Cosimo I and Eleonora: The Love Story behind "Tomorrow is the Marriage Day"

Eleanora of Toledo (left) and Cosimo I de Medici (right) married not only for political gain, but for love -- a rarity in their time.

On June 15th, 2025, Musick's Company presented "Tomorrow is the Marriage Day", a collection of music dedicated to celebrating the joys of love and marriage. One of the largest portions of this performance centered around a spectacular historical event: the marriage of Cosimo I and Eleanora of Toledo in 1539. Though the couple united under the auspices of political advantage, they also did so out of a mutual respect and love that defined their partnership until death.

As the daughter of Don Pedro, the senior officer in the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's court, Eleonora represented an incredible match for Cosimo I. While he could lay claim to the Medici name, it held no noble pedigree. As such, marrying Eleonora brought with it a degree of prestige that added to his own claim to the duchy of Florence. That said, Eleonora did not come to Florence to simply bear children and serve as a trophy for her husband.

Eleonora can be defined as the original Florentine first lady. Educated from birth, she closely followed Cosimo as his wife: she had listening rooms to give advice to her husband following meetings, she ate at the table with him, went on horseback, and educated daughters as if they were sons, an incredibly progressive mindset for the time. Cosimo I also distinguished himself as a husband, for unlike so many men of his time, he refused to take lovers while he was married to Eleonora and stayed faithful to her until her death in 1562. For these reasons, Cosimo I and Eleonora's relationship is considered one of the great romances in European history.

The marriage itself was an incredibly sumptuous affair, held at the Medici's palace between 6 and 9 July. The music in question was performed at the wedding banquet, enlivened by a rich parade of allegorical characters including Apollo, the Muses, Flora, the lands and rivers of Tuscany. In addition, a second "wedding show" was put on “inside the second courtyard", which had in fact been transformed for the occasion into a real room thanks to a “sky” dotted with cupids with bows and arrows and a series of paintings all around, created by the most famous artists of the time and depicting the major exploits of Medici characters, from Cosimo the Elder to Cosimo I. Such a grand display of wealth and artistry only seemed fitting to bring back to life in our own concert, "Tomorrow is the Marriage Day". Follow us on Facebook and TikTok to catch all of our latest news and performances, and stay tuned for more articles about the many beautiful pieces of music we perform here at the Center for Old Music in the New World!