Maria Cristina de' Medici

Contents

Maria Cristina de 'Medici (24 August 1609 – 9 August 1632) was a Tuscan princess and the first born child of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Born physically disabled and possibly mentally disabled, she died unmarried in 1632.

Biography

Born ten months after her parents' marriage, Maria Cristina de 'Medici was born on 24 August 1609[1][2] in Florence as the first child of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria.[2][3] She was born with a physical disability[1] and was possibly mentally disabled. She was baptized in the Catholic faith on 21 November 1610.

Once proposed as a bride for Odoardo Farnese, Hereditary Prince of Parma, he instead married her sister Margherita.[4]

In 1619 she was sent to live in the Convent of the Holy Conception run by the Order of St. Stephen, but never took monastic vows.[5]

She died on 9 August 1632[1][2] at the Villa del Poggio Imperiale, and a portrait of her survives at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.[6]

In 1857, her tomb in the Medici Chapel was opened,[7] and her remains examined. During the examination, several observations were made:

[...] only the lace that formed the graniglia and some of the metal flowers that made up the crown remained. The hair removed from the skull was mixed with the bones [...]

References

  1. 1.[1.2][1.3]"MARIA MADDALENA d'Austria, granduchessa di Toscana - Enciclopedia". Treccani (in Italian). Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  2. 2.[2.2][2.3]Arrivo, Georgia. "Scritture delle donne di casa Medici nei fondi dell'Archivio di Stato di Firenze" (PDF). www.archiviodistato.firenze.it. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-02-05. Retrieved 2025-08-31.
  3. 3.Lippi, Donatella (2006). Illacrimate sepolture : curiosità e ricerca scientifica nella storia delle riesumazioni dei Medici (PDF). Firenze: Firenze University Press. ISBN 8884535212. OCLC 608291893. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2019-06-12.
  4. 4.Archivio storico per le province Parmensi (in Italian). 1909.
  5. 5.Lipp, Charles (13 May 2016). Contested Spaces of Nobility in Early Modern Europe. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-16036-6 – via Google Books.
  6. 6."Maria Cristina de' Medici (1609-1632) im Alter von drei Jahren". KHM.at (in German). Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  7. 7."Illacrimate sepolture : curiosità e ricerca scientifica nella storia delle riesumazioni dei Medici" (PDF). www.fupress.com. p. 53. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-09-17. Retrieved 2025-08-31.