Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici

Despite her mother's efforts to induce a miscarriage by means of riding,Acton, p 101 Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, the only daughter and second child of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his consort, Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, was born in Florence on 11 August 1667. She was named after her maternal aunt Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier.{{Cite web|url=http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/ElettricePalatina_2007/biografia.html |access-date=16 November 2009 |publisher=www.polomuseale.firenze.it |title=Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici – Biografia |language=it |year=2006 |author=Galleria Palatina |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717091944/http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/ElettricePalatina_2007/biografia.html |archive-date=17 July 2011 }}

Her parents' relationship was quarrelsome; Marguerite Louise took every chance to humiliate Cosimo.Acton, p 93 On one documented occasion, she branded him "a poor groom" in the presence of the Papal nuncio. The enmity between them continued until 26 December 1674; after all attempts at conciliation failed, a stressed Cosimo consented to his wife's departure for the Convent of Montmartre, France. The contract created that day revoked her privileges as a petite fille de France, and declared that upon her death all her assets were to be inherited by her children. Cosimo granted her a pension of 80,000 livres in compensation.Acton, pp. 133–135 She abandoned Tuscany in June 1675; Anna Maria Luisa, who was less than eight years old at that time, never saw her again.Strathern, p 389 Although Cosimo doted on his daughter, she was raised by her paternal grandmother, Vittoria della Rovere.Young p 471

In 1669, Anna Maria Luisa was considered as a potential bride to Louis, le Grand Dauphin, the heir-apparent of Louis XIV of France. Cosimo III did not like the idea of a French marriage, and never devoted himself fully to the cause (she was later rejected).Acton, p 151 Instead, Cosimo offered her to his first choice, Peter II of Portugal. Peter's ministers declined, fearing that Anna Maria Luisa might have inherited her mother's temperament, and may seek to dominate Peter II while being herself intractable to reason.Acton, p 165 In fact, contemporaries thought her traits to be a combination of those of her father and paternal grandmother, Vittoria della Rovere.

Following refusals from Portugal, France, Spain and Savoy, James II of England put forward his brother-in-law, Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena, but the Princess deemed a duke too lowly in terms of protocol for the daughter of a grand duke.Acton, p 182 Finally, it was Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor who suggested Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine.Acton, p 181 The Elector Palatine obtained the style Royal Highness from the Holy Roman Emperor for Cosimo III in February 1691. (Cosimo had hitherto been outranked by the Duke of Savoy — much to his anger—who derived royal status from his successful pretendership to the abolished Cypriot throne). Consequently, Johann Wilhelm was ultimately chosen. He and Anna Maria Luisa were married by proxy on 29 April 1691. At the accompanying festivities, a contemporary describes the Electress's physical attributes: "In her person, she is tall, her complexion was fair, her eyes large and expressive, both those and her hair were black; her mouth was small, with a fullness of the lips; her teeth were as white as ivory...."

Image:Anna Maria Luisa child.jpg, c. 1682–1683|alt=A teenage-girl sports a baroque-style dress enhanced with flowers in the up-folds.]]

She departed for Düsseldorf, her husband’s capital, on 6 May 1691, accompanied by her younger brother, Gian Gastone. Johann Wilhelm surprised her at Innsbruck, where they officially married. The Palatinate Anna Maria Luisa arrived in was ravaged by the ongoing Nine Years' War, in which Louis XIV assaulted the Palatinate on behalf of his brother, Philippe of France, Duke of Orléans, occupying the city of Philippsburg in the process.Wilson, p 88Pevitt, p 14

The Electress became pregnant in 1692; however, she miscarried. It is thought incorrectly by some historians that soon after arrival she contracted syphilis from the Elector, which they think explains why Anna Maria Luisa and Johann Wilhelm failed to produce any children.Hale, p 189Hale, pp. 188–189Hibbert, p 304When her remains were exhumed for relocation, there was no sign of syphilis Anna Maria Luisa and Johann Wilhelm, notwithstanding, shared a harmonious marriage.Lawrence, p 230 The Electress spent her time enjoying balls, musical performances and other festivities. He commissioned a theatre for her where the comedies of French playwright Molière were performed.Mosco, p 185 Because Anna Maria Luisa patronised many musicians, the contemporary Palatine court enjoyed regard as an international centre of music.Chelleri, Fortunato; Vavoulis, Vavoulis, p ix She invited Fortunato Chelleri to court and appointed him maestro di cappella ("music teacher"). Agostino Steffani, a polymath, was sponsored by the Electress from his arrival in Düsseldorf, in 1703, until her return to Tuscany; the Conservatorio Luigi Cherubini library in Florence houses two editions of his chamber duets.Timms, p 116

Anna Maria Luisa arranged a marriage for her younger brother at the instigation of their father: On 2 July 1697 Gian Gastone de' Medici married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, heiress of the eponymous duchy, in Düsseldorf.Acton, pp. 208–211 Gian Gastone's wife repulsed him, and for that reason, they separated in 1708.Strathern, p 404

The same year as Gian Gastone's marriage, the Peace of Ryswick ended the Nine Years' War: French troops withdrew from the Electoral Palatinate and Johann Wilhelm received the County of Megen. Following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, a document which had hitherto given rights to Calvinists, in 1685, 2,000 French Huguenots emigrated to the Electoral Palatinate.Otterness, p 14 Johann Wilhelm, under criticism for his treatment of the Palatine Protestants from the Elector of Brandenburg introduced a Religionsdeklaration in 1705, which sanctioned religious freedom.Otterness, p 15

Image:Jan Frans van Douven, Doppelbildnis Johann Wilhelm von der Pfalz und Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici (1708).jpg, from a painting after Jan Frans van Douven, 1708|alt=A periwigged man and a woman are seated against a sun-set milieu. The man is embracing a crown with his left hand; while the lady holds an olive branch in her right. The man wears a black armour; the lady, a silk dress.]]

Cosimo III wished to alter the male-only Tuscan line of succession so as to allow the accession of his daughter, Anna Maria Luisa, in the event of a male-line succession failure. But his plan was met with fierce opposition from the European powers.Acton, p 255 Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, Tuscany's nominal feudal over-lord, subscribed, but only if he should succeed her. Cosimo and she were at odds with the proposal. Without a concord in sight, the "Tuscan question" became dormant.Acton, p 256

Some years later, as the question of the succession became more urgent, Cardinal Francesco Maria de' Medici, Cosimo III's brother, was released from his vows and coerced into marrying Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla's elder daughter, Eleanor, in 1709. The Electress urged him to care for his health and "give us the consolation of a little prince."Acton, p 246 However, two years later, he died without issue, taking with him any hope of an heir.Acton, p 251

Following the death of his heir apparent, Ferdinando, in 1713, Cosimo deposited a bill in the Senate, Tuscany's titular legislature, promulgating that if Cosimo and his new heir apparent, Gian Gastone, were to predecease the Electress, she would ascend the throne.Young, p 479 Charles VI was furious; he replied that the grand duchy was an imperial fief and therefore he alone possessed the prerogative to alter the laws of succession.Acton, p 261 To complicate things further, Elisabeth Farnese, heiress of the Duchy of Parma, the second wife of Philip V of Spain, as a great-granddaughter of Margherita de' Medici, exercised a claim to Tuscany.Solari, p 282Young, p 480 In May 1716, Charles VI, who constantly changed his stance on the issue, told Florence that the Electress's succession was unquestioned, but added that Austria and Tuscany must soon reach an agreement regarding which royal house was to follow the Medici.Acton, p 262

In June 1717, Cosimo declared his wish that the House of Este should succeed the Electress. Charles VI had previously offered the Grand Duke territorial compensation—in the form of the State of Presidi—if he chose quickly, but reneged. In 1718, Charles VI repudiated Cosimo's decision, declaring a union of Tuscany and Modena (the Este lands) unacceptable.Acton, p 267 Hereafter, a stalemate existed between them.Young, p 482

Image:The Dowager Electress Palatine in mourning.jpg, 1717. She points to the portrait of Johann Wilhelm's remains, adorned with the Palatine regalia, in the milieu.|alt=A widow draped in mourning points to a portrait of her husband's remains, which are embellished with the regalia of his realm.]]

The Elector Palatine died in June 1716. His widow, Anna Maria Luisa, returned to Florence in October 1717.Acton, p 264 Dowager Grand Princess Violante Beatrice, her brother Ferdinando's widow, and Anna Maria Luisa did not enjoy an amiable relationship. Upon hearing of Anna Maria Luisa's intention to return, Violante Beatrice prepared to depart for Munich, her brother's capital, but Gian Gastone wished her to stay, so she did.Acton, p 265 To keep the two ladies from quarrelling over precedence, Cosimo III defined Violante Beatrice's status just before the Electress's arrival by appointing her Governess of Siena.Acton, pp. 265–266

On 4 April 1718 Great Britain, France and the Dutch Republic (and later Austria) selected Infante Charles of Spain, the elder child of Elisabeth Farnese and Philip V of Spain, as the Tuscan heir (with no mention of Anna Maria Luisa).Solari, pp. 281–282 By 1722, the Electress was not even acknowledged as heiress, and Cosimo was reduced to a spectator at the conferences for Tuscany's future.Acton, p 275 In the midst of this, Marguerite Louise, Anna Maria Luisa's mother, died. Instead of willing her valuables to her children, as prescribed by the 1674 agreement, they went to the Princess of Epinoy, a distant relative.Acton, pp. 272–273

On 25 October 1723, six days before his death, Cosimo III distributed a final proclamation commanding that Tuscany shall stay independent; Anna Maria Luisa shall succeed uninhibited after Gian Gastone; the Grand Duke reserves the right to choose his successor.Acton, pp. 275–276 Unfortunately for Cosimo, Europe completely ignored it. Gian Gastone, now the Grand Duke, and Anna Maria Luisa were not on good terms. He despised the Electress for engineering his unhappy marriage with Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, while she detested his liberal policies: he repealed all of his father's anti-Semitic statutes and revelled in upsetting her.Acton, p 280 Consequently, the Electress was compelled to abandon her apartment in the left wing of the Palazzo Pitti, for the Villa La Quiete. She refurbished La Quiete's house and gardens with the assistance of Sebastiano Rapi, the gardener of the Boboli Gardens, and the architects Giovanni Battista Foggini and Paolo Giovanozzi.{{Cite web|url=http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/itineraries/place/VillaQuieteFarmaciaExConservatorioMontalve.html|date=11 January 2008|access-date=18 October 2009|author=Institute and Museum of the History of Science|publisher=brunelleschi.imss.fi.it|title=Villa La Quiete – Pharmacy of the former Montalve Conservatory}}Mosco, p 190 In the period 1722–1725, the Electress embellished the villa further by commissioning twelve statues of various religious figures.

Image:Villa la quiete 04.JPG in 2008. The villa served as Anna Maria Luisa's residence for the duration of the reign of her brother, Gian Gastone.|alt=A decaying Tuscan villa stands against a clear-sky.]]

In spite of their mutual dislike, the Electress and Violante Beatrice attempted to improve Gian Gastone's poor public image together.Acton, p 288 Rumours abounded that the Grand Duke had died; it was a rarity for the public to see him. To dispel the said rumours, the Electress compelled him to make an appearance—his last one—in 1729, on the feast day of the patron saint of Florence, John the Baptist.Strathern, p 407 The Ruspanti, Gian Gastone's morally corrupt entourage, hated the Electress; and she, them. Violante Beatrice tried to withdraw the Grand Duke from their sphere of influence by organising banquets. His conduct at these literally sent those in attendance scrambling for their carriages: he vomited repeatedly into his napkin, belched and told rude jokes.Acton, p 188 These distractions ceased upon Violante Beatrice's death in 1731.Strathern, p 410

In 1736, during the War of the Polish Succession, Infante Charles was banished from Tuscany as part of a territorial swap, and Francis III of Lorraine was made heir in his stead.Crankshaw, p 24 In January 1737, the Spanish troops, who had occupied Tuscany since 1731, withdrew; 6,000 Austrian soldiers took their place.Hale, p 192

Gian Gastone died from "an accumulation of diseases" on 9 July 1737, surrounded by prelates and his sister.Young, p 494 Anna Maria Luisa was offered a nominal regency by the Prince de Craon, the Grand Duke's envoy, until Francis III could arrive in Florence, but declined.Acton, p 304 At Gian Gastone's demise, all the House of Medici's allodial possessions, including £2,000,000{{refn|This is equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|2000000|1743|r=2}}}} in present day terms.{{Inflation-fn|UK}} UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from [http://www.measuringworth.org/ukearncpi/ Measuring Worth: UK CPI]|group=note}} liquid cash, a vast art collection, robes of state and lands in the former Duchy of Urbino, were conferred on Anna Maria Luisa.Young, p 502; p 508 In regards to this, her most notable act was the Patto di Famiglia ("Family Pact"), signed on 31 October 1737.Napier, p 595 In collaboration with the Holy Roman Emperor and Francis of Lorraine, she willed all the personal property of the Medici's to the Tuscan state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence.Young, pp. 502–503

The "Lorrainers," as the occupying forces were dubbed, were popularly loathed. The Viceroy, the Prince de Craon, whom the Electress disliked for his "vulgar" court, allowed the Electress to live undisturbed in her own wing of the Palazzo Pitti, living in virtual seclusion, only on occasion receiving a select-number of guests under a black dais in her silver-clad audience room.Hibbert, p 308Young, pp. 497 – 498 She occupied herself financing and overseeing the construction of the Cappella dei Principi, started in 1604 by Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany—to the tune of 1,000 crowns per week, and she donated much of her fortune to charity: £4,000 per annum.Acton, p 310Acton, p 309 This is equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|4000|1737|r=2}}}} in present-day terms.{{Inflation-fn|UK}} On 18 February 1743, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Dowager Electress Palatine, died of an "oppression on the breast". Sir Horace Mann, 1st Baronet, a British resident in Florence, recalled in a letter that "The common people are convinced she went off in a hurricane of wind; a most violent one began this morning and lasted for about two hours, and now the sun shines as bright as ever..."Strathern, p 411 The royal line of the House of Medici became extinct with her death. Her will, having been completed just months before, according to Sir Horace Mann, left £500,000{{refn|This is equivalent to £{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|500000|1743|r=2}}}} in present day terms.{{Inflation-fn|UK}} UK CPI inflation numbers based on data available from [http://www.measuringworth.org/ukearncpi/ Measuring Worth: UK CPI]|group=note}} worth of jewellery to the Grand Duke Francis and her lands in the former Duchy of Urbino to the Marquis Rinuccini, her main executor and a minister under her father, Cosimo III.Young, pp. 508–509 She was interred in the crypt that she helped to complete in San Lorenzo; although not entirely finished at the time of her death, her testament stipulated that part of the revenue of her estate should "be used to continue, finish and perfect...the said famous chapel San Lorenzo".Bertelli, p 229

Anna Maria Luisa's single most enduring act was the Family Pact. It ensured that all the Medicean art and treasures collected over nearly three centuries of political ascendancy remained in Florence. Cynthia Miller Lawrence, an American art historian, argues that Anna Maria Luisa thus provisioned for Tuscany's future economy through tourism.Lawrence, p. 235 Sixteen years after her death, the Uffizi Gallery, built by Cosimo the Great, the founder of the grand duchy, was made open to public viewing.Diaz-Andreu, p 62

In 2012 after concern caused by the 1966 Flood of the Arno River, her bones were exhumed. A scientific examination found no traces of syphilis, which she had long been thought to have died from.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.nature.com/news/the-last-medici-may-not-have-died-of-syphilis-after-all-1.12435|doi = 10.1038/nature.2013.12435|title = The last Medici may not have died of syphilis after all|year = 2013|last1 = Abbott|first1 = Alison|journal = Nature|s2cid = 74812676}}

{{infobox royal styles|left|

royal name=Anna Maria Luisa, Electress of the Palatinate|

image=File:Coat of arms of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici.png|

dipstyle=Her Serene HighnessYoung, p 501|

offstyle=Your Serene Highness|

}}

{{ahnentafel

|collapsed=yes |align=center

| ref = {{cite encyclopedia | url=https://www.britannica.com/media/full/372380/61464 | title=The three branches of the Medici family | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date=16 February 2018}}{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

| boxstyle_1 = background-color: #fcc;

| boxstyle_2 = background-color: #fb9;

| boxstyle_3 = background-color: #ffc;

| boxstyle_4 = background-color: #bfc;

| 1 = 1. Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici

| 2 = 2. Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

| 3 = 3. Marguerite Louise of Orléans

| 4 = 4. Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

| 5 = 5. Vittoria della Rovere

| 6 = 6. Gaston, Duke of Orléans

| 7 = 7. Marguerite of Lorraine

| 8 = 8. Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany

| 9 = 9. Maria Magdalena of Austria

| 10 = 10. Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, Duke of Urbino

| 11 = 11. Claudia de' Medici

| 12 = 12. Henry IV of France

| 13 = 13. Marie de' Medici

| 14 = 14. Francis II, Duke of Lorraine

| 15 = 15. Christina of Salm

}}

{{reflist|group=note}}

{{Reflist|25em}}

{{refbegin}}

• Acton, Harold (1980). The Last Medici. Macmillan. {{ISBN|0-333-29315-0}}
• Bertelli, Sergio (2003). The King's Body: Sacred Rituals of Power in Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Pennsylvania State University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-271-02344-1}}
• {{in lang|it}} Casciu, Stefano. (1993). Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici Elettrice Palatina: (1667–1743). Bruschi. {{ISBN|88-8347-359-0}}.
• Chelleri, Fortunato; Vavoulis, Vavoulis (2000). Keyboard Music. A-R Editions. {{ISBN|978-0-89579-457-4}}.
• Cont, Alessandro (2018). La Chiesa dei principi. Le relazioni tra Reichskirche, dinastie sovrane tedesche e stati italiani (1688–1763), preface of Elisabeth Garms-Cornides, Trento, Provincia autonoma di Trento {{ISBN|978-88-7702-454-1}}, pp. 103–138, https://www.academia.edu/38170694/La_Chiesa_dei_principi._Le_relazioni_tra_Reichskirche_dinastie_sovrane_tedesche_e_stati_italiani_1688-1763_prefazione_di_Elisabeth_Garms-Cornides_Trento_Provincia_autonoma_di_Trento_2018
• Crankshaw, Edward (1969). Maria Theresa. Longmans, Green & Co.
• Diaz-Andreu, Margarita (2008). A World History of Nineteenth-Century Archaeology: Nationalism, Colonialism, and the Past. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-921717-5}}.
• Hale, J.R. (1977). Florence and the Medici. Orion. {{ISBN|1-84212-456-0}}.
• Hibbert, Christopher (1979). The rise and fall of the House of Medici. Penguin. {{ISBN|978-0-14-005090-5}}
• Lawrence, Cynthia Miller (1997). Women and Art in Early Modern Europe: Patrons, Collectors and Connoisseurs. Pennsylvania State University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-271-01969-7}}.
• Mosco, Marilena (2004). The Museo degli argenti: collections and collectors. Giunti. {{ISBN|88-09-03793-6}}.
• Napier, Edward Henry (1846). Florentine History: from the Earliest Authentic Records to the Accession of Ferdinand the Third: Volume V. Moxon.
• Otterness, Philip (2007). Becoming German: The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York. Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8014-7344-9}}.
• Pevitt, Christine (1997). The Man Who Would Be King: The Life of Philippe d'Orleans, Regent of France. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. {{ISBN|0-297-81317-X}}.
• Solari, Giovanna (1968). The House of Farnese: A Portrait of a Great Family of the Renaissance. Doubleday & Co.
• Strathern, Paul (2003). The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance. Vintage. {{ISBN|978-0-09-952297-3}}.
• Timms, Colin (2003). Polymath of the Baroque: Agostino Steffani and His Music. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-515473-3}}.
• Wilson, Peter (1998). German Armies: War And German Society, 1648–1806. Routledge. {{ISBN|978-1-85728-106-4}}.
• Young, G.F. (1920). The Medici: Volume II. John Murray.

{{refend}}

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{{S-hou|House of Medici|11 August|1667|18 February|1743}}

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{{S-bef|rows=2|before=Elizabeth Amelie of Hesse-Darmstadt}}

{{S-ttl|title=Electress consort of the Palatinate|years=1691–1716}}

{{S-aft|rows=3|after=Elizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach}}

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{{S-ttl|title=Duchess consort of Jülich, Cleve and Berg|years=1691–1716}}

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{{S-ttl|title=Countess consort of Megen|years=1697–1716}}

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{{S-ttl|title=Duchess consort of the Upper-Palatinate|years=1707–1714}}

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{{S-break}}

{{S-ttl|title=Duchess consort of Cham|years=1707–1714}}

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{{S-end}}

{{Tuscan princesses}}

{{Electresses Palatine}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Medici, Anna Maria Luisa De}}

Category:1667 births

Category:1743 deaths

Category:Nobility from Florence

Category:17th-century Italian nobility

Category:18th-century Italian nobility

Category:Electresses of the Palatinate

Anna Maria

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici

Category:Countesses Palatine of Neuburg

Anna Maria Luisa

Category:Duchesses of Berg

Category:Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence

Category:Daughters of dukes