The Medici reigned Grand Dukes of Tuscany starting with Cosimo I de ' Medici in 1569, until the death of Gian Gastone de ' Medici in 1737.

Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace in 1735, the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone in 1737, to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect.

* May 24 – Gian Gastone de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany ( d. 1737 )

* The direct male line of the Medici family becomes extinct with the death of Gian Gastone de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

* July 9 – Gian Gastone de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany ( b. 1671 )

They ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from its inception until 1737, with the death of Gian Gastone de ' Medici.

Francis Stephen was to receive the Grand Duchy of Tuscany upon the death of childless Grand Duke Gian Gastone de ' Medici.

Although fighting stopped after the preliminary peace, the final peace settlement had to wait until the death of the last Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone in 1737, to allow the territorial exchanges provided for by the peace settlement to go into effect.

Elisabeth of Parma had also wanted the Grand Duchy of Tuscany for her son Charles III of Spain ; Gian Gastone de ' Medici was childless and was related to Elisabeth via her great grandmother Margherita de ' Medici.

Gian Gastone de ' Medici, who died on 9 July 1737, was the second cousin of Francis.

She also sought for him the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, because Gian Gastone de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany ( 1671-1737 ) was also childless.

His cousin Gian Gastone de ' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, was named his co-tutor and despite Charles being the default heir of Gian Gastone, the Grand Duke still gave him a warm welcome.

Gian Gastone staged a fête in honour of the Patron Saint of Florence, Jean-Baptiste, on 24 June.

At this fête Gian Gastone named Charles his heir, giving him the title of Hereditary Prince of Tuscany, and Charles paid homage to the Florentine senate, as was the tradition for heirs to the Tuscan throne.

After the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, found out about the ceremony, he was greatly enraged due to Gian Gastone not giving him Imperial nomination having the rank of .. Ruler of the Romans.

After the death of Johann Wilhelm, Anna Maria Luisa returned to Florence, where she enjoyed the rank of first lady until the accession of her brother Gian Gastone, who banished her to the Villa La Quiete.

When Gian Gastone died in 1737, Francis Stephen's envoy offered Anna Maria Luisa the position of nominal regent of Tuscany, but she declined.

She departed for Düsseldorf, her husband ’ s capital, on 6 May 1691, accompanied by her younger brother, Gian Gastone.

Anna Maria Luisa arranged a marriage for her younger brother at the instigation of their father: On 2 July 1697 Gian Gastone de ' Medici married Anna Maria Franziska of Saxe-Lauenburg, heiress of the eponymous duchy, in Düsseldorf.

Following the death of his heir apparent, Ferdinando, in 1713, Cosimo deposited a bill in the Senate, Tuscany's titular legislature, promulgating that if Cosimo and his new heir, Gian Gastone, were to predecease the Electress she would mount the throne.

Upon hearing of Anna Maria Luisa's intention to return, Violante Beatrice prepared to depart for Munich, her brother's capital, but Gian Gastone wished her to stay, so she did.

On 25 October 1723, six days before his death, Cosimo III distributed a final proclamation commanding that Tuscany shall stay independent ; Anna Maria Luisa shall succeed uninhibited after Gian Gastone ; the Grand Duke reserves the right to choose his successor.

" Cosimo III conceded defeat and recalled Gian Gastone to Florence in 1708 ; he never saw his wife again.

The Governor reigned supreme over Tuscan society, and Gian Gastone delegated most of his public duties to her, and literally chose to spend most of his time in bed.

Governor Violante Beatrice and the Dowager Electress, following the former's sojourn in Rome, in spite of their mutual dislike of each other, attempted to ameliorate Gian Gastone's decadent public image together.

He married his daughter Violante to Lionel of Antwerp, son of Edward III of England, giving a dowry of 200, 000 gold florins ; and his son Gian Galeazzo to Isabelle, daughter of King John of France.

In spite of their mutual dislike, the Electress and Violante Beatrice attempted to improve Gian Gastone's poor public image together.

Out of sympathy, Gian Gastone befriended his unhappy sister-in-law, Violante Beatrice of Bavaria.

By 1697, Violante Beatrice and Ferdinando had been married for eight years and still lacked issue, as did Gian Gastone's sister, the Electress Palatine.

Violante Beatrice of Bavaria, to whom Gian Gastone had become quite attached, disliked the Electress and therefore left the grand ducal court for the position of governor of the town of Siena.

These parites ceased when Violante Beatrice died, in 1731 ; Gian Gastone was devastated by the loss of his beloved sister-in-law.

Finally, around a year later, they were wed in a double Sforza-Este wedding: Ludovico married Beatrice, while Beatrice's brother, Alfonso d ' Este, married Anna Sforza, the sister of Gian Galeazzo Sforza.

On the death of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Ludovico's usurpation was legalized, and after the Battle of Fornovo ( 1495 ), both he and his wife took part in the peace congress of Vercelli between Charles VIII of France and the Italian princes, at which Beatrice showed great political ability.

Wishing to increase the prestige of the image of France and the French royal family, Colbert played an active role in bringing the great Italian architect-sculptor, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, to Paris ( June – October 1665 ), in order to design the new East Facade of the Louvre and sculpt a marble portrait bust of Louis XIV.

As Prince Gian Gastone disliked his father's hyper-pious character, he elected to stay away from him and the royal court.

The Tuscany Gian Gastone inherited was in a pitiful state: the army numbered less than 3, 000, the royal coffer was empty and Florence was full of beggars.

An alcoholic, Gian Gastone drank too much before the ceremony and vomited repeatedly throughout ; he had to be carried unconscious back to the Palazzo Pitti, the royal palace, on a litter.

In 1673, 19 years old, he accompanied Marchese del Monte, the Emissary of Queen Christina, to Italy and Rome, where the royal protection ensured he would get the best teachers available ; leading architects of the era such as Carlo Fontana and Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

However, it was these traits that earned Gian Gastone the disdain of his father and of his elder brother, Grand Prince Ferdinando ; Gian Gastone was thus granted a scant allowance by his father and therefore could not enjoy the " dissipations " of court.

The closed court that Gian Gastone did keep was dominated by his favourite, Dami.

A contemporary dubbed the head of the Ruspanti, Giuliano Dami, " the despot of Gian Gastone's court "; he exploited his influence with the Grand Duke by offering anybody who was willing to bribe him an audience with their monarch.

Once more in Florence after 1719, Galilei was appointed Ingegnere delle fortezze e fabbriche di corte (" Engineer of court buildings and fortresses ") of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, Cosimo III and Gian Gastone de ' Medici, last of the Medici grand dukes, neither of whom, however, could provide him with architectural projects suited to his talents.

Mellin de Saint-Gelais's translation of Gian Giorgio Trissino's La Sophonisbe — the first modern regular tragedy based on ancient models which tells the story of the noble Sophonisba's suicide ( rather than be taken as captive by Rome ) — was an enormous success at the court when performed in 1556.