Lucrezia de medici biography of albert

Duchess Ferrara, Modena and Reggio

Lucrezia de' Medici (14 February 1545 – 21 April 1561) was a member of the House of Medici and by marriage Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio from 1558 to 1561.

Lucrezia de medici biography of albert

Married to the intended husband of her elder sister Maria, who died young, her marriage was short and unhappy. The Duchess died of pulmonary tuberculosis, but almost immediately after her death there were rumors that she had been poisoned on the orders of her husband.

That suspicion inspired the English poet Robert Browning to create a dramatic monologue in verse "My Last Duchess" (1842).

Life

Early years

Born in Florence on 14 February 1545,^[1] Lucrezia was the fifth child and third daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Duke of Florence (and from 1569 Grand Duke of Tuscany), and Eleanor of Toledo.

Her paternal grandparents were the famous condottiereGiovanni delle Bande Nere and Maria Salviati (granddaughter of Loren