Maria Magdalena von Österreich

Maria Magdalena of Austria was born on 7 October 1589 in Graz as the fourteenth child of Archduke Charles II of Austria and the Bavarian princess Maria Anna. She came from the Habsburg family and was connected on both her father’s and mother’s sides to important European ruling houses. Her father, a committed supporter of the Counter-Reformation, died when Maria Magdalena was only three years old. Her mother then took responsibility for her upbringing. Contemporaries described Maria Magdalena as self-confident and proud of her ancestry. She was strongly built and lively, and enjoyed solemn church ceremonies, hunting, and good food. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the House of Medici sought a suitable marriage alliance with the Habsburgs. Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany, wanted to strengthen relations with Spain while limiting French influence. After lengthy negotiations, Maria Magdalena was chosen. On 28 June 1608, the marriage contract was signed in Madrid. She received a dowry equal to that previously granted to her sister Constance, who had by then become Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania. The marriage by proxy took place in Graz on 14 September 1608. Paolo Giordano II Orsini, Duke of Bracciano, represented the groom. A few days later, Maria Magdalena travelled to Florence with her brother Maximilian and a large court retinue. On 18 October, she made a ceremonial entry into the Tuscan capital. After the wedding ceremony in Florence Cathedral, the celebrations continued at the Pitti Palace. Her husband, Cosimo, the heir to the Tuscan throne, became Grand Duke several months later, following the death of his father on 7 February 1609, taking the name Cosimo II. Maria Magdalena now held the title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Despite Cosimo’s poor health, the marriage was happy. The couple treated each other with respect and even developed a friendship. They had eight children together, five sons and three daughters. Their children included the future Grand Duke Ferdinand II, Cardinal Giovanni Carlo, Matthias, who later governed Siena, and Leopold, who also became a cardinal. Two of their daughters were connected through dynastic marriages to the Gonzaga and Farnese families; another married a Habsburg archduke. After the birth of her second son, Maria Magdalena gained increasing political influence. She mastered the Italian language, advised her husband on affairs of state, and secured the right to attend meetings of the Council of State. This body considered petitions from subjects and served as the highest court. In foreign policy, Maria Magdalena supported closer ties between Tuscany, Spain, and the Holy Roman Empire. The marriages of her daughters Catherine and Claudia to rulers from the Gonzaga and della Rovere families also resulted in large part from her efforts. Her religious devotion shaped public and cultural life at the Florentine court. Under her influence, the importance of the Holy See in Tuscany increased. Maria Magdalena supported religious orders and clergy and promoted the canonization of Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, a Carmelite nun from a Florentine convent. Her passion for collecting relics led to the creation of a dedicated relic chapel in the Pitti Palace. Together with her husband, she made repeated pilgrimages to shrines across the Italian peninsula. She also left her mark as a patron of architecture. In Florence, she commissioned the construction of the Palazzo della Crocetta and extensively remodelled an older villa near Arcetri. In honour of her origins, she renamed it Villa Poggio Imperiale; the work was directed by the Tuscan architect Giulio Parigi. Maria Magdalena spent much of her time there. Hunting parties, fishing trips, and theatrical and musical performances were held on the estate. She knew Galileo Galilei and, after her husband’s death, appointed him as tutor to her children. During her time at court, the residence of the Tuscan grand dukes became an especially grand and ceremonious centre. Cosimo II died prematurely on 28 February 1621. Under his will, Maria Magdalena and her mother-in-law, Christina of Lorraine, were appointed guardians of the children and regents of Tuscany. Until her eldest son came of age, she was to govern the country together with her mother-in-law and the Council of State. A regency council was established in 1628, and two factions soon formed within it, each led by one of the widowed grand duchesses. Maria Magdalena also received an annual pension of 30,000 scudi, as well as the cities of San Miniato and Colle di Val d’Elsa with their surrounding territories, whose revenues amounted to a further 10,000 scudi. During her regency, spending on ceremonial occasions and charitable activities increased. She continued to support the arts, but in 1626 she issued a ban prohibiting her subjects from studying outside Tuscany. In 1627, together with her mother-in-law, she accompanied the underage Grand Duke on a journey through the courts of Europe. In a memorandum addressed to her son Matthias in 1629, she set out her ideas about a proper way of life: he was to learn reason and prudence from the Jesuits, attend church ceremonies regularly, and associate exclusively with people of a rank appropriate to his own. During her regency, Tuscany’s political influence among the Italian states began to decline. After the extinction of the della Rovere line, the Duchy of Urbino did not pass to Tuscany as the Tuscans had expected, but was incorporated into the Papal States under pressure from Pope Urban VIII. At Maria Magdalena’s request, Pope Gregory XV established a bishopric in San Miniato. In September 1631, despite a plague epidemic, Maria Magdalena travelled to Vienna after being invited by her brother, Emperor Ferdinand II. She was accompanied by her sons Matthias and Francesco, whom she intended to place in imperial service. After staying in Innsbruck with her brother Leopold V, she became seriously ill during a stop in Passau on the night of 30–31 October. She died there at the age of 42 from pulmonary oedema. Her embalmed body was not transferred to Florence until 13 December and was buried in the Medici Chapel of the Basilica of San Lorenzo.