ABSTRACT
In an era of religious warfare, to be a perfect prince was to be a crusader for and defender of the one true faith, and the Medici embrace of Christian crusade reflected the dominant cultural and ideological climate of Europe at the time. The foundation of the Medici knightly order was designed to unify the disparate parts of Cosimo’s Tuscan dominio under the banner of shared Christian crusade, as well as to make a bid for recognition on a grander, global stage, gaining papal approval and status abroad with prominent Catholic powers such as France and Spain. During Ferdinando I de’ Medici’s reign as Grand Duke of Tuscany, the military power and prestige of the Cavalieri di Santo Stefano, a crusading order founded by his father, Cosimo I, was at its apex. The sixteenth century was a period of increased maritime exploration, thriving sea trade, and large-scale naval battles.
