Livia della Rovere

Livia della Rovere (16 December 1585 – 6 July 1641) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of della Rovere and the last Duchess of Urbino during 1599–1631.

Born in Pesaro on 16 December 1585, she was the eldest child of Ippolito della Rovere, Lord of Monteleone and Montafoglio and Marquess of San Lorenzo in Campo –an illegitimate but later legitimised son of Cardinal Giulio Feltrio della Rovere– and his wife Isabella Vitelli, Marchioness dell'Amatrice. She had one brother, Giulio (later Marquess of San Lorenzo in Campo and dell'Amatrice) and at least four sisters: Lucrezia (wife of Marcantonio Lante, later Marquess of San Lorenzo in Campo in succession of his brother-in-law; their second son was Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere, later 1st Duke of Bomarzo and founder of the Lante Montefeltro della Rovere family, only surviving descendants of Federico da Montefeltro), Elisabetta (who died in infancy), Eleonora and Livia (both nuns at the Corpus Domini monastery at Pesaro).

Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, was married since 1570 with Lucrezia d'Este, the daughter of Ercole II, Duke of Ferrara. Their marriage was unhappy and childless not only because the large age difference between them but also due to Lucrezia's notorious love affairs. Separated in 1578 but without any possibility of annulment, she returned to Ferrara, where she died in 1598.

As an old widower, Francesco Maria II resigned himself to the extinction of his dynasty and the annexation of the Duchy of Urbino to the Papal States with a centralized administration. The situation of uncertainty concerned the subjects that under the Della Rovere family had experienced a golden age, because of the very low tax policy, in comparison with territories under direct ecclesiastical control, because the revenues collected were made mostly for military purposed firstly by the House of Montefeltro and later the Della Rovere family. Also with them the various towns, even small ones, were enriched with monuments and fortifications. Finally, the court of Urbino had become one of the most prestigious of Europe with absolute renowned artists who frequented it (Raphael, Piero della Francesca, Titian) thanks to the patronage of the ruling family. Was in this climate of fear for the fate of the Duchy that the councilors and the population invited the Duke to remarried, whom reluctanly agreed.

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