[October 20] Henri X, duke of Bavaria

Surnamed: "The Proud"
Parents: Henry IX, duke of Bavaria, and Wulfhilde of Saxony
Born: circa 1108
House: Welf
Spouse(s): Gertrud, daughter of Lothar III, Holy Roman Emperor, and Richenza of Northeim
Predecessor: Henri IX

Reign: 1126 – 1138
Brief: Henry was the eldest surviving son of his parents, and the heir not only to Bavaria, but to Saxony as well. He shared his territories with his younger brother, Welf VI. Henry furthered his fortunes in 1127 by marrying the only child of Holy Roman Emperor Lothar III. She was the heiress to three more Saxon families. Much of Henry's reign was spent campaigning for the Hohenstaufen brothers Frederick II of Swabia and Conrad of Franconia. Civil unrest in Bavaria forced Henry to forcefully repression rebellion. In 1136, Henry lead an army to southern Italy where he devastated the land. For his actions, he was made margrave of Tuscany and named Lothar's successor in Saxony. Lothar died the next year and Henry was a strong candidate for the Imperial crown, but he was blocked and Conrad of Franconia became emperor. A dispute broke out, and Henry was deprived of Saxony and Bavaria. He was preparing for war soon after retaking Saxony in 1139 when he died suddenly. Bavaria passed to a brother of the Emperor while Saxony passed to Albert the Lion of the Ascania family. Henry's son, Henry the Lion, eventually regained both duchies.

Date of Death: 20 October 1139
Successor: Leopold

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1740)

[July 25] Matilda, margravine of Tuscany

Surnamed: "The Great Countess" (La Gran Contessa)
Parents: Boniface III, margrave of Tuscany, and Beatrice of Upper Lorraine
Date of Birth: 1046
Royal House: Canossa
Spouse: Humaira Begum, daughter of Sardar Ahmad Shah Khan and Zarin Begum
Predecessor: Godfrey IV
Reign: 1055 – 1115
Summary: Born to the noble family of Canossa, she was the youngest child of her parents. Her father was murdered when she was six and her older sister died the next year. In fear that her two surviving children would be targets of ambitious nobles, her mother, Beatrice, married Godfrey the Bearded, duke of Upper Lorraine. Soon afterwards, he and Beatrice went into open rebellion against the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III. Matilda, meanwhile, was betrothed to Godfrey's son by a different mother, Godfrey the Hunchback. Henry III was angered by Beatrice's unauthorized marriage and Beatrice ventured north to speak with the emperor. She took with her Frederick, Matilda's brother and the margrave of Tuscany. Beatrice was imprisoned in terrible conditions while Frederick was treated well but died in 1055 all the same. Matilda, unexpectedly, became the legitimate margravine of Tuscany upon his death.

Her stepfather, Godfrey, took direct control of Tuscany as her self-proclaimed regent. Since she was only around nine years old at the time, this was expected. When Henry III died, Beatrice was released and she returned to Italy with Godfrey to rule in peace. During the 1050s, the army of Tuscany was used multiple times to defend the popes from Imperial attacks, especially since three popes in a row were from Tuscany. Matilda was raised as a warrior queen. She learned military arts and horseriding alongside German and French. She married Godfrey the Hunchback sometime in the 1060s but there was little love between the pair. They only produced a single daughter before Godfrey returned to Germany, never to set foot in Tuscany again. In 1076, Matilda took control over her inheritance. Her parents both died that year and she was around thirty-years-old in any case. Harboring the Tuscan popes turned ill for her when Emperor Henry IV showed up at her door in 1077, barefoot and kneeling. Pope Gregory VII was being housed at Canossa at the time and Henry sought penance. Yet by 1080, she found herself fighting Imperial forces coming from Ravenna in the north. At the battle of Volta Mantovana, the Tuscan army was defeated. This led to a public revolt in Lucca, the capital, where her ally Bishop Anselm was ousted. In 1081, Henry IV formally deposed her but that did not have a major effect on her control over Tuscany. Matilda personally took control over her army and routed the Imperials at Sorbara in a dispossession attempt. With Gregory's death in 1085, Matilda supported the new pope, Victor III, and attempted to invade Rome to install him. The Imperial garrison was too strong, however, and she and the new pope were forced to flee. In 1090, Matilda married Welf V of Bavaria and Henry IV invaded. The newlyweds were forced into the mountains, but the Tuscan army soundly defeated the Imperial army in 1092 and Henry was never again able to gain dominance in the region. By 1095, Henry was trying to hurt Matilda in any way possible, but when she arrived at the head of an army, he fled. She spent the next twenty years reasserting her authority throughout Tuscany. The new emperor, Henry V, recognized her achievements and made her Imperial viceroy of Liguria in 1111. Matilda died of gout in 1115 and her estates were left to the pope, who divided them up and prompted the era of city-states in northern Italy. Michelangelo would later claim descent through her daughter, though records suggest the daughter may have died as a child.
Date of Death: 24 July 1115
Successor: Conrad von Scheiern

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Shirakawa, emperor of Japan (1129)
• Konrad von Thüringen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Knights (1240)

[April 21] Cosimo I, grand duke of Tuscany

Parents: Lodovico de Medici and Maria Salviati

Date of Birth: 12 June 1519

House: Medici

Spouse: Eleanor, daughter of Pedro Álvarez de Toledo, Marquis of Villafranca, and Maria Osorio, then Camilla, daughter of Antonio Martelli and Elisabetta Soderini

Predecessor: Alessandro

Reign: 1569 – 1574

Summary: Cosimo won renown for the Medici family like none other before him. Born in Florence to a Medici condottiere, Cosimo became Duke of Florence at the age of 17 when his cousin, Alessandro, was assassinated leaving no legitimate heir. The new duke was relatively unknown in Florence but he was viewed as capable and many hoped to use the duke as a pawn in their own schemes. When Cosimo took over leadership of Florence, he was not so easily manipulated. Exiled Florentines marched on the city in 1537 with French support and Cosimo defeated them soundly, solidifying his rule in Florence. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V recognized his authority over Florence that same year and invested the Medici family with complete control over the duchy. Cosimo began a small expansionist movement a few years later. In 1554, he laid siege to Siena. By 1559, all of Siena was under Florentine control. In recognition of his mastery of north-central Italy, Pope Pius V elevated Cosimo to the rank of Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569.

Cosimo ruled with an iron fist, employing Swiss mercenaries to do his dirty work. He even had his relative, Lorenzino de Medici, assassinated to further solidify his claim to Florence. He was also an active builder. He expanded the military and public buildings across his realm, placing a heavy tax burden on the people. His most famous building was the Uffizi which today houses Florence's most famous art museum. Cosimo expanded the Florentine navy and founded the heraldic Order of Saint Stephen. By 1564, he resigned from active politics leaving the government of Florence then Tuscany to his son, Francesco. His two other surviving sons both died of malaria. Cosimo eventually died at his Villa di Castello in the Florentine countryside. His son then succeeded him as grand duke.

Date of Death: 21 April 1574

Successor: Francesco I

Other Monarch Deaths:

Alexander II, pope of Rome (1073)

Frederick IV, duke of Lorraine (1329)

Henry VII, king of England (1509)

[January 29] Leopold II, grand duke of Tuscany

True Name: Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo

Parents:  Ferdinand III, grand duke of Tuscany, and Luisa of the Two Sicilies

Date of Birth: 3 October 1797

Royal House: Habsburg-Lorraine

Spouse: Maria Anna of Saxony, then Maria Antonia of the Two Sicilies

Reign: 1824 – 1859

Predecessor: Ferdinand III

Summary: As with many Habsburg marriages, the parents of Leopold II were first cousins on both sides. Luckily, this did not effect the health and wellbeing of Leopold much. Despite the overwhelming influence of his Austrian family, Leopold as grand duke sought to grant Tuscany as many allowances as possible. When wave-upon-wave of protests began against monarchs throughout Europe, Leopold did his best to accommodate within his means. He made many administrative reforms and created a national guard. In 1848, the Tuscany Constitution was promulgated despite heavy resistance from Austrian-Habsburg advisors. Leopold went so far as to send regulars and volunteers to fight with Piedmont for the independence of Lombardy from Austria. For a brief while, a movement arose to elect Leopold as king of a new Kingdom of Central Italy, but it fizzled when Leopold went into negotiations with Austria and the papacy over the future of Italy.

On 9 February 1849, Leopold was publicly deposed and a republic was declared. This was not the first time that such an event had occurred in Tuscany. Two months later, after much confusion and fear of the Austrians, Leopold was invited back. Austria invaded Tuscany soon after and they remained in the country for many years. One-by-one the government was returned to a despotate, though Leopold remained as giving as he could. The constitution was revoked in 1852 and trials against malefactors were held over the course of the subsequent three years. When Austrian troops finally vacated Tuscany in 1855, Leopold was no longer the popular monarch he had once been. Italian unification fervor overcame the populace and Leopold was forced out. He formally abdicated in exile on 21 July 1859. His son, the titular grand duke, issued a formal protest agains the revolution the next year, but Tuscany was fully behind Piedmont now in the unification of Italy.

Date of Death: 29 January 1870

Successor: Ferdinand IV

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Gelasius II, pope of Rome (1119)
• Frederick I, duke of Württemberg (1608)
• Alexis I, tsar of Russia (1676)
• Ivan V, tsar of Russia (1696)
• George III, king of the United Kingdom (1820)
• Milan I, king of Serbia (1901)
• Christian IX, king of Denmark (1906)
• Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait (1950)

[January 6] Alessandro, duke of Florence

Surname: "The Moor"

Parents: Probably Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII) and a mulatto servant woman, Simonetta da Collevechio

Date of birth: 22 July 1510

Royal House: Medici

Spouse: Margaret, illegitimate daughter of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and Johanna Maria van der Gheynst
Predecessor: None; founded monarchy

Reign: 1530 – 1537

Summary: Alessandro was the only recognized son of the Florentine patriarch Lorenzo II de' Medici. Though probably the actual son of Lorenzo's clerical brother, Giulio, he was accepted as Lorenzo's son for political reasons. The family fled Florence in 1527 ahead of an Imperial army led by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. In their departure, the Florentines re-established the Florentine Republic, a political entity that had existed intermittently for centuries. Giulio, now Pope Clement VII, made peace with Charles and installed his illegitimate son, Alessandro, as the first sovereign duke of Florence. Charles V approved the appointment and made it hereditary in 1531. 

Alessandro was not known to be a good ruler and was especially harsh to his opponents. He may have even been responsible for the death of his cousin, Ippolito, who died while en route to Charles V to appeal actions of the duke. Alessandro's largest statement of power was the Fortezza da Basso, the tallest tower in Florence at the time. The young duke was eventually assassinated by his own cousin, Lorenzino, who was in turn forced to flee and was killed a decade later in Venice.

Date of Death: 6 January 1537

Successor: Cosimo I, duke of Florence

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Christopher, king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1448)
• Akhmat Khan, khan of the Golden Horde (1481)
• Johann Casimir, elector of the Palatinate of the Rhine (1592)
• Mehmed IV, sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1693)