Como married Leonora, the daughter of Don Pedro do Toledo, Spanish viceroy at Naples, and had five sons by her. Two of these, Giovanni, who had been made a Cardinal, and Gerzia, died suddenly towards the end of 1562, and their mother soon after followed them to the grave. A report wee epread and readily believed by the numerous enemies of Cosmo, that Giovanni bad been killed by his brother. after which Cosmo, in his wrath, had killed Garzia with his own hand. Alfieri has made this the subject of a tragedy. Proba bilities however are against the truth of this assertion. (Bette, 'Storia &Italia,' lib. xii.) Cosmo's eldest son, Don Francesco, married the archcbichees Joanna, datighter of the Emperor Maximilian. In 1569 Pope Pius V., by a eolemn bull dated 2Sth August, conferred upon Coemo and his successor•, the title of grand-duke of Tuscany, as superior to all dukes and princes, and inferior in rauk only to kings. In the following year Como went to Rome to receive hie grand fined crown from the hands of the pope. In his bull the pope pet forth the merits of Como towards the Holy See for having entered zealously into the war against the Turks, and founded the military order of St. Stephen, in imitation of that of St. John of Jerusalem, for having given assistance to this king of Femme against the Huguenot., and having prosecuted the heretics in his own dominion,: Cosmo had permitted the Inquisition to be established in Tummy, and several persona had under its isentence suffered death for heresy or blasphemy.
Cosmo spent the latter years of his life chiefly at one or other of his villas, having entrusted the cares of administration to his son FIALICCSCO in 1561. Many thing. are raid of the irregularity of his
life in his old age, and his sons Francesco and Pietro were worse than their father in this particular. In 1570 he married Camilla Martelli, a private lady of Florence. Cosmo died 21st April 1574, in the l'itti palace, which had become the residence of the grand-dukes, and was succeeded by hi, son Francesco.
Comm, though an unprincipled man, was a very able statosman. In the general breaking up of most of the Italian independent states in the 16th century, he found means to create and consolidate a new and considerable principality, which has remained ever since independent, and be thus saved that fine country Tuscany from becoming a province of Spain, like Naple., Sicily, and Lombardy. lie had the firmness to refuse Philip Il'a first offer of Sienna as a fief of the Spanish crown, answering that he was an independent sovereign, and would not make himself the vss•ul of another. lie refused the crown of Corsica, whil was offered to him by the insurgents hi 1564, because it would have embroiled him with other powers and endangered his own states. Cosmo encouraged the arts and literature. lie founded the Florentine Academy, the Academy del Dieeeno, or of the fine arts; and he restored the University of Pisa. The Medici dynasty founded by Cosmo became extinct in 1737 by the death of the grand-duke Ginn Otteteme. lie was succeeded in his sovereignty by Francis duke of Lorraine, the husband of Maria Theresa of Airdrie.
(Botta, Stork d'Italia; Stork del Gran Ducato di Toscana; Ammirato, Istorie Florentino. kc.)