Medici was born in
Florence in 1660 and was the second son of
Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and his wife
Vittoria della Rovere. He was the product of a reconciliation between his parents after his mother found the
Grand Duke of Tuscany in bed with one of his pages. He was the younger brother of
Cosimo III de' Medici, In early childhood, nearly the same age as his brother Cosimo's children, they shared the same wet nurses and governesses. Francesco Maria exerted a notable influence in the
conclaves of 1689 and 1700. Despite having this influence with the
Papal States, he lived mainly at
Villa di Lappeggi outside
Florence. In his tenancy of the villa, Lappeggi was restored and became known as the seat of his personal court where various parties and much revelry took place. At the death of his mother in March 1694, Medici succeeded to the Duchies of Rovere and Montefeltro, her
allodial possessions, once the possession of the
House of La Rovere. He acted as mentor to his nephew
Grand Prince of Tuscany, heir to the
Tuscan throne. When it became clear that the
Grand Prince and his wife
Violante Beatrice of Bavaria were not going to produce an heir, Cosimo III looked towards his brother to solve the problem facing the Tuscan succession. The question of an heir was further exacerbated when the union between
Prince Gian Gastone and
Anna Maria of Saxe-Lauenburg also remained barren. In 1709, when his health had already deteriorated, he obtained the Papal dispensation from the cardinalate, and was forced to marry
Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga, daughter of
Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla, in an attempt to save the dynasty. Married by proxy on 16 June 1709, the couple were married in person on 14 July 1709. Contemporaries agreed that Gonzaga was an attractive woman with beautiful skin, eyes, mouth, and waist. However, it was soon clear that the marriage was not to be a fruitful union. Gonzaga was repulsed by her husband, refusing to fulfil her marital duties with a man twenty-six years her senior. Despite requisitioning the assistance of her old confessor from Guastalla, Cosimo III could not cajole her into submitting, as she allegedly feared contracting
venereal diseases. Medici had her surmount this predicament and eventually the marriage was consummated. However, no heirs were born leaving Francesco Maria devastated. Medici retired to
Bagno a Ripoli where he died in 1711 from
dropsy, leaving behind exorbitant debts. == Ancestry ==