"My most serene Lady, and respected mother,
"The most serene Lord Duke my grandfather is at length dead, to my infinite sorrow, and I seem to stand abandoned by all; for I never knew other father but him; and your Highness, though my mother, is so far away, that I feel not the warmth of your affection, as I in some measure felt that of my Lord grandfather, by his proximity and the frequent comfort I had from his loving letters and other tokens. Your Highness will therefore sympathise with me, whilst I condole with you on so great a loss and severe a misfortune, and I beseech you to give me what consolation you can. And I make you my reverence, praying God ever to increase your happiness. From Florence, 10th May, 1631."
11. The Archduchess Claudia to the Princess Vittoria.
"Princess, my beloved daughter,
"The regret has been universal for the departure of your grandfather, the Lord Duke of Urbino, to a better life, and for the loss of a prince who maintained the superiority of his rank by that of his merits; no wonder, therefore, that it has been so great in you, for this is just by the laws of blood, and due as a debt of gratitude. I too have found it bitter, partly on your account, partly from my own obligations. But considering that the good Lord has gone from us at an age when life began to be a burden, and death desirable, I resign myself to the divine will, conforming to that which He had from eternity ordained. This surely you also have done, after the first bursts of feeling, to which, rather than to your reason, I ascribe your lamenting to me your bereavement of him as a loss of all support, and your entire abandonment. And, my daughter, I should be much distressed, did I not believe that by this time you have changed that view, so injurious to the affectionate solicitude your Lord grandfather took in so well providing for your future. Though distant from you, I bear you in my heart, and your little brothers grow up with a thousand inducements to love and serve you, prompted by nature and my suggestions. Their Highnesses, too, are always most disposed to caress and honour you, in particular Madam my Lady [Dowager Grand Duchess], who will fill my place in administering with watchful affection to all your sympathies and wants. You have likewise your lady grandmother, whom you should ever most affectionately respect, and from whom you may expect a lively interest in your welfare and success. You have, lastly, what is still more important, the protection of the Lord God, provided you fail not to deserve it, by acquiring those virtues, which, if displayed by you, will prove to the world that the glory of our race is not entirely extinguished. Be careful, then, to grow up cheerfully; and be it your aim to fulfil the expectations generally entertained of your good abilities, assured that the greater your attainments the more will be my comfort in you. Humbly kiss in my name the hem of your serene grandmother, and beseech the blessed Lord our Saviour that he would listen to my prayers and longings, the first of which are for your prosperity and happiness. From Inspruck, the 24th May, 1631.
"Your most affectionate mother from the heart,
"Claudia."
Princess Vittoria seems to have merited the affections of her relations, so warmly expressed in these and many similar letters. On arriving at her future capital, she had been placed for education in a convent, where her progress was so rapid that before she was eight years old, she composed as well as penned her letters, and within two other years could write them in Spanish. From the period of her betrothal, she was always addressed as Grand Duchess, and her marriage was privately celebrated in 1633, when she was under twelve, her husband being then double her age. Four years later, the public celebration of this union took place with suitable demonstrations of joy, and in due time it produced two sons, Cosimo, afterwards Grand Duke, and Francesco Maria, Cardinal de' Medici. In her grandson, the Grand Duke Giovanni Gaston, the male line of the Medici expired in 1737, when their state passed to the house of Lorraine. The portraits of Vittoria preserved in the Pitti Gallery represent her as an overgrown but comely matron, of good-humoured expression. Her matured character did not realise its early promise. Proud, vain, suspicious, and weak, she inherited her grandfather's predilection for the society of priests; and her bigotry, increasing with her years, so contrasted with the frank and lively temperament of her husband, that a separation became advisable. These faults she transmitted to her favourite son Cosimo, under whose reign they bred many public evils. She died in 1694, after twenty-four years of widowhood, disliked by her subjects as much as her husband had been esteemed. The Duchess Livia retired a few weeks after her bereavement to her paternal estate of Castel Leo, near Sassoferrato, where she lived in great retirement, and in religious exercises, varied by visits to Assisi and Loreto. She left her whole property to her granddaughter the Grand Duchess Vittoria.
The Duke must have taken great pleasure in will-making, as his Diary frequently mentions his being employed in that way. At his death it would seem that more than one valid testament was found, the general provisions of which, as stated in a contemporary abstract,[123] were as follows:—He desired to be buried in the church of the Crucifixion at Castel Durante, and that two thousand masses should be said for his soul. He instituted his granddaughter Vittoria his universal heir and executrix, burdened with these legacies: To his Duchess Livia, 50,000 scudi, and an annuity of 4000 scudi; to his sister, the Marchioness del Vasto, the palace and garden at Montebello, in which she was living; to the Marquis of Pescara, a jewel, a gold watch, and 2000 scudi; to the Duke of Modena, the Marquis del Vasto, and the Cardinals Farnese and de' Medici, each a gold watch; to the Zoccolantine monastery in the park of Castel Durante, 50,000 scudi; among his servants 12,000 scudi; to the community of Urbino, the library of MSS. and printed books in his palace there, with the Campo dei Galli under the fortress for maintenance of a librarian; to the convent of Minims, at Castel Durante, the library he had at that residence. In case of the death of his granddaughter without issue, he substituted the Dukes of Parma, Modena, and Aiello, to his succession.