Lucrezia de' Medici | |
---|---|
Duchess Ferrara, Modena and Reggio | |
Duchess consort of Ferrara | |
Tenure | 3 October 1559 – 21 April 1561 |
Duchess consort of Modena and Reggio | |
Tenure | 3 October 1559 – 21 April 1561 |
Born | Florence, Republic of Florence | 14 February 1545
Died | 21 April 1561 Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara | (aged 16)
Burial | |
Spouse | |
House | Medici (by birth) Este (by marriage) |
Father | Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany |
Mother | Eleanor of Toledo |
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.
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).