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Grand Duke Ferdinando II

Ferdinando II
Portrait Ferdinando II de Medici.jpg
Ferdinando II de' Medici in Coronation Robes (circle of Justus Sustermans).
Grand Duke of Tuscany
Reign 28 February 1621 – 23 May 1670
Predecessor Cosimo II
Successor Cosimo III
Born 14 July 1610
Pitti Palace, Florence
Died 23 May 1670 (aged 59)
Pitti Palace, Florence
Consort Vittoria della Rovere
Issue
Detail
Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Francesco Maria, Duke of Rovere
Full name
Ferdinando de' Medici
House House of Medici
Father Cosimo II de' Medici
Mother Maria Maddalena of Austria
Religion Roman Catholicism
Full name
Ferdinando de' Medici
Styles of
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Coat of arms of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.png
Reference style His Highness
Spoken style Your Highness
Alternative style Sir

Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest child 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, with whom he had two children: Cosimo III de' Medici, his eventual successor, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro, a cardinal.

Ferdinando was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Maria Maddalena of Austria. Cosimo II died when Ferdinando was 10; because he had not yet reached maturity, his mother 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. 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. 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 Rome's concerns 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 1633 the Roman Inquisition convicted the astronomer for "vehement suspicion of heresy" and sentenced him to imprisonment for life; after this was commuted to house arrest, the devoutly Catholic Ferdinand welcomed Galileo back to Florence.


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