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Maria Maddalena of Austria

Maria Maddalena of Austria
Maria Maddalena of Austria as a widow by Sustermans.jpg
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany
Tenure 17 February 1609 – 28 February 1621
Born (1589-10-07)7 October 1589
Graz, Austria
Died 1 November 1631(1631-11-01) (aged 42)
Passau,
Spouse Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Issue Ferdinando II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Cardinal Gian Carlo
Margherita, Duchess of Parma
Mattias, Governor of Siena
Prince Francesco
Anna, Archduchess of Austria
Leopold, Governor of Siena
Full name
Maria Magdalena
House House of Habsburg
Father Charles II, Archduke of Austria
Mother Maria Anna of Bavaria
Full name
Maria Magdalena

Maria Maddalena of Austria (Maria Magdalena; 7 October 1589 – 1 November 1631) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany from the accession of her husband, Cosimo II, in 1609 until his death in 1621. With him, she had eight children, including a duchess of Parma, a grand duke of Tuscany, and an archduchess of Further Austria. Born in Graz, she was the youngest daughter of Charles II, Archduke of Inner Austria, and his wife Maria Anna of Bavaria. During the minority of her son, Grand Duke Ferdinando, she and her mother-in-law acted as regents. She died on 1 November 1631 in Passau.

In 1608, Maria Maddalena was married to Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany. Cosimo's father, Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany, arranged the marriage in order to assuage Spain's (where Maria Maddalena's sister was the incumbent queen) animosity towards Tuscany, which had been inflamed due to a string of Franco-Tuscan marriages.

She and Cosimo enjoyed a contented marriage. Together they had eight children. Cosimo II died in 1621, leaving their ten-year-old son Ferdinando as grand duke. Maria Maddalena and her mother-in-law, Christina of Lorraine, acted as regents until the boy came of age. Their collective regency is known as the Turtici. Maria Maddelana's temperament was analogous to Christina's. Together, they aligned Tuscany with the Papacy; re-doubled the Tuscan clergy; and allowed the trial of Galileo Galilei to occur. Upon the death of the last Duke of Urbino, instead of claiming the duchy for Ferdinando, who was married (needs clarification) his granddaughter, and heiress, Vittoria della Rovere, they permitted it to be annexed by Pope Urban VIII. In 1626, they banned any Tuscan subject from being educated outside the Grand Duchy, a law later resurrected by Maria Maddalena's grandson, Cosimo III.Harold Acton ascribes the decline of Tuscany to their regency. The Dowager Grand Duchesses sent Ferdinando on a tour of Europe in 1627.


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