Vittoria della Rovere
Portrait byJustus Sustermans,c. 1640-1645
Grand Duchess consort of Tuscany
Tenure	6 April 1637 – 23 May 1670
Born	(1622-02-07)7 February 1622 Ducal Palace of Pesaro,Urbino
Died	5 March 1694(1694-03-05) (aged 72) Ducal Palace of Pisa,Tuscany
Spouse	Ferdinando II de' Medici
Issue	Cosimo III, Grand Duke of Tuscany Francesco Maria, Duke of Rovere
Names Vittoria della Rovere
House	Della Rovere (by birth) Medici (by marriage)
Father	Federico Ubaldo della Rovere
Mother	Claudia de' Medici

Vittoria della Rovere (7 February 1622 – 5 March 1694) wasGrand Duchess of Tuscany as the wife ofGrand Duke Ferdinando II. She had four children with her husband, two of whom would survive infancy: the futureCosimo III, Tuscany's longest-reigning monarch, andFrancesco Maria, aprince of the Church. At the death of her grandfatherFrancesco 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 theHouse of Medici, which can today be seen in thePalazzo Pitti and theUffizi Gallery inFlorence.

Vittoria della Rovere was the only child ofFederico Ubaldo della Rovere,^[1] son of the then incumbent Duke of Urbino,Francesco Maria. Her mother wasClaudia de' Medici, a sister ofCosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and theDuchess of Mantua. As an infant it was expected that she would inherit her grandfather'sDuchy of Urbino, butPope Urban VIII convinced Francesco Maria to resign it tothe Papacy.^[2] The duchy was eventually annexed to thePapal States byPope Urban VIII.^[2] Instead, she received the Rovere allodial possessions, the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, and art collection which became her property in 1631 aged nine.^[3]

At the age of one, Vittoria was betrothed to herMedici first cousinFerdinando II, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Under the influence of her Medici mother, she was sent toFlorence 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-lawMaria Maddalena of Austria since 1621. Despite Ferdinando II reaching his majority in 1628, DowagerGrand Duchess Christina remained the power behind the throne till her demise in 1636.

On 2 August 1634 she privately married Ferdinando, while the official public marriage was celebrated on 6 April 1637. Vittoria was crowned on the next 5 July. Her inheritance was included in herdowry which was offered to the Medici. These rich art collections of the family, now in theUffizi andPalazzo Pitti, thus became the property of theGrand Duchy of Tuscany. Brought up in the convent of Crocetta, Vittoria's education was a deeply religious one administered by the Dowager Grand Duchesses who had alignedTuscany with thePapal States.^[2] Her education caused her to be ruled bypriests in later life much to the annoyance of herliberal husband.^[4]

The marriage was consummated six years after the marriage ceremony and Vittoria gave birth to a son who died at the age of two days. Another son followed in 1640 but died at birth. Finally in 1642 the couple had another son namedCosimo de' Medici who was styled theGrand Prince of Tuscany. Under the influence of their mother, her children also received a deeplyRoman Catholic education, and arguments between the Grand Ducal couple were sparked when there was a disagreement about the education of the Grand Prince.^[5] Shortly after the birth of Cosimo, the couple became estranged: Vittoria caught her husband and a page, Count Bruto della Molera, in bed together.^[6] The incident initially caused Vittoria to refuse to speak to her husband. When she decided to try to come to terms with him, however, he declined to be reconciled, and it was almost twenty years before their quarrel was properly made up. They briefly reconciled in 1659, which resulted in the birth of their last child,Prince Francesco Maria, in 1660.^[7] The estranged couple had, at best, an unhappy marriage, and lived separately by mutual agreement for many years.

Ferdinando II died in 1670 and was thus succeeded by the then Grand Prince asCosimo III. He had been married toMarguerite Louise d'Orléans,^[8] first cousin ofLouis XIV of France, in 1661. A son,Prince Ferdinando, and a daughter,Princess Anna Maria Luisa, were born within four years, and weeks after the accession of Cosimo III, Marguerite Louise was pregnant again. Vittoria della Rovere and her haughty daughter-in-law vied with each other for power. Thanks to her influence over her son, it was Vittoria who triumphed. Cosimo III went so far as to assign his mother the day-to-day administration of Tuscany.^[9] As a result, Vittoria was formally admitted into the Grand Duke'sConsulta, or "Privy Council", leaving an embittered Marguerite Louise to her own devices.^[10] The two Grand Duchesses frequently quarrelled over precedence and theConsulta, but Cosimo III always took his mother's side, which only fuelled the ever-growing rages of Orléans.^[8] Orléans was left to the supervision of her son, theGrand Prince Ferdinando. By early 1671, fighting between Marguerite Louise and Vittoria became so heated that a contemporary remarked that "thePitti Palace has become the devil's own abode, and from morn till midnight only the noise of wrangling and abuse could be heard".^[11]

Vittoria employedCaterina Angiola Pieroncini as a lady-in-waiting, sending her to Paris in 1664 for training inneedlework.^[12][13]

Vittoria triumphed when news of her daughter-in-law's pending departure to France came in 1674. The younger grand duchess had lived in virtual imprisonment at theMedici Villa in Poggio a Caiano outside Florence for sometime. Eventually, the Grand Ducal couple decided to separate on the condition that Orléans stay at theAbbey Saint Pierre de Montmartre inParis. Orléans left Tuscany in 1675 never to return. As a result of the abandonment of her children, Vittoria della Rovere was made guardian of her grandchildren:Grand Prince Ferdinando,Princess Anna Maria Luisa andPrince Gian Gastone.^[14]

Retiring from politics, in her old age, she made long stays in the convent of theMontalve, known asVilla La Quiete, as well as in theVilla del Poggio Imperiale, to which she transferred some of the art collection she had inherited. Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, died inPisa in 1694 at the age of seventy-two. She was buried at theBasilica of San Lorenzo, Florence. At her death her sonFrancesco Maria, Cardinal since 1686, inherited the Rovere duchies. The titles became extinct with the extinction of theHouse of Medici with the death of her grandsonGian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1737. Her only granddaughterElectress Palatine Anna Maria Luisa willed the contents of theMedici properties to the Tuscan state in 1743. The so-calledFamily Pact ensured that Medicean art and treasures spanning over nearly three centuries would remain in Florence along with what was once Vittoria's inheritance.^[15]

1. Cosimo de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany (19 December 1639 - 21 December 1639), died in infancy.
2. A nameless daughter who died at birth (1640)
3. Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723), marriedMarguerite Louise d'Orléans and had issue.
4. Francesco Maria de' Medici (12 November 1660 – 3 February 1711), marriedEleonora Luisa Gonzaga. No issue.

• Adelinda Modesti: Women's Patronage and Gendered Cultural Networks in Early Modern Europe: Vittoria della Rovere, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (Englische Edition), 2019, E-Book, print edition 298 pages, publisher: Taylor and Francis, ISBN 978-1-351-77811-4.

Caterina Angiola Pieroncini, lacemaker for Vittoria della Rovere, and one of her ladies in waiting

• Acton, Harold:The Last Medici, Macmillan, London, 1980,ISBN 0-333-29315-0
• Verstegen, Ian F. (2007).Patronage and Dynasty: The Rise of the della Rovere in Renaissance Italy.Penn State University Press.ISBN 9780271091105.
• Young, G. F.:The Medici: Volume II, John Murray, 1920

Media related toVittoria della Rovere at Wikimedia Commons

• 1622 births
• 1694 deaths
• People from Pesaro
• House of Medici
• Grand duchesses of Tuscany
• Della Rovere family
• 17th-century Italian women
• 17th-century Italian nobility
• Burials at San Lorenzo, Florence
• Daughters of dukes
• Mothers of Italian monarchs

• CS1 Italian-language sources (it)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Commons category link is on Wikidata