Claudia de' Medici

Claudia de' Medici
Portrait by Justus Sustermans, 1626
Archduchess consort of Further Austria
Tenure	19 April 1626 –13 September 1632
Duchess consort of Urbino
Tenure	3 November 1621 – 28 June 1623
Born	(1604-06-04)4 June 1604 Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Died	25 December 1648(1648-12-25) (aged 44) Hofburg, Innsbruck, County of Tyrol, Holy Roman Empire
Spouse	Federico della Rovere, Duke of Urbino ​ ​ (m. 1621; died 1623)​ Leopold V, Archduke of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1626; died 1632)​
Issue	Vittoria, Grand Duchess of Tuscany Archduke Ferdinand Charles Isabella Clara, Duchess of Mantua Archduke Sigismund Francis Maria Leopoldine, Holy Roman Empress
House	Medici
Father	Ferdinando I de' Medici
Mother	Christina of Lorraine

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Claudia de' Medici (4 June 1604 – 25 December 1648) was Regent of the Austrian County of Tyrol during the minority of her son from 1632 until 1646.

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.^[1] She was named after her grandmother Claude of Valois, herself daughter of Catherine de Medici, Queen of France , granddaughter of Claude, Duchess of Brittany, consort to King Francis I of France.

In 1620, she married Federico Ubaldo della Rovere, the only son of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino.^[2] Their only child, Vittoria, went on to marry the Grand Duke of Tuscany.^[2] Federico Ubaldo della Rovere died suddenly on 29 June 1623.^[3]

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.^[4]

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.^[5]

She had one child by Federico Ubaldo della Rovere:

1. Vittoria della Rovere (1622–1694) married Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and had issue,^[2]

She had five children by Archduke Leopold V of Austria:

1. Maria Eleonora of Austria (1627–1629) died in infancy.
2. Ferdinand Charles of Austria (1628–1662) married Anna de' Medici^[1]
3. Isabella Clara of Austria (1629–1685), who married Charles III, Duke of Mantua and had issue.
4. Sigismund Francis of Austria (1630–1665), Count of Tyrol and Regent of Further Austria, who married Countess Palatine Maria Hedwig Auguste of Sulzbach (1650–1681) and had no issue.
5. Maria Leopoldine of Austria (1632–1649),^[6] who married Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (1608–1657)^[7]

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