ABSTRACT
On 26 April 1575, Francesco de’ Medici draed an audacious letter intended for Maximilian II von Habsburg.1 Carried away either by physicians’ hasty speculations or simply by the law of numerical odds, the Grand Duke announced the birth of his rst male heir aer ve daughters even before his wife and the Emperor’s sister, the Grand Duchess Johanna von Habsburg, had actually delivered her child. “I wanted immediately to convey to you this news,” he declared, “since I am quite sure that Your Majesty will be pleased, as I am rejoicing with you, for the new acquisition that you made, especially since Her Highness [ Johanna von Habsburg] and her son are in good health.”2 As we shall examine shortly, this dra—which is included in the volumes of the Minute of Grand Duke Francesco’s correspondence in the archive of the Medici Grand Dukes (Mediceo del Principato)—was never written out as a letter and sent. From this document, however, we can deduce some of the sender’s motives.
