Mattias de' Medici

Mattias de' Medici (9 May 1613 – 11 October 1667) was the third son of Grand Duke Cosimo II de' Medici of Tuscany and Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was governor of Siena, with interruptions, from 1629. He never married.^[1]

Biography

Mattias pursued an ecclesiastical career, like his brother Gian Carlo, but found it was not to his liking. Instead, he embarked on a military career at the age of 16. His father, Cosimo II, died on 28 February 1621; he was succeeded by Ferdinando de' Medici, the elder son. On 29 May 1629, Grand Duke Ferdinando appointed Mattias governor of Siena, following the death of their aunt and the then governor, Catherine de' Medici.^[2]

He arrived in his domain on 27 August and took up residence in the Piazza del Duomo. Spending the bulk of his time in Siena, he was immensely popular among the Sienese.^[2] In 1631, he joined the Austrian belligerency in the Thirty Years' War. He took part in the famous battle of Lützen,^[3] in October 1632, where he met Sienese politician Ottavio Piccolomini.

Upon his return to the grand duchy in 1641, he resumed the reins of Sienese government. He did not stay long, nevertheless, as the Wars of Castro broke out. Ferdinando II vested in him supreme authority over the grand duchy's military affairs,^[2] and thus he commanded the league of the Republic of Venice, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Parma and the Duchy of Modena and Reggio against the Barberini Pope, entrusting the government of Siena to his brother Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici for the duration of his absence.

Mattias adored the arts, patronising Justus Sustermans, Volterrano Volterra and many other eminent artists. While in Germany, he acquired scientific instruments, such as dials, astrolabes and compasses; all of which he later deposited in the Uffizi.

In later life, suffering from gout, he pondered re-assuming ecclesiastical garb; however, he fell ill and died in Siena on 11 October 1667 at 54 years of age. He was buried in the Medici tombs in San Lorenzo, Florence.^[4]

References

Another portrait of Mattias by Sustermans.

Citations

Bibliography

• Young, G.F.: The Medici: Volume II, John Murray, London, 1920

Ancestors

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mattias de' Medici.

• Online archive of documents on the Medici family

House of Medici
People	Lords of Florence Cosimo il Vecchio Piero "The Gouty" Lorenzo il Magnifico Giuliano Piero il Fatuo Giovanni (Leo X) Giuliano Lorenzo II Giulio (Clement VII) Ippolito Alessandro "The Moor" Dukes of Florence Alessandro "The Moor" Cosimo I Grand Dukes of Tuscany Cosimo I Francesco I Ferdinando I Cosimo II Ferdinando II Cosimo III Gian Gastone Queens Caterina Maria Popes Leo X Clement VII Leo XI Cardinals male line: Giovanni (Leo X) Giulio (Clement VII) Ippolito Alessandro (Leo XI) Giovanni Ferdinando I Carlo Giovan Carlo Leopoldo Francesco Maria Francesco female line: Luigi de' Rossi Giovanni Salviati Innocenzo Cybo Bernardo Salviati Niccolò Ridolfi Lorenzo Strozzi Ferrante Gonzaga Vincenzo II Gonzaga Bishops and archbishops Filippo Bernardo Antonio Giuliano Zanobi Condottieri Giovanni dalle Bande Nere Don Giovanni Mattias Genealogy Genealogical tables of the House of Medici	Festina Lente
Buildings	Villas Cafaggiolo Trebbio Careggi Fiesole La Quiete Collesalvetti Poggio a Caiano Castello Mezzomonte Agnano Spedaletto La Petraia Camugliano Stabbia La Topaia Cerreto Guidi Marignolle Arena Metato Poggio Imperiale Lapeggi L'Ambrogiana La Màgia Liliano Coltano Montevettolini Artimino Buti Seravezza Palaces Palazzo Medici Riccardi Palazzo Pitti Villa Medici Palazzo Medici Tornaquinci Livorno Pisa Materdei Palazzo Medici di Ottaviano Fountain Fountains and gardens Medici fountain Villa di Pratolino Fortresses Arezzo Grosseto Piombino Pistoia San Piero a Sieve Siena Volterra Chapels Cappelle medicee The Chapel of Medici di Gragnano
Patronage	Painters, sculptors and architects Bartolomeo Ammannati Sandro Botticelli Filippo Brunelleschi Michelangelo Bernardo Buontalenti Leonardo da Vinci Donatello Michelozzo Antonio del Pollaiolo Jacopo della Quercia Giorgio Vasari Poets and other literary figures Agnolo Poliziano Niccolò Machiavelli Humanists and philosophers Pico della Mirandola Marsilio Ficino Scientists Galileo Galilei Musicians Emilio de' Cavalieri
Heraldry	Medici coat of arms Crown of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Order of Saint Stephen
Institutions	Medici Bank
Art	Medici lions Medici porcelain Medici Vase Venus de' Medici Arazzeria Medicea
Related	Medici giraffe Galilean moons Stories set to music: "opera" Albizzi Pazzi conspiracy Savonarola