Portrait of Francesco I D'Medici
 

After his father's death, Francesco let the Austrian and Spanish branches of the Hapsburg royals gain control over much of his Grand Duchy, while he entertained himself with science (alchemy) and other hobbies, like setting up Majolica and glassware factories.  The ceramics came to be known as Medici ceramics.

His glassworks, and one set up by his father in The Uffizi, were manned by Venetian glassblowers who came secretly to Florence during the summer months when their Venetian glass factories were ordered shutdown.  They had to come in secret because it was illegal for them to transfer the valuable technical knowledge outside of Venice.   They were paid very well for their efforts.

The main Florentine glassworks were eventually at Casino di San Marco, and artistic glass objects were often produced as gifts for foreign dignitaries and for the Grand Duchy's properties.

Alchemy
Straet, Jan van der
Giclee Print at AllPosters.com
 

One of Francesco's better known hobbies was his Venetian lover, Bianca Cappello.  After Francesco's wife died suddenly at the young age of 30 (yes, people did assume she was murdered, but no, it's not yet been proved) he arranged for the death of Bianca's Florentine husband (yes, this is sure), then he promptly married Bianca, against the family's wishes. 

Francesco may have gone to such lengths because he and his first wife had failed to produce a male heir.  He clearly hoped he could produce one with Bianca, a woman he also happened to love.

Bianca was a crafty one, who when she realized they could not conceive children together (because of syphilis, possibly), purchased a child from a poor woman and tried to pass him off as their child saying a fairy-goblin brought him, or some such nonsense. 

Bianca appears to have been a captivating woman, otherwise it would be difficult to explain why her husband, rejecting the story, then adopted the boy and her daughter by her husband.  She was captivating and he was desperate for an heir.

Francesco I was a de' Medici in more than the assassinations and despotism (he dismantled the Florentine system of justice).  He was patron to artists and architects. 

He had the architect Buontalenti expand Gli Uffizi to hold the de' Medici art.  He also had an extravagant garden installed above the Loggia dei Lanzi for special functions and for the relaxation of the de' Medici family in the evenings, and had a theatre built inside Gli Uffizi for entertainments for he and his guests.  The theatre and garden are both long gone. 

Francesco I built and decorated Villa Pratolino for his mistress / second wife, Bianca.  The paths you see in the lunette below crisscrossing the 74 acre estate, lead to elaborate water features designed like the villa by Buontalenti, and decorated by Giambologna, to make it into a fable-like world for Bianca. 

Villa Pratolino from a Series of Lunettes Depicting Views of The Medici Villas, 1599
Utens, Giusto
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The villa and grounds went to the successors of the de' Medici, who sold it in 1872 to the Demidoff family.  The villa was in such a bad state of repair, it was torn down.  The Demidoffs restored the servants' villa (possibly the villa in the bottom right of the lunette) into their home, Villa Demidoff. 

They also restored the much-altered gardens as much as possible.  In 1981, it was purchased by the state and is now open to the public. 

To pay for all this, and the money the Emperor demanded of Tuscany in tribute, Francesco I taxed the Tuscans terribly, not making himself an especially popular Grand Duke.

Remember the villa that Alessandro Il Moro took possession of, the Villa della Petraia?  In 1568, Cosimo gave it to his younger son, Ferdinando, who took Holy Orders, which was the second-son custom by now. 

As Cardinal Ferdinando, he had Buontalenti re-build the villa, and Tribolo design and construct the classic Italian gardens.  The villa remained a favorite spot for the de' Medici and their later successors, eventually being donated to the state in 1919.  The grounds are open to the public.  Click on this link for more about Villa della Petraia. 

Villa della Petraia
Utens, Giusto
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Francesco I died, officially, of malaria in 1587 on nearly the same day as Bianca, at the Villa Poggio a Caiano.  This has lead to rumors that they were murdered by order of Cardinal Ferdinando, Francesco's younger brother. 

Ferdinando could also now father children, which he did with enthusiasm, producing 9 heirs.