Cosimo II de' Medici (12 May 1590 – 28 February 1621) was
Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1609 until 1621. He was the elder son of the then
incumbent Grand Duke and
Christina of Lorraine. He married
Maria Magdalena of Austria, and had eight children.
For the most of his eleven year reign, he delegated the administration of Tuscany to his ministers. He is best remembered as the patron of
Galileo Galilei, his childhood tutor. He died of tuberculosis in 1621.
Biography
Cosimo de' Medici was the elder son of
Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and
Christina of Lorraine. His father requisitioned a modern education for him: Galileo Galilei was Cosimo's tutor between 1605 and 1608. Ferdinando arranged for him to marry
Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria, daughter of
Archduke Charles II, in 1608, together, they had eight children, among whom was Cosimo's eventual successor, an Archduchess of Inner Austria, a Duchess of Parma and two cardinals.
Ferdinando I died in 1609. Due to his precarious health, Cosimo did not actively participate in governing his realm. Just over a year after Cosimo's accession, Galileo dedicated his
Sidereus Nuncius, an account of his telescopic discoveries, to the Grand Duke. Additionally, Galileo christened the moons of
Jupiter the "Medicean
stars". Galileo's advocacy of Copernicanism later led to his trial by the
Roman Inquisition, and he was held under...
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