Christina of Lorraine
Christine of Lorraine (French Christine de Lorraine, Italian Cristina di Lorena ) ( born August 16, 1565 in Bar-le- Duc; ; † December 19, 1636 in Florence) was and by marriage to Ferdinando I de ' Medici, Grand Duchess of Tuscany ruled the grand Duchy from 1621 to 1628, together with her daughter Maria Magdalena of Austria, while her grandson Ferdinando II de ' Medici was still a minor.
Life
Childhood, Youth and Marriage
Christine of Lorraine was the second child and first daughter of Duke Charles III. born of Lorraine and his wife Claudia of Valois, daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de Medici. It was named in honor of her godmother and grandmother Christina of Denmark. When Christine was ten years old, her mother died in 1575 from the effects of a difficult birth, and Christine was then educated at the French court in Paris by her grandmother. During this time a close and trusting relationship between Catherine de Medici and her granddaughter, who was strongly influenced by her grandmother developed.
When Christine was of marriageable age, there was no shortage of potential husbands for them. Catherine de 'Medici in 1580 pursued a plan to marry her granddaughter with her own son François- Hercule de Valois, but this plan met with the bride with little enthusiasm, and he was dropped back. Also Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy were as candidates in conversation. The French court even rumors circulated about a planned marriage between Christine and the Scottish King James VI. King Henry III. had the hand of his niece in turn one of his minions, Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, the Duke of Épernon, in prospect, but this plan met with strong opposition Catherine. You want her son Henry of Navarre have made the offer in December 1586 to annul the ill-fated connection with her daughter Margaret, to make probably the way for a marriage between him and her granddaughter Christine - at least later claimed Henry IV and Albert de Gondi, duc de Retz, who should have been present at the interview.
After lengthy negotiations, which were conducted by Horace Ruscelay and Catherine de Medici, Catherine finally certain Ferdinando I de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, to the husband Christines. The marriage contract of the two was on October 24, 1588 signed and sealed, but he was signed provisionally not yet. In it, an extraordinarily handsome dowry for the bride was set: in addition to 200,000 Goldécu the queen mother of her granddaughter all Florentine possessions were. The wedding per procurationem took place in the chapel of Saint- Calais of the castle of Blois on 8 December of the same year. The groom was represented by Charles de Valois, duc d' Angoulême. However, their bridal trip to Florence Christine could only begin in March of next year, because in addition to fighting as part of the Huguenot wars also delayed the death of Catherine de Medici in January 1589 departure. She was testament declared it their main heir, so that was now 22 -year-old with a dowry worth about two million livres equipped Christine. This also included all movable property and works of art of the deceased. So Christine brought probably the famous Valois Tapestries (French: Tapisseries of Valois ) to the ducal court in Florence, which are now housed in the Uffizi Gallery.
After the marriage contract was signed five weeks after the death of Catherine retroactively on 20 February 1589 broke the newly crowned Grand Duchess on towards Italy. Their journey took them from Blois via Lyon, Avignon and Aix -en- Provence to Marseille, where they boarded a Florentine ship on April 11. With stopovers in Monaco and Genoa, it was on to Livorno, where Christine was commissioned by Pietro de ' Medici, a brother of her husband, in reception. After a three- day stay in Pisa she met on 28 April 1589 in Poggio a Caiano, where she first met her husband personally. We went to Florence, where the new Grand Duchess on 30 April with great sympathy of the population found its way. Previously, she was officially crowned in front of the city gates in a lavish staging. This was followed by several weeks of festivities consisting of banquets, triumphal processions, tournaments and amusements. There were several plays, whose pieces were written either specifically for the wedding or were premiered there. These included the comedy La Pellegrina by Girolamo Bargagli and the piece of the Commedia dell'arte La pazzia di Isabella. In the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti even an ancient naval battle was staged. All productions and performances are today regarded as milestones in the theater and stage equipment or - art. The highlight of the celebrations were the so-called Inter Media, scenic musical interludes, which were given between the acts of La Pellegrina.
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
Christine had a large part in her husband after their marriage still ran a France - friendly policies in time. In this light, the compound of Ferdinando's niece, Maria de ' Medici is to see who was married to Henry IV of France and was accompanied by the Grand Duchess to Marseille. But Christine was not instrumental in the beginning of the decisions of her husband, in the course of time he received them, and their views more often with a.
After the death of Ferdinando I in 1609, the widowed Grand Duchess took great influence on the fate of the country when her son Cosimo II de ' Medici to the throne, however, not because of his poor health, self-governing. Cosimo's teacher from his youth, Galileo Galilei, 1615 addressed one of his four Copernican letters to them. Not only her husband, and her first-born survived Christine, because Cosimo II died 1621st In his will, he had ordered his mother and his wife Maria Magdalena of Austria to regents for his still minor son Ferdinando II. This office she held until 1628, before her grandson took over the rule itself. Looking back, is Christine's reign but judged to be unhappy and unsuccessful and you will be given a share of responsibility for the gradual decline of the Grand Duchy. Through their love of lavish luxury, which was coupled with mismanagement, she left her grandson a heavily indebted country that was heavily under the influence of the Church, because the very devout dowager had transferred many offices in the administration of ecclesiastical dignitaries. The belief Christine also expressed in the foundation and endowment of many monasteries, such as the Monastero della Pace in Florence and a Convention in Pisa. For her activities she received twice the Golden Rose, in 1589 by Pope Sixtus V in 1593 by Clement VIII
Christine of Lorraine died at the age of 71 years on 19 December of the year 1636 at the Villa Medici in Castello, a residential area of Florence. In its 1630 patch will she that their savings should benefit as dowries poor girl.
Progeny
His marriage to Ferdinando I. nine children were born:
- Cosimo II (1590-1621), Grand Duke of Tuscany, ∞ 1608 Maria Magdalena of Austria
- Eleonora (1591-1617)
- Caterina (1593-1629), ∞ 1617 Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
- Francesco (1594-1614)
- Carlo (1596-1666), Cardinal
- Filippo (1598-1602)
- Lorenzo (1599-1648)
- Maria Maddalena (1600-1633)
- Claudia (1604-1648), ∞ 1, 1621 Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, 2nd in 1626 Leopold V, Archduke of Austria