Ladies First? Some Thoughts on a Tournament Presented to Prince Ladislas Sigismund (Florence, 10 February 1625)
Ladies First? Some Thoughts on a Tournament Presented to Prince Ladislas Sigismund (Florence, 10 February 1625)

Summary/Abstract: When Prince Ladislas Sigismund of Poland visited Florence in January–February 1625 as part of his Grand Tour, he was presented with a long series of entertainments comprising a sacra rappresentazione (Andrea Salvadori’s La regina Sant’Orsola, with music by various Florentine composers), Ferdinando Saracinelli’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola di Alcina (set by Francesca Caccini), and a run of comedies, tournaments, and balli. Typically, the Medici involved various leading Florentine patricians in these events. No less typically, these patricians took advantage of the occasion to demonstrate their loyalty to the two Medici women who currently held most power as regents for the young Grand Duke Ferdinando II: his mother, Archduchess Maria Magdalena of Austria (widow of Grand Duke Cosimo II), and grandmother, Grand Duchess Christine of Lorraine (widow of Grand Duke Ferdinando I). One of the entertainments offered to the prince, the tournament La precedenza delle dame (text by Andrea Salvadori; music by Jacopo Peri; scenery by Giulio Parigi), might seem to fit the pattern, although it is not quite so straightforward. Moreover, the hitherto unnoticed complexities of handling his visit— the Medici were hosting other distinguished guests as well—prompts careful thought about such entertainments not just as a conventional display of conspicuous consumption, but also as part of an intricate etiquette of diplomatic engagement.

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