the Grand Duke reserves the right to choose his successor.[44] Unfortunately for Cosimo, Europe completely ignored it.[44] Gian Gastone, now the Grand Duke, and Anna Maria Luisa were not on good terms. He despised the Electress for engineering his unhappy marriage with Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, while she detested his liberal policies: he repealed all of his father's anti-Semitic statutes and revelled in upsetting her.[45] Consequently, the Electress was compelled to abandon her apartment in the left wing of the Palazzo Pitti, for the Villa La Quiete.[45] She refurbished La Quiete's house and gardens with the assistance of Sebastiano Rapi, the gardener of the Boboli Gardens, and the architects Giovanni Battista Foggini and Paolo Giovanozzi.[46][47] In the period 1722–1725, the Electress embellished the villa further by commissioning twelve statues of various religious figures.[4]
In spite of their mutual dislike, the Electress and Violante Beatrice attempted to improve Gian Gastone's poor public image together.
In 1736, during the War of the Polish Succession, Infante Charles was banished from Tuscany as part of a territorial swap, and Francis III of Lorraine was made heir in his stead.[52] In January 1737, the Spanish troops, who had occupied Tuscany since 1731, withdrew; 6,000 Austrian soldiers took their place.[53]
Gian Gastone died from "an accumulation of diseases" on 9 July 1737, surrounded by prelates and his sister.
Death and legacy
The "Lorrainers," as the occupying forces were dubbed, were popularly loathed. The Viceroy, the Prince de Craon, whom the Electress disliked for his "vulgar" court, allowed the Electress to live undisturbed in her own wing of the
Anna Maria Luisa's single most enduring act was the Family Pact. It ensured that all the Medicean art and treasures collected over nearly three centuries of political ascendancy remained in Florence. Cynthia Miller Lawrence, an American art historian, argues that Anna Maria Luisa thus provisioned for Tuscany's future economy through tourism.
In 2012 after concern caused by the
Styles of Anna Maria Luisa, Electress of the Palatinate | ||
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Reference style Her Serene Highness[69] | | |
Spoken style | Your Serene Highness |
Ancestors
Ancestors of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
5. Vittoria della Rovere | |||||||||||||||
11. Claudia de' Medici | |||||||||||||||
1. Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici | |||||||||||||||
12. Henry IV of France | |||||||||||||||
6. Gaston, Duke of Orléans | |||||||||||||||
13. Marie de' Medici | |||||||||||||||
3. Marguerite Louise of Orléans | |||||||||||||||
14. Francis II, Duke of Lorraine | |||||||||||||||
7. Marguerite of Lorraine | |||||||||||||||
15. Christina of Salm | |||||||||||||||
References
Notes
- ^ This is equivalent to £354 million in present day terms.[56] UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Measuring Worth: UK CPI
- ^ This is equivalent to £88.6 million in present day terms.[56] UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from Measuring Worth: UK CPI
Citations
- ^ Casciu, pp. 80–88
- ^ a b Young, p 502; p 508
- ^ Acton, p 101
- ^ a b c d Galleria Palatina (2006). "Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici – Biografia" (in Italian). www.polomuseale.firenze.it. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
- ^ a b Acton, p 93
- ^ Acton, pp. 133–135
- ^ Strathern, p 389
- ^ Young p 471
- ^ a b Acton, p 151
- ^ a b Acton, p 165
- ^ a b Acton, p 182
- ^ a b Acton, p 181
- ^ Wilson, p 88
- ^ Pevitt, p 14
- ^ a b Otterness, p 14
- ^ Hale, p 189
- ^ Hale, pp. 188–189
- ^ Hibbert, p 304
- ^ When her remains were exhumed for relocation, there was no sign of syphilis
- ^ Lawrence, p 230
- ^ a b Mosco, p 185
- ^ Chelleri, Fortunato; Vavoulis, Vavoulis, p ix
- ^ Timms, p 116
- ^ Acton, pp. 208–211
- ^ Strathern, p 404
- ^ Otterness, p 15
- ^ a b Acton, p 255
- ^ Acton, p 256
- ^ a b Acton, p 246
- ^ Acton, p 251
- ^ Young, p 479
- ^ a b Acton, p 261
- ^ Solari, p 282
- ^ Young, p 480
- ^ Acton, p 262
- ^ a b Acton, p 267
- ^ Young, p 482
- ^ Acton, p 264
- ^ Acton, p 265
- ^ Acton, pp. 265–266
- ^ Solari, pp. 281–282
- ^ Acton, p 275
- ^ Acton, pp. 272–273
- ^ a b Acton, pp. 275–276
- ^ a b Acton, p 280
- ^ Institute and Museum of the History of Science (11 January 2008). "Villa La Quiete – Pharmacy of the former Montalve Conservatory". brunelleschi.imss.fi.it. Retrieved 18 October 2009.
- ^ Mosco, p 190
- ^ Acton, p 288
- ^ a b Strathern, p 407
- ^ Acton, p 188
- ^ Strathern, p 410
- ^ Crankshaw, p 24
- ^ Hale, p 192
- ^ Young, p 494
- ^ Acton, p 304
- ^ a b c UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
- ^ Napier, p 595
- ^ Young, pp. 502–503
- ^ Hibbert, p 308
- ^ Young, pp. 497 – 498
- ^ Acton, p 310
- ^ a b c Acton, p 309
- ^ Strathern, p 411
- ^ Young, pp. 508–509
- ^ Bertelli, p 229
- ^ Lawrence, p. 235
- ^ Diaz-Andreu, p 62
- S2CID 74812676.
- ^ Young, p 501
- ^ "The three branches of the Medici family". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-333-29315-0
- Bertelli, Sergio (2003). The King's Body: Sacred Rituals of Power in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-02344-1
- (in Italian) Casciu, Stefano. (1993). Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Elettrice Palatina: (1667–1743). Bruschi. ISBN 88-8347-359-0.
- Chelleri, Fortunato; Vavoulis, Vavoulis (2000). Keyboard Music. A-R Editions. ISBN 978-0-89579-457-4.
- Cont, Alessandro (2018). La Chiesa dei principi. Le relazioni tra Reichskirche, dinastie sovrane tedesche e stati italiani (1688–1763), preface of Elisabeth Garms-Cornides, Trento, Provincia autonoma di Trento
- Crankshaw, Edward (1969). Maria Theresa. Longmans, Green & Co.
- Diaz-Andreu, Margarita (2008). A World History of Nineteenth-Century Archaeology: Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Past. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-921717-5.
- Hale, J.R. (1977). Florence and the Medici. Orion. ISBN 1-84212-456-0.
- ISBN 978-0-14-005090-5
- Lawrence, Cynthia Miller (1997). Women and Art in Early Modern Europe: Patrons, Collectors and Connoisseurs. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-271-01969-7.
- Mosco, Marilena (2004). The Museo degli argenti: collections and collectors. Giunti. ISBN 88-09-03793-6.
- Napier, Edward Henry (1846). Florentine History: from the Earliest Authentic Records to the Accession of Ferdinand the Third: Volume V. Moxon.
- Otterness, Philip (2007). Becoming German: The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-7344-9.
- Pevitt, Christine (1997). The Man Who Would Be King: The Life of Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-81317-X.
- Solari, Giovanna (1968). The House of Farnese: A Portrait of a Great Family of the Renaissance. Doubleday & Co.
- Strathern, Paul (2003). The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-952297-3.
- Timms, Colin (2003). Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515473-3.
- Wilson, Peter (1998). German Armies: War And German Society, 1648–1806. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-85728-106-4.
- Young, G.F. (1920). The Medici: Volume II. John Murray.
External links
Media related to Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici at Wikimedia Commons