Medici, Eleonora de (1556–1576)

Tuscan noblewoman . Name variations: Eleonore or Eleonora or Eleanora of Toledo; Eleonora di Toledo; Leonora. Born around 1556; murdered in 1576; niece of Eleonora de Medici (1522–1562); married Pietro de Medici (1554–1604), in 1571; children: Cosimo.

At age 15, in 1571, Eleonora de Medici arrived in Florence to marry her cousin Pietro de Medici. It was a ceremony that aroused pity in all who attended, for Pietro, a dissipated member of the Medicis, was not a prize catch. For the next few years, as her husband scandalized Florence with consecutive orgies and openly insulted her, the neglected Eleonora fell in love with Bernardino Antinori. When Bernardino was accosted by an angry rival in a narrow passage near the Strozzi Palace, he killed his assailant in self-defense and then gave himself up and was confined as a prisoner in his family's palace until the matter could be looked into. A terrified Eleonora, who could no longer hide her love, drove round and round the Antinori palace, hoping to speak to her beloved through an open window. But Bernardino was exiled to Elba.

From Elba, he wrote to Eleonora, but the missive was intercepted and handed over to Francesco I de Medici, brother of Pietro and grand duke of Tuscany. Brought back to Florence, Bernardino was executed on June 20. On July 11, Eleonora was told to meet her husband Pietro at the villa of Cafaggiolo. Leaving her four-year-old son Cosimo, she drove the 15 miles from Florence and arrived at the villa that evening. Following supper, Pietro drew his sword and killed her, then claimed that she had died from heart disease. Eleonora's son died a few months later.