Predecessor Francesco I House Medici | Successor Cosimo II | |
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Reign 19 October 1587 – 7 February 1609 Born 30 July 1549
Florence ( 1549-07-30 ) Issue Cosimo II
Maria Maddalena
Catherine, Duchess of Mantua
Carlo, Bishop of Ostia
Claudia, Archduchess of Austria Father Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Died 7 February 1609, Florence, Italy Spouse Christina of Lorraine (m. 1589) Children Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Parents Eleanor of Toledo, Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Siblings Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Similar Francesco I de' Medici - Grand Du, Cosimo I de' Medici - Grand Du, Christina of Lorraine, Cosimo II de' Medici - Grand Du, Ferdinando II de' Medici - G | ||
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 17 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I.
Contents
Early life
Ferdinando was the fifth son (the third surviving at the time of his birth) of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleanor of Toledo, the daughter of Don Pedro Alvarez de Toledo, the Spanish viceroy of Naples.
He was made a Cardinal in 1562 at the age of 14 but was never ordained into the priesthood. At Rome, he proved an able administrator. He founded the Villa Medici in Rome and acquired many works of art (including the Medici lions), which he then brought back to Florence with him.
Grand Duke
When his brother Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany died in 1587, Ferdinando succeeded as Grand Duke at the age of 38.
In many ways, Ferdinando was the opposite of his brother who preceded him. Approachable and generous, he set out to rule mildly. He re-established the justice system and was genuinely concerned about the welfare of his subjects. During his reign, Tuscany revived and regained the independence his brother had given up.
Ferdinando fostered commerce and gained great wealth through the Medici banks, which were established in all the major cities of Europe. He enacted an edict of tolerance for Jews and heretics, and Livorno became a haven for Spanish Jews as well as other persecuted foreigners. He established the Medici Oriental Press (Typographia Medicea), which published numerous books in the Arabic script.
He improved the harbor Cosimo I had built and diverted part of the flow of the Arno River into a canal called the Naviglio, which aided commerce between Florence and Pisa. He fostered an irrigation project in the Val di Chiana, which allowed the flatlands around Pisa and Fucecchio and in the Val di Nievole to be cultivated.
Marriage
For the first two years of his reign, he retained his position as Cardinal. In 1589 he married Christina of Lorraine. The couple had a large reception at the Medici Villa in Poggio a Caiano. Christina's dowry was considerably large; it included 600,000 crowns in cash as well as jewellery with a value of 50,000 crowns. Also, the rights of the duchy of Urbino were transferred to Christina after the death of Queen Catherine and thus assumed by future Medici rulers.
Foreign policy
His foreign policy attempted to free Tuscany from Spanish domination. After the assassination of Henry III of France in 1589, he supported Henry IV of France in his struggles against the Catholic League. Ferdinando lent Henry money and encouraged him to convert to Catholicism, which he eventually did. Ferdinando also used his influence with the Pope to get him to accept Henry's conversion.
Henry showed no appreciation for these favors, and Ferdinando let the relationship cool, maintaining his cherished independence. He supported Philip III of Spain in his campaign in Algeria and Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor in his against the Turks. For these undertakings, he found it necessary to raise taxes on his subjects. He finally obtained the formal investiture of Siena, which his father had conquered.
Ferdinando also strengthened the Tuscan fleet, and it saw victories against pirates on the Barbary coast in 1607, and against a superior Turkish fleet the following year.
He also dreamed of a small African empire, and then considered the possibility of a colony in Brasil. Ferdinando organised an expedition in 1608 under the command of Captain Thornton to northern Brasil and the Amazon river in order to create a colony.