Ferdinando II de' Medici (14 July 1610 – 23 May 1670) was grand duke of Tuscany from 1621 to 1670. He was the eldest son of Cosimo II de' Medici and Maria Maddalena of Austria. He was remembered by his contemporaries as a man of culture and science, actively participating in the Accademia del Cimento, the first scientific society in Italy, formed by his younger brother, Leopoldo de' Medici. His 49-year rule was punctuated by the beginning of Tuscany's long economic decline, which was further exacerbated by his successor, Cosimo III de' Medici. He married Vittoria della Rovere, a first cousin, with whom he had two children who reached adulthood: the aforementioned Cosimo III, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, Duke of Rovere and Montefeltro, a cardinal. Reign Ferdinando was only 10 years of age when his father Cosimo II died. Because he had not yet reached maturity, his mother Maria Maddalena and paternal grandmother, Christina of Lorraine, acted as joint regents. His two regents arranged a marriage with Vittoria della Rovere, a granddaughter of the last Duke of Urbino, in 1633, in hopes of acquiring the Duchy. However, their political weakness prevented them from securing Urbino, and it was subsequently conquered by the Papal states. In his seventeenth year, Ferdinando embarked on a tour of Europe, traveling to Rome, Bologna, Ferrara, Venice, and finally Austria and Prague. One year later, his regency ended and his personal rule began. The dowager Grand Duchess Christina was the power behind the throne until her death in 1636. With his wife, Vittoria, he had two surviving children: Cosimo, in 1642, and Francesco Maria de' Medici, in 1660. The latter was the fruit of a brief reconciliation, as after the birth of Cosimo, the two became estranged; Vittoria caught Ferdinando in bed with a page, Count Bruto della Molera. In fact, Ferdinando sexual preferences went largely to men, and his lovers may have included the scientist and Ferdinando's personal physician, Francesco Redi. The first calamity of Ferdinando’s reign was an outbreak of the plague that swept through Florence in 1630 and took 10% of the population with it. Unlike the Tuscan nobility, Ferdinando and his brothers stayed in the city to try to ameliorate the general suffering, traveling through the city on foot to help and encourage his subjects. Tuscany participated in the Wars of Castro, the last time Medicean Tuscany was involved in a