Eleanor de' Medici (28 February 1567 – 9 September 1611) was a Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Vincenzo I Gonzaga. She served as regent of Mantua in 1595, 1597 and 1601, when Vincenzo served in the Austrian campaign in Hungary, and in 1602, when he left for Flanders for medical treatment. She was a daughter of Francesco I de' Medici and Joanna of Austria and the sister of Marie de' Medici, Queen of France.
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Early life
Eleanor, born Eleonora, was born in Florence, Tuscany, Italy, on 28 February 1567, as the eldest child of Francesco I de' Medici and his first wife Archduchess Joanna. Her baptism took place the same year and was attended by Cardinal Innocenzo Ciocchi Del Monte an adoptive nephew of Pope Julius III. Cardinal Spinello de' Benci performed the ceremony on behalf of Pope Pius V. The baptism was celebrated also with hunting excursions and parties.
It was at first believed Eleanor would marry Francis, Duke of Anjou, son of Henry II of France and Catherine de' Medici. In 1570 it was feared Eleanor had contracted smallpox but this was not the case, she had only a fever from which she recovered. Her parents and grandfather Cosimo sent her flasks of holy water as she recovered from her illness.