page_title: Livia della Rovere
section_title: The heir
hierarchical_section_title: Livia della Rovere / Life / The heir
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Der gewickelte Prinz von Urbino in der WiegeEnglish: The swaddled Prince of Urbino in the cradle
context_page_description: Livia della Rovere was an Italian noblewoman of the House of della Rovere and the last Duchess of Urbino.
  Born in Pesaro on 16 December 1585, she was the eldest child of Ippolito della Rovere, Lord of Monteleone and Montafoglio and Marquess of San Lorenzo in Campo –an illegitimate but later legitimised son of Cardinal Giulio Feltrio della Rovere– and his wife Isabella Vitelli, Marchioness dell'Amatrice. She had one brother, Giulio and at least four sisters: Lucrezia, Elisabetta, Eleonora and Livia.
context_section_description: On 16 May 1605 at the Ducal Palace of Pesaro, Livia gave birth a son, Federico Ubaldo della Rovere. The birth of a long-awaited male-heir repaired the relations between Livia and Francesco Maria II for a while, but the aging Duke showed little interest in his son, leaving him under the affectionate care of his mother for some time; however, he eventually removed the child from Livia's care and sent him to Florence to continue with his education, while she was virtually imprisoned in the Casteldurante Palace. Separated from her son, Livia wrote several letters to him: for example, in one of them dated 19 June 1616 she called herself as his "Most Loving Mother, who loves you as her own soul" (Amorevolissima madre, che vi ama quanto l'anima). The distance from both parents meant that Federico Ubaldo became in a troubled child and later in an arrogant and reckless teenager.
  The marriage of Federico Ubaldo with Claudia de' Medici in 1621, marked not only the beginning of the binding of the Duchy of Urbino with the House of Medici but also the personal rule of Livia's son as Duke of Urbino following his father's abdication. The arrival of her daughter-in-law at court and the birth of her granddaughter, Vittoria della Rovere on 7 February 1622 was a source of great joy for the Duchess, who began to spend some time with her son and his family between Pesaro and Urbino. However, the serene new family life didn't last long: her husband, made suspicious by his advisors about Livia's behavior, ordered her to return to him and stay away from their son.
caption: Federico Ubaldo della Rovere as a child. The commissioning of this special painting shows the importance of the long-awaited male heir.
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