Ferdinando II de' Medici. Ferdinando II de' Medici was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670.
He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49-year rule was punctuated by the beginning of Tuscany's long economic decline.
He married Vittoria della Rovere, a first cousin, with whom he had two children who reached adulthood: Cosimo III de' Medici, his eventual successor, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro, a cardinal. Ferdinando was only 10 years of age when his father Cosimo II died.
Because he had not yet reached maturity, his mother Maria Maddalena and paternal grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, acted as joint regents. In his seventeenth year, Ferdinando embarked on a tour of Europe.
One year later, his regency ended and his personal rule began. The dowager Grand Duchess Christina was the power behind the throne until her death in 1636. Ferdinand, like Christina before him, was a patron, ally, and friend of Galileo Galilei. Galileo dedicated his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems to him. This work led to Galileo's second set of hearings before the Inquisition. Ferdinand attempted to keep the concerns of the Holy See from leading to a full-fledged hearing and kept Galileo in Florence until December 1632, when the Roman Inquisitors finally threatened to bring Galileo to Rome in chains if he would not come voluntarily. In June
He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. His 49-year rule was punctuated by the beginning of Tuscany's long economic decline.
He married Vittoria della Rovere, a first cousin, with whom he had two children who reached adulthood: Cosimo III de' Medici, his eventual successor, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro, a cardinal. Ferdinando was only 10 years of age when his father Cosimo II died.
Because he had not yet reached maturity, his mother Maria Maddalena and paternal grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, acted as joint regents. In his seventeenth year, Ferdinando embarked on a tour of Europe.
One year later, his regency ended and his personal rule began. The dowager Grand Duchess Christina was the power behind the throne until her death in 1636. Ferdinand, like Christina before him, was a patron, ally, and friend of Galileo Galilei. Galileo dedicated his Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems to him. This work led to Galileo's second set of hearings before the Inquisition. Ferdinand attempted to keep the concerns of the Holy See from leading to a full-fledged hearing and kept Galileo in Florence until December 1632, when the Roman Inquisitors finally threatened to bring Galileo to Rome in chains if he would not come voluntarily. In June
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