Born a Duchess of Bavaria, the youngest child of Elector Ferdinand Maria, she married the heir to the Tuscan throne, Ferdinando de' Medici, in 1689.

[8] Violante Beatrice, in collaboration with the Electress Anna Maria Luisa, attempted to withdraw Gian Gastone from the Ruspanti, his salacious entourage, by arranging banquets and public appearances.

[9] As Cosimo's father, Ferdinando II, had embroiled Elector Ferdinand Maria in an abortive financial venture costing him 450,000 ungheri worth of gold, relations between Munich and Florence were sour.

[9] In order to acquire Violante Beatrice's hand for the Grand Prince, Cosimo was obliged to reimburse Ferdinand Maria's son Maximilian II.

[4] Violante Beatrice rarely alluded to her emotional pain in conversation, but, on one documented occasion, in the presence of her ladies, branded Ferdinando's lover Cecchino de Castris the focus of her woes.

To quell any future tiffs regarding precedence, Cosimo III appointed Violante Beatrice Governor of Siena, whose duties as such kept her away from the Tuscan court, and gave her possession of the Villa di Lappeggi, which became, in the words of historian Harold Acton, "a sort of literary academy".

Violante Beatrice's most memorable act as Governor was the reorganisation of the Sienese Contrade — akin to administrative divisions — whose names, number and boundaries she formally defined which remain there to this day.

[24] Violante Beatrice dominated the royal court as Gian Gastone resigned his public duties to her, and literally chose to spend most of his time in bed.

[24] The "religious gloom" of Cosimo III gave way to a period of rejuvenation: Violante Beatrice instituted French fashions at court, compelled myriad Ecclesiastes to retire and patronised Siense poets Perfetti and Ballati.

[28] Upon her return from Rome, Violante Beatrice and the Electress Anna Maria Luisa decided to do something about Gian Gastone's public image and the Ruspanti, his entourage.

[30] Just five months before the arrival of troops on behalf of Gian Gastone's Spanish heir, Violante Beatrice of Bavaria, Dowager Grand Princess of Tuscany, Governor of Siena, died.

[32] The bulk of Violante Beatrice's remains were interred in the Convent of Saint Teresa, Florence; her heart was placed in her husband's coffin in the Medicean necropolis, San Lorenzo.