Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici

Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, (August 11, 1667 – February 18, 1743, Florence), was the last of the Medici to live in the Pitti Palace. She was the daughter of Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans and the sister of Gian Gastone de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the last Medici grand duke of Tuscany. She officially married Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine (1658-1716) on June 5, 1691.

Anna Maria's father unsuccessfully tried to engineer her ascent as Grand Duchess, if and when, as he came to expect, none of his sons or brothers would produce heirs. However, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was enfeebled and the last Medici were, in general, a spectacle of degeneracy. She is described as haughty and aloof, venturing out with much help to attend Mass, donate to charity, or visit the family mausoleum being completed at San Lorenzo.

In secret she had a lover called Giacomo IV Rise-Verdanté, the descendant of Giacomo (I) Rise-Verdanté, of the aristocratic family Rise-Verdanté-Casanova. Giacomo Casanova, the famous libidinous writer, was related to this family. Anna Maria gave birth to Paolo Rise-Verdanté (keeping naturally only his father's surname).

Her most notable action was willing all the personal property of the Medicis to the Florentine state, provided that nothing was ever removed from Florence.

Ancestry

v • d • eAncestors of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici 16. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 8. Cosimo II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 17. Christina of Lorraine 4. Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 18. Charles II of Austria 9. Maria Magdalena of Austria 19. Maria Anna of Bavaria 2. Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 20. Francesco Maria II della Rovere 10. Federico della Rovere 21. Livia della Rovere 5. Vittoria della Rovere 22. Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany(= 16) 11. Claudia de' Medici 23. Christina of Lorraine(= 17) 1. Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici 24. Antoine of Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme 12. Henry IV of France 25. Jeanne III of Navarre 6. Gaston, Duke of Orléans 26. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 13. Marie de' Medici 27. Johanna of Austria 3. Marguerite Louise d'Orléans 28. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine 14. Francis II, Duke of Lorraine 29. Claude of Valois 7. Marguerite of Lorraine 30. Paul, Count of Salm 15. Christina of Salm 31. Marie le Veneur