The Palazzo Pitti

Eleonora di Toledo (see post of 12/2/11), who married Cosimo I de Medici in 1539, found the Palazzo Vecchio to be too small for their large brood of children.   So, with her own money, she bought the Pitti Palace on the south side of the Arno.  The Palace has since been expanded, of course, and today houses many galleries.  The Royal Apartments are well worth a visit, although are decorated in 19th century style, as the Palace was used by the members of the House of Savoy, who inherited the Duchy of Tuscany when the last Medici died with no heirs in the 18th century.

That Eleonora could buy the Pitti Palace is a remarkable event in several ways.  Cosimo chose his bride not only for her beauty but for her connections to the Spanish throne.  She was the daughter of  the Viceroy of Naples, which was controlled by Spain at the time.  In a reversal of the usual custom, Eleonora's father insisted Cosimo settle a large dowry on her.  She must have also retained some control over her funds in order to be able to purchase the Pitti.  This would have been a Spanish custom because, for the most part,  women in Renaissance Florence did not have the legal right to make contracts or own property in their own name.

The women of Spain, of the other hand, could and did inherit lands and thrones.  Think of Isabella of Castile who married Ferdinand of Aragon.  Isabella held the throne in her own right, and this legal right followed the Spanish to the New World, and eventually to California.  Women in the western United States could own land and property long before the women in the eastern states, whose property rights were in line with that of England.