ABSTRACT
The duke of Florence's marriage had become a key problem in Italian politics, a question of balance, as Pope Paul III's rise to power had been entirely unexpected. From the moment she arrived in Florence, the city's political stability and the consolidation of the Medicis' authority were associated with the new duchess's fertility. Eleonora di Toledo had traveled to Florence in the company of a large entourage of her countrymen whom her father had carefully chosen. One of the reasons that many people judged Eleonora to be Spanish was, clearly, her clothing. Cosimo, probably feeling like Daniel in the lion's den, used Eleonora as a shield against his many adversaries. In so doing he made political gains but at the price of damaging his wife's image in Florence. The relationship between Eleonora and the Catholic Queen was highlighted by Domenico Bruni da Pistoia in his Difese delle donne, published in Florence in 1552.
