Garzia de' Medici

Garzia de' Medici
File:Angelo Bronzino - Garcia de' Medici - WGA3255.jpg Garzia by Bronzino
Born	(1547-07-05)5 July 1547 Florence, Italy
Died	6 December 1562(1562-12-06) (aged 15)
Burial	Medici Chapel
House	House of Medici
Father	Cosimo I
Mother	Eleanor of Toledo
Religion	Roman Catholicism

File:Angelo Bronzino 073.jpg

Garzia de' Medici was the son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo.

Garzia de' Medici (July 5, 1547 – December 6, 1562) was the son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleonora di Toledo. He was the subject of a famous painting by Bronzino when he was an infant. He was born in Florence and died of malaria along with his mother while traveling to Pisa, a few days after his brother Giovanni also died of the disease.

Early years

Born in Florence, he was the son of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Toledo. His parents had planned for him a military career, and at only 13 years old he had been named Honorary Commander and Supreme Commander of the Tuscan galleys.

Malaria and death

In 1562, he accompanied his father and brothers Giovanni and Ferdinando, to the Tuscan coast to embark to Spain, where the eldest son Francesco lived. But his mother Eleanor and the children contracted malaria, and all except Ferdinando died in a few weeks.

Many of sudden deaths in the family of the Duke immediately aroused the suspicions of the family, who also attended the Council of Trent. Several sources confirm, however, that during the period there was a violent flu epidemic.

Centuries after his death, a myth arose saying that Garzia had murdered his brother, Giovanni, following a dispute in 1562. In turn, his father Cosimo, furious, killed Garzia with his own sword. However, modern exhumations showed no signs of violence on the bodies and found to have died together of malaria in 1562.

Ancestry

Family of Garzia de' Medici

16. Pierfrancesco di Lorenzo de' Medici               8. Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano                       17. Laudomia Acciaiuoli               4. Giovanni dalle Bande Nere                             18. Galeazzo Maria Sforza               9. Caterina Sforza                       19. Lucrezia Landriani               2. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany                                   20. Giovanni Salviati               10. Jacopo Salviati                       21. Maddalena Gondi               5. Maria Salviati                             22. Lorenzo de' Medici               11. Lucrezia de' Medici                       23. Clarice Orsini               1. Garzia de' Medici                                         24. Garcia Álvarez de Toledo               12. Fadrique Álvarez de Toledo                       25. María Enriquez de Quiñones y Toledo               6. Pedro Álvarez de Toledo                             26. Álvaro de Zuñiga y Leiva               13. Isabel de Zúñiga y Pimentel                       27. Leonor Pimentel               3. Eleonora di Toledo                                   28. Rodrigo Afonso Pimentel               14. Luis Pimentel y Pacheco                       29. María Pacheco               7. Maria Osorio Pimentel, Marchioness of Villafranca del Bierzo                             30. Pedro Alvarez Osorio               15. Juana Osorio y Bazán                       31. María de Bazan