Descendants
Through her daughter Maria, Lucrezia is an ancestor of the ducal branch of the Medici family, an ancestor of the Kings of France (House of Bourbon) and also the Kings of England (House of Stuart). Her grandson was Cosimo I de' Medici, who became Grand Duke of Tuscany. His son, Francesco I de' Medici who succeeded his father in 1574, had two daughters who married into important families and changed the course of history - Eleonora de' Medici and Marie de' Medici. Eleonora married Vincenzo I Gonzaga, their son was Francesco IV Gonzaga and through Eleonora, Lucrezia is an ancestor of the Dukes of Mantua and also of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. Through Marie, Lucrezia is ancestor of Kings of France, through Marie's marriage to Henry IV of France. Marie's grandson was Louis XIV of France. Louis's grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, became king of Spain and is a direct ancestor of Juan Carlos, current king of Spain. Princess Michael of Kent, born Baroness Marie Christine, is also a descendant of this lineage.
Marie also had a daughter called Henrietta Maria who married Charles I of England. Henrietta Maria and Charles were the parents of Charles II of England and James II of England. James was the father of Mary II of England, Anne, Queen of Great Britain and James Francis Edward Stuart-'the Old pretender'. Charles, on the other hand, is an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York. The 'Old Pretender' had two sons, Henry Benedict Stuart and Bonnie Prince Charlie-'the Young Pretender'. Henry Benedict was a cardinal, who died childless, while the 'Young Pretender' had an illegitimate daughter, Charlotte, Duchess of Albany. The claimant, through Charlotte, to this branch of the House of Stuart is Peter Pininski.
Henrietta Maria also had a daughter, Henrietta 'Minette' Anne Stuart, who married Philippe I, Duke of Orléans and had issue. Her descent ultimately culminated in Franz, Duke of Bavaria, who is the current Heir General of the House of Stuart and embodies the still continuing Jacobite claim to the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland and France
Read more about this topic: Lucrezia De' Medici (1470–1553)
Famous quotes containing the word descendants:
“And what if my descendants lose the flower
Through natural declension of the soul,
Through too much business with the passing hour,
Through too much play, or marriage with a fool?”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“We go to great pains to alter life for the happiness of our descendants and our descendants will say as usual: things used to be so much better, life today is worse than it used to be.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Your descendants shall gather your fruits.”
—Virgil [Publius Vergilius Maro] (70–19 B.C.)