Eleonora di Toledo

Eleonora di Toledo (1522– December 17, 1562) was a Spanish noblewoman who was Duchess of Florence from 1539. ^[1] She is credited with being the first modern style first lady, or consort. Image File history File links Elanora of Toledo. ... Image File history File links Elanora of Toledo. ... Events January 9 - Adrian Dedens becomes Pope Adrian VI. February 26 - Execution by hanging of Cuauhtémoc, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan under orders of conquistador Hernán Cortés. ... December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1562 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... Unofficial Medici Rulers of Florence, 1434-1531 Cosimo de Medici 1434-1464 Piero I de Medici 1464-1469 (The Gouty) Lorenzo I de Medici 1469-1492 (The Magnificent) Giuliano de Medici 1469-1478 Piero II de Medici 1492-1494 Republic restored 1494-1512 Cardinal Giovanni de Medici 1512-1513 Lorenzo... This article is about the use of the term first lady internationally. ... A consort is somebodys spouse, usually a royalty. ...

Eleonora was born in Toledo, the only daughter of the Viceroy of Naples, the Marquess of Villafranca, Don Pedro Álvarez de Toledo - Charles V's lieutenant-governor. ^[2] {A son of the 2nd Duke of Alba} Because men from family Alvarez de Toledo frequently took wives from the Jewish converso aristocracy, the family Alvarez de Toledo is often mentioned as of Jewish converso origin but most probably originally they were the Old Christian nobility.^[3] Her mother Maria Osorio Pimentel, Marquessas of Villafranca del Bierzo came from a similar mixed background; Pimentel was one of the major Castilian aristocratic families of Jewish converso origin that for generations intermarried with both the Old Christian aristocracy and other Jewish converso nobility.^[4] Eleonora di Toledo most important ancestor was her paternal grand-grandmother Maria Enriquez whose great aristocratic family was of mixed royal Castilian and Jewish background. Throughout their Enriquez ancestry, family Alvarez de Toledo related to Hapsburg Kings of Spain and Holy Roman Emperors. Maria Enriquez' sister Juana Enriquez was Queen of Aragon, mother of Ferdinand II of Aragon and ancestress of Hapsburgs. Accordingly Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain was a distant cousin of Eleonora di Toledo. Eleonora di Toledo became the wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, the ruler of Tuscany, whom she married in 1539. For other uses, see Toledo (disambiguation). ... A viceroy is a royal official who governs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. ... Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Spanish Viceroy of Naples Don Pedro Álvarez de Toledo (1484-1553) was a Spanish viceroy of Naples. ... Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands (1506-1555), King of Spain (1516-1556), King of Naples and Sicily (1516-1554), Archduke of Austria (1519-1521), King of the Romans (or German King), (1519-1556 but did not formally abdicate until 1558) and... Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, the third Duke of Alva (or Alba) (1508-January 12, 1583) was a Spanish general and governor of the Spanish Netherlands (1567 - 1573), nicknamed the Iron Duke because of his cruelty, giving the Protestants of the Low Countries a firsthand taste of the Black Legend. ... Habsburg (sometimes spelled Hapsburg, but never so in official use) was one of the major ruling houses of Europe. ... Juana Enriquez was John II of Aragons second wife. ... Ferdinand II of Aragon. ... Charles V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was ruler of the Burgundian Netherlands (1506-1555), King of Spain (1516-1556), King of Naples and Sicily (1516-1554), Archduke of Austria (1519-1521), King of the Romans (or German King), (1519-1556 but did not formally abdicate until 1558) and... Cosimo I de Medici in Armour by Agnolo Bronzino Cosimo I de Medici (June 12, 1519 – April 21, 1574) was the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1537 to 1574, during the waning days of the Renaissance. ... Tuscany (Italian: ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. ...

The marriage with Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici was arranged undoubtedly not only for her large dowry but also for political and dynastic reasons. ^[5] Thus, Florentine politics were not Eleonora's only attraction to the Medici, new to their ruling status; her royal Castilian ancestors and relations to Hapsburgs provided the Medici with the blue blood they had hitherto lacked in order to place them on an equal footing with European sovereigns.

Eleonora, through her father, provided the Medici with a powerful link to Spain, at that time ultimately controlling Florence, providing Cosimo I with the opportunity to show sufficient loyalty and trust in Spain for the withdrawal of Spanish troops from the province.

Children

Eleonora and Cosimo had eleven children, including five sons that reached maturity (Francesco, Giovanni, Garzia, Ferdinando, and Pietro), while before this time the Medici line had been in danger of becoming extinct. Thus by providing an heir, and ample spares, as well as through her daughters' marriages into other ruling and noble families of Italy, she was able to inaugurate an era of strength and stability in Tuscany. Two of her sons, Francesco and Ferdinando, reigned as grand Dukes of Tuscany. Francesco I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (25 March 1541 – 19 October 1587) was the second Grand Duke of Tuscany, ruling from 1574 to 1587. ... Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (30 July 1549 – 17 February 1609) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1587 to 1609, having succeeded his older brother Francesco I. Ferdinando was the fourth son of Cosimo I de Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora of Toledo (1519...

Consort

Eleonora di Toledo with her son, the first state portrait to depict a ruler's wife with his heir. The picture was intended to demonstrate the wealth, domesticity and continuity of the Medici. Eleonora wears her bridal gown which would also be her shroud ^[6]

Eleonora's high profile in Florence as consort was initially a public relations exercise promoted by her husband whose predecessor as first sovereign Duke Alessandro de' Medici had died without legitimate heirs after years of politically damaging speculation about his sexual irregularities and excesses; Alessandro himself was reputed to have been the son of a black serving woman, his father was the seventeen-year-old Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, later Pope Clement VII, and Clement VII was in turn the illegitimate son of Giuliano de' Medici, who was assassinated in the Pazzi Conspiracy against the Medici. Alessandro became the first sovereign ruler of Tuscany belonging to the house of Medici, but was assassinated in 1543 by another member of the Medici family, Lorenzaccio de Medici, before consolidating his dynasty's strength in Tuscany. The last of the old Medici line, Alessandro bequeathed to the Medici name a legacy and reputation of sex, scandal, and murder. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 489 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2536 × 3107 pixel, file size: 649 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 489 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (2536 × 3107 pixel, file size: 649 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... A shroud is typically something, usually a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. ... This article is on the first Duke of Florence. ... A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of the Roman Catholic Church, a member of the College of Cardinals which as a body elects a new pope. ... There were two Medici known as Giulio de Medici: Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (1478-1534) (Pope Clement VII) Giulio di Alessandro de Medici (ca. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The Pope (from Latin... For the antipope (1378-1394) see Antipope Clement VII. Pope Clement VII Clement VII, né Giulio di Giuliano de Medici (1478 – September 25, 1534) was pope from 1523 to 1534. ... Portrait by Sandro Botticelli. ... The Pazzi family were Tuscan nobles who had become bankers in Florence in the 14th century. ... For the board game, see Medici (board game). ...

Alessandro's distantly related successor, Cosimo I, needed to reassure the public of the stability and respectability of not only his family, but the new reign. Thus Eleonora, his attractive, charitable and fertile wife, was brought to the forefront, and the artist Agnolo Bronzino was commissioned to paint one of the first ever state portraits depicting a consort with her child and heir. While the portrait in no way depicts the cosy middle class stability that the British royal family liked to portray in the 19th century, the message is the same: "We are a nice stable normal family — trust us." Andrea Doria as Neptune Agnolo di Cosimo (1503, Firenze – 1572, Firenze) (also known as Agnolo Bronzino and Agnolo Tori). ...

During her marriage, despite her initial unpopularity as a Spaniard, she gained great influence in Florence, she encouraged the arts and was patron to many of the most notable artists of the age. A pious woman, she encouraged the Jesuit order to settle in Florence; she also founded many new churches in the city. She was interested in agriculture and business, helping to expand and increase not only the profitability of the vast Medici estates, but also through her charitable interests the lot of the peasantry. She also supported unhesitatingly her husband and his policies, So great was his trust in her that in his frequent absences he made her regent, a station almost unheard of for a mere woman at the time, and one which also established her position as more than just a pretty bearer of Medici children. Generally, patronage is the act of supporting or favoring some person, group, or institution. ... The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Regent, from the Latin, a person selected to administer a state because the ruler is a minor or is not present or debilitated. ...

As a consequence, it became known that Eleonora was the key to her husband, and those unable to gain an audience with Cosimo realised that through his wife their causes could at least be pleaded. No evidence exists, however, which proves she influenced him greatly; but the importance of her usefulness to him cannot be ignored.

Personality

Contemporary accounts of Eleonora belie the stern formal appearance of her many portraits. In her private capacity she loved to gamble ^[7], and she was a devoted traveller, moving endlessly from one of her palazzi to another. Her sense of humour may have been well developed, as there are reports of her while 8 months pregnant laughing at a Turk actor in an entertainment, who was seemingly involuntarily stripped, then exposed an artificially huge penis. ^[8]

She employed continually 10 gold and silver weavers to work on her apparel. ^[9] She may have needed the fine clothes to disguise her failing appearance, as 21st-century forensic examinations of her body have revealed a huge calcium deficiency which must have caused her enormous amounts of ill health, and dental pain. ^[10]

Legacy

Eleonora di Toledo died at Pisa in 1562. Leaning Tower of Pisa. ...

Since her death, historians have tended to overlook her importance to Florentine history, and today she is often thought of as just another Medici consort and lover of luxury. This is probably due to the numerous portraits painted of her, which always show extravagance of dress. Many of her clothes still survive and are exhibited in museums around the world, including in one of her own homes, the Palazzo Pitti, which she purchased as a summer retreat in 1549, and which later after her death became the principal home of the Tuscan rulers. In the early part of her marriage the Medici lived on Florence's Via Larga at what is now the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi and later at the Palazzo Vecchio. ^[11] The rebuilding of the Pitti Palace was only partially completed at the time of her death. Roman-Egyptian funeral portrait of a young boy A portrait is a painting (portrait painting), photograph (portrait photography), or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. ... The Louvre Museum in Paris, one of the largest and most famous museums in the world. ... Early, tinted 20th-century photograph of the Palazzo Pitti, then still known as La Residenza Reale following the residency of King Emmanuel II between 1865–71, when Florence was the capital of Italy. ... Courtyard of Palazzo Medici Riccardi. ... Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence, Italy. ...

For centuries after her death the myth pervaded that her 16-year-old son Garcia had murdered his 19-year-old brother, Giovanni, following a dispute in 1562. Their father Cosimo I, it was said, then murdered Garcia with his own sword, and Eleonora, distraught, died a week later from grief. The truth, proven by modern day exhumations and forensic science, was that Eleonora and her sons, as the Medici family had always claimed, died together from malaria in 1562. ^[12] The word mythology (from the Greek μυολογία mythología, from μυολογείν mythologein to relate myths, from μύος mythos, meaning a narrative, and λόγος logos, meaning speech or argument) literally means the (oral) retelling of myths – stories that a particular culture believes to be true and that use the supernatural to interpret natural events and... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease that is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. ...

Ancestry

Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Spanish Viceroy of Naples Don Pedro Álvarez de Toledo (1484-1553) was a Spanish viceroy of Naples. ...

Notes

1. ^ Her husband was not elevated to the status of Grand Duke of Tuscany until after her death. Giusti, p 11.
2. ^ Cesati, p 75
3. ^ Antonio Domínguez Ortiz, "Los judeoconversos en España y América". Madrid, 1971.
4. ^ Norman Roth, "Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain", Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1995, pp. 94-95,333.
5. ^ Cesati, p 75
6. ^ Cesati, p 76.
7. ^ Women who ruled
8. ^ Goldberg
9. ^ Women who ruled
10. ^ Tales From The Crypt
11. ^ Giusti, p 11
12. ^ Giusti, p 11

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Eleonora di Toledo

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References

• Women who ruled
• Tales From The Crypt
• Eleonora laughs at a large penis by Edward Goldberg.
• Letters to from and about Eleonora di Toledo
• Wilhelm Karl, Prinz zu Isenburg, Europaische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europaischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt , vol. 3. pt. 3, 1985, tables 532b-533.
• Liss, Peggy K. Isabel the Queen, New York: Oxford University Press, 1992, p. 165.
• Roth, Norman. Conversos, Inquisition, and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, Madison, WI: The University of Wisconcin Press, 1995, pp. 150-151, 333.
• Cesati, Franco (1999). Medici. Firenze: La Mandragora. ISBN 88-85957 - 36. 

• Giusti, Laura Baldini (2001). Pitti Palace. Livorno: Sillabe s.r.l. ISBN 88-8347-047-8.