Garzia de' Medici

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

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