Vittoria della Rovere

Vittoria della Rovere (7 February 1622 – 5 March 1694) was Grand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. She had four children with her husband, two of whom would survive infancy: the future Cosimo III, Tuscany's longest-reigning monarch, and Francesco Maria, a prince of the Church. At the death of her grandfather Francesco Maria della Rovere, she inherited the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, which reverted to her second son, Francesco Maria, at her death. She was later entrusted with the care of her three grandchildren. Her marriage brought a wealth of treasures to the House of Medici, which can today be seen in the Palazzo Pitti and the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Infancy Vittoria della Rovere was the only child of Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, son of the then incumbent Duke of Urbino, Francesco Maria. Her mother was Claudia de' Medici, a sister of Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and the Duchess of Mantua. As an infant it was expected that she would inherit her grandfather's Duchy of Urbino, but Pope Urban VIII convinced Francesco Maria to resign it to the Papacy. The duchy was eventually annexed to the Papal States by Pope Urban VIII. Instead, she received the Rovere allodial possessions, the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, and art collection which became her property in 1631 aged nine. At the age of one, Vittoria was betrothed to her Medici first cousin Ferdinando II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Under the influence of her Medici mother, she was sent to Florence to be brought up at the Tuscan court. The marriage was arranged by the Grand Duke's grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, who had been acting as joint regent with her daughter-in-law Maria Maddalena of Austria since 1621. Despite Ferdinando II reaching his majority in 1628, Dowager Grand Duchess Christina remained the power behind the throne till her demise in 1636.