Biographies > Patrons
Christina of Lorraine
(1565-1636)
Daughter of Charles III, Duke of Lorraine
(1543-1608), and Claudia, daughter of King Henry II Valois
of France (1519-1559). After her mother's early death, her grandmother,
Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589), Queen of France, looked after her education
and sought a high-status marriage for her. After numerous and lengthy
negotiations, Christina eventually married Ferdinand I de' Medici
(1549-1609) in 1586. She arrived in Florence in 1589, where she died in 1636.
After her husband's death in 1609, she tutored her young son Cosimo II de' Medici (1590-1621). Galileo (1564-1642)
addressed the most famous of his "Copernican letters" to Christina of
Lorraine in 1615.