Claudia de' Medici


Claudia de' Medici was by birth a Tuscan princess and by her marriage to Leopold V an archduchess of Austria and from 1632 until 1646 regent of the Austrian County of Tyrol during the minority of her son Ferdinand Charles.

Biography

Early life

Born in Florence into the House of Medici, Claudia was the youngest daughter of Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife, Christina of Lorraine. She was named after her grandmother Claude of Valois.

Duchess of Urbino

In 1620, she married Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, the only son of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino. Their only child, Vittoria, went on to marry the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Federico Ubaldo della Rovere died suddenly on 29 June 1623.

Archduchess of Tyrol

After her husband's premature death, she was married, on 19 April 1626, to Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, and thus became Archduchess consort of Austria.

Regent of Tyrol

On the death of her husband in 1632, she assumed a regency in the name of her son Ferdinand Charles who was the ruler of the Princely County of Tyrol. Claudia, along with five directors, held the post until 1646. She died at Innsbruck in 1648.

Issue

She had one child by Federico Ubaldo della Rovere:
  1. Vittoria della Rovere married Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and had issue,
She had five children by Archduke Leopold V of Austria:
  1. Maria Eleonora of Austria died in infancy.
  2. Ferdinand Charles of Austria married Anna de' Medici
  3. Isabella Clara of Austria, who married Charles III, Duke of Mantua and had issue.
  4. Sigismund Francis of Austria, Count of Tyrol and Regent of Further Austria, who married Countess Palatine Maria Hedwig Auguste of Sulzbach and had no issue.
  5. Maria Leopoldine of Austria, who married Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III