The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Medici, Cosimo II de’
1590–1621, grand duke of Tuscany (1609–21); son and successor of Ferdinand I de’ Medici. Although Cosimo played a role in the War of the Mantuan Succession, he generally avoided intervention in foreign affairs; in domestic policy he was less energetic than his father, particularly in economic matters, but he maintained a large fleet. He was a patron of Galileo, whom he appointed court philosopher and mathematician. His son, Ferdinand II de’ Medici, succeeded him.
