The vultures surround Tuscany as the Medici begin to die out. The only thing left for Cosimo III is to try to guarantee Tuscany's independence in the future, even though most of the great powers of Europe are working against him.

ERRATA: In this episode I said that King Philip V of Spain and Elisabeth Farnese's firstborn son was Carlos. What I overlooked was that Philip V had a wife before Elisabeth, Maria Luisa Gabriella of Savoy, and they had three sons, Luis, Felipe Pedro, and Fernando. This is important because I suggested wrongly that Carlos stood to inherit both the Spanish crown, the duchy of Parma, and Tuscany if he were made the eventual heir. While his older half-brothers would die and Carlos *would* become King Carlos III of Spain eventually, at the time Cosimo III was still alive he was a possibility to keep Tuscany independent (if also very likely a satellite of Spain). At least it is true that Cosimo III was still opposed to the possibility, preferring instead to let Anna Maria Luisa appoint her own successor. I apologize for the error!