Margherita de 'Medici

Margherita de 'Medici (1628)

Margherita de 'Medici (German Margarete von Medici ; born May 31, 1612 in Florence , † February 6, 1679 in Parma ) was a duchess of Parma and Piacenza through her marriage to Odoardo I Farnese .

Life

Margherita de 'Medici was the second eldest daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Toscana and Maria Magdalena of Austria . She grew up in Florence and received a careful upbringing.

Margherita's marriage to the Duke of Parma and Piacenza, Odoardo I Farnese , took place on October 11, 1628 in Florence. At the splendid wedding celebrations, the opera La Flora by Marco da Gagliano , composed especially for this occasion, was premiered on October 14th . In Parma, on December 21, 1628, the performance of the opera tournament Mercurio e Marte with music by Claudio Monteverdi and text by Claudio Achillini took place in the Teatro Farnese .

The marriage union of Margherita and Odoardo was intended to improve relations between the Italian noble families of the Medici and Farnese . But it came about against the resistance of the French queen widow Maria de 'Medici , who instead wanted to marry her son Gaston d'Orléans with Margherita. Margherita therefore drew the disfavour of Cardinal Richelieu .

Odoardo Farnese and his wife had eight children:

• Caterina, (October 2, 1629 - October 11, 1629)
• Ranuccio (September 17, 1630 - December 11, 1694), Duke of Parma and Piacenza from 1646
• Alessandro (January 10, 1635 - February 18, 1689), governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1678 to 1682
• Orazio (January 24, 1636 - November 2, 1656), General of the Venetian Knights
• Maria Caterina (September 3, 1637 - April 27, 1684), nun
• Maria Maddalena (July 15, 1638 - March 11, 1693)
• Pietro (April 20, 1639 - March 4, 1677)
• Ottavio Francesco, (born January 5, 1641; † before August 4, 1641), buried in San Sisto in Piacenza

As the first Farnese Duke, Odoardo sought to break away from Spanish supremacy in northern Italy, displayed a pro-French attitude and waged a war against Pope Urban VIII for the Duchy of Castro . He passed away on September 11, 1646, whereupon Margherita (together with Cardinal Francesco Maria Farnese ) led the regency for her underage eldest son Ranuccio until he reached the age of eighteen in 1648 and was able to rule himself. Margherita died in Parma in 1679 at the age of 66.

literature

• Gino Benzoni: Margherita de 'Medici. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani . Volume 70: Marcora - Marsilio. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2008, ( online ).
• Margaret of Parma. In: Anne Commire (Ed.): Women in World History. A biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 10: Maa - Mei. Yorkin, Detroit MI et al. 2001, ISBN 0-7876-4069-7 , pp. 275 f.

Remarks

1. ↑ Family tree