Francesco Maria (Medici) de Medici (1660 - 1711)

Born 12 Nov 1660 in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Ancestors

Died 3 Feb 1711 at age 50 in Bagno a Ripoli, Tuscany, Italy

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Biography

Francesco Maria de Medici was born in Florence on 12 November 1660, the second son of Ferdinando de Medici and his wife, Vittoria Rovere.

As a young man in 1683 he was appointed to governor of Siena. Three years later in September 1686 he was created cardinal with the permission of Pope Innocent XI. When his mother died in March 1694, he succeeded to the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro.

When it became clear that his nephew, Ferdinando and his wife Violante Beatrice of Bavaria were not going to produce an heir, Cosimo III looked towards his other son to solve the problem facing the Tuscan succession. The question of an heir remained unsolved when the union between Gian Gastone and Anna Maria of Saxe-Lauenburg also remained barren.

In 1709, when his health had already deteriorated, Francesco, obtained a Papal dispensation, and married Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga, daughter of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and his wife, Maria Gonzaga. Married by proxy on 16 June 1709, the couple were married in person on 14 July 1709. No child was born to the marriage.

Francesco died at Bagno a Ripoli in 1711 from dropsy, leaving behind enormous debts.

Sources

• Wiipedia: Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro