Ferdinando II. de’ Medici

Ferdinando II de’ Medici was born on 14 July 1610 at the Palazzo Pitti in Florence and died there on 23 May 1670. A member of the Medici family, he was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He is particularly remembered as a generous patron of scientists such as Galileo Galilei, Evangelista Torricelli, and Vincenzo Viviani. Ferdinando was the eldest son of Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici and Maria Magdalena of Austria. His grandparents included Ferdinando I de’ Medici and Christina of Lorraine, as well as Archduke Charles II of Austria and Maria Anna of Bavaria. He had seven siblings, including Giovanni Carlo, Matthias, and Leopoldo, with whom he later worked closely. His sister Margareta married Duke Odoardo I Farnese, while Anna became Archduchess of Further Austria. When Ferdinando was eleven, his father died. Until he came of age, Tuscany was governed by his mother and paternal grandmother, Maria Magdalena of Austria and Christina of Lorraine, with the assistance of a regency council. Their regency was marked by lavish spending, the influence of numerous incapable clerics, and rising taxes. These policies marked the beginning of Tuscany’s economic decline. In foreign affairs, the regents arranged the engagement of the thirteen-year-old Ferdinando to his two-year-old cousin Vittoria della Rovere, the last heir to the Duchy of Urbino. They were unable, however, to prevent Pope Urban VIII from occupying the small state after the death of its last duke. Ferdinando received a careful education. Matteo Neroni taught him geography, history, and cosmography, while the priest Famiano Michelini, a former pupil of Galileo, instructed him in mathematics and astronomy. The young prince also took an interest in physical exercise, military training, riding, and hunting. At the request of his devout mother and grandmother, religious and moral education likewise played an important role. In 1626 he contracted smallpox. Two years later, he undertook an extensive journey through Italy and Europe, visiting, among other places, Rome, Naples, Loreto, Bologna, Ferrara, Venice, Vienna, and Prague. There he met his maternal uncle, the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II. On 14 July 1628, Ferdinando assumed full authority over Tuscany, although his mother and grandmother initially continued to exert considerable influence over state affairs. His calm nature and simple way of life quickly won him the sympathy of his subjects. Finding the state finances in chaotic condition, he reduced court expenses and simplified court etiquette. During the plague epidemic of 1630, he and his brothers personally helped the population. Despite preventive measures, including restrictions on border traffic, around ten percent of the grand duchy’s inhabitants died. The epidemic caused severe economic disruption. Ferdinando sought to share power with his brothers Giovanni Carlo, Matthias, and Leopoldo, and maintained close cooperation with them. Nevertheless, the first clear signs of economic decline appeared during his long reign. The main causes were the effects of the plague and the difficult international situation, which was aggravated by Tuscany’s involvement in the War of Castro. The Grand Duke continued the reclamation and cultivation of the Chiana Valley and promoted agriculture, particularly wine and olive production and the manufacture of raw silk. He reduced domestic debts, attempted to dismantle restrictions affecting the wool and silk industries, and reformed the tax system. In 1649 he also ordered part of the war fleet to be disbanded. Earlier, in 1626, he had established the Barco reale hunting reserve in the Montalbano area. Ferdinando pursued a cautious foreign policy, attempting to balance the power of France and Spain. In 1635 he unsuccessfully sought to form an alliance of Italian states against both powers. In 1643 he entered the Second War of Castro to prevent the Papal States from strengthening their position along Tuscany’s southern border. The conflict placed a heavy burden on the treasury. In order to secure further loans, the government had to accept high interest rates, and in some agricultural regions barter returned because of the shortage of money. Despite these difficulties, Tuscany’s territory was slightly enlarged through the acquisition of the County of Santa Fiora in 1633 and Pontremoli in 1649. In 1634 Ferdinando married Vittoria della Rovere. The marriage was considered unhappy because of their differing characters and interests. Ferdinando was cheerful and interested in science, whereas Vittoria led a strictly religious life. Their first son, Cosimo, died shortly after his birth in 1639. A daughter born in 1640 also died immediately after birth. In 1642, their future successor, Cosimo III, was born. Ferdinando wanted him to receive a political and scientific education, while his mother preferred a religious upbringing. Their youngest child, Francesco Maria, was born much later, in 1660. Ferdinando’s greatest historical importance lies in his relationship with science. At the Palazzo Pitti he collected barometers, thermometers, and other technical instruments. From the mid-1640s onward, he organized experiments at court involving some of the earliest thermometers, a condensation hygrometer, and a hydrometer. The artificial incubation of chicken eggs was also investigated. These activities helped prepare the way for the Accademia del Cimento, founded by his brother Leopoldo in 1657. In 1654, with the assistance of the Jesuit Luigi Antinori, Ferdinando also established the world’s first meteorological service. Ferdinando supported Galileo Galilei during the Inquisition trial of 1633 and worked to ensure that the scholar would be acquitted and allowed to continue his research. After Galileo’s conviction, he cautiously sought to have the sentence overturned or mitigated. Ferdinando also enriched the Medici collections of paintings, antiquities, precious stones, jewelry, and sculpture, particularly through works from the della Rovere family that came to Florence through his wife. Ferdinando II died at the age of fifty-nine from a stroke after a long-standing edema worsened. He was given an elaborate burial in the Medici Chapels of the Basilica of San Lorenzo.