Eleanor of Toledo

 Eleanor of Toledo was born Doña Leonor Álvarez de Toledo y Osorio on January 11, 1522. She was the second daughter of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Viceroy of Naples, and his wife, Maria Osorio.

When she was thirteen years old, Eleanor and her siblings, along with their mother, joined their father in Naples. There, the children were brought up in the strict and closed surroundings of the Spanish viceroy court.

Just three years after her arrival, Cosimo de' Medici, the Duke of Florence, was searching for a suitable wife—a marriage that could help him forge a strong political position. After being refused by Emperor Charles V’s illegitimate daughter, Margaret of Austria, not wanting to antagonise Cosimo, the Emperor offered him one of the daughters of his rich Viceroy of Naples. Cosimo bypassed the duller elder daughter Isabella and settled on Eleanor.

They were married by proxy on March 29, 1539, and immediately began to correspond with one another. Eleanor began studying Italian in preparation for her new life. In early June of that year, seventeen year old Eleanor set sail from Naples, accompanied by her brother Garcia, arriving at Livorno five days later. She travelled on to Pisa, where she met her husband, and together they left for Florence a short while later.

On June 29, 1539, their grand wedding was held, accompanied by a lavish celebration. The couple were reportedly happy together, and unusually for the time, Cosimo was faithful to his wife. Together they had eleven children, although only eight of these survived to maturity:
Maria
Franceso
Isabella
Giovanni
Lucrezia
Pietro (who died in infancy)
Garzia
Antonio (who died in infancy)
Ferdinando
Anna (who died in infancy)
Pietro

Eleanor wielded considerable political influence in Florence that even Cosimo often consulted with her. He also made her regent during his many absences, military campaigns, and illnesses.
Eleanor won over her Florentine subjects by getting involved in local agriculture and businesses; she also donated heavily, visited many convents in her husband’s duchy, supported charities, and was a sympathetic conduit between the people and her husband. She was also a huge patron of the arts, supporting many local artists.

While travelling to Pisa in 1562, forty year old Eleanor and two of her sons, nineteen year old Giovanni and fifteen year old Garzia, caught malaria. Both sons died within weeks of each other, and Eleanor soon followed. Her husband was inconsolable. Her funeral was held on December 28, and she was buried in the Medici crypts in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.

A 1543 portrait of Eleanor de Toledo by Agnolo Bronzino.

Sources:
The Cultural World of Eleonora di Toledo, Konrad Eisenbichler, p. 9
Medici Women: the making of a dynasty in grand ducal Tuscany, eds. Judith C. Brown and Giovanna Benadusi
Women Who Ruled, Shiri Bilik