Antonio Corradi da Gonzaga

Coat of arms of the House of Corradi-Gonzaga until 1328

Antonio Corradi da Gonzaga (1st half of the 13th century; † 1283 in Mantua ) was an Italian nobleman who owned extensive estates in the Gonzaga reign and in the municipality of Reggio nell'Emilia , in the struggle between the Casaloldis and families the Bonacolsi was involved in the supremacy in Mantua and is one of the closer ancestors of the Gonzaga family , who ruled Mantua from 1328 to 1708, first as lords, later as margraves and from 1530 as dukes and rose to become one of the most important European dynasties.

origin

Antonio comes from the Italian noble family of Corradi da Gonzaga, also known as Corradi-Gonzaga for short, who lived in the Gonzaga reign and were wealthy there as feudal people of the powerful Benedictine Abbey of San Benedetto di Polirone . Members of the family appeared in documents as early as 1146, when Obizzone, Raniero and Guiberto Corradi confirmed a deed of donation from Margravine Mathilde of Tuszien (Tuscany) to the Abbey of San Benedetto di Polirone as witnesses .

The direct progenitor of the family is Filippo Corradi da Gonzaga , who died in 1199, whose son Abramino was the father of Guido di Abramino Corradi, who in turn was the father of Antonio and his brothers Bartolomeo, Bonamente and Bonaventura, the latter leaving a descendant who went out in the fourth generation.

The name and origin of Antonio's mother are not known.

Life

In his youth, Antonio was affected by his father's disputes with the Counts Casaloldi, which led to his family being evicted from their estates in Reggio and not being able to return to the city until 1257. Antonio was also settled in Mantua, where he was in close contact with the leading families of the city, the Counts Casaloldi and the Bonacolsi, and on November 30, 1259, together with Pinamonte Bonacolsi, he took part in the conclusion of the peace treaty between the cities of Mantua and Verona .

At the time of Antonio, however, there was a power struggle between the Bonacolsi families and the Count Casaloldi for rule in Mantua, which directly affected Antonio and his family, as they lost their possessions in Marmirolo in 1264 as allies of the Bonacolsis and in 1271 from the Casaloldis 1271 were also expelled from Mantua.

The policy of the Casaloldis to secure their rule in Mantua by evicting and expropriating all influential families, however, proved counterproductive, as it prepared their own overthrow, as the displaced families joined the opposing party of the Bonacolsis. This enabled the Bonacolsis and their followers to return to Mantua in 1272, whereupon Pinamonte Bonacolsi made himself lord of Mantua on July 4, 1272. Dante Alighieri mentions this event in his Divine Comedy in the Twentieth Canto of the Inferno in section 94 f .:

"Già fur le genti sue dentro piú spesse,

prima che la mattia dei Casaloldi

da Pinamonte inganno ricevesse "

Translation: "The people in the city had become much more numerous until the stupidity of Casaloldi succumbed to the deception of Pinamonte."

As close partisans of the Bonacolsi, Antonio Corradi and his family returned to Mantua in 1272 and received their property there a year later.

The Casaloldis were driven from Mantua, fled and holed up in the castle and dominion of Gonzaga until they were driven from there by Pinamonte Bonacolsi in 1278. The latter confiscated their possessions, but did not forget the befriended Corradis when distributing their property, but not only had the property in Gonzaga and Marmirolo confiscated by the Casaloldis returned to them, but also transferred part of the Casaloldis' possessions to Antonio, for example in Bondeno di Roncore and in Bondeno di Gonzaga.

According to tradition, Antonio Corradi da Gonzaga died in 1283. He could therefore no longer experience the next step in the family's rise, namely that - thanks to the special efforts of his son Federico - he succeeded in 1287 from the abbot of the Abbey of San Benedetto di Polirone to obtain the enfeoffment of his family with the long-contested castle and rule Gonzaga, which decades later would go down in history as the new family name of the Corradi-Gonzaga.

Marriage and children

Antonio Corradi was married to Richilde Pedroni, who, as the heir of her father Ugone de 'Pedroni, brought extensive estates in Brescia and Ferrara to the Corradi family and thus significantly broadened the financial basis for the family's further rise.

progeny

• Bonaventura Corradi left a descendant that can be traced back over two generations and emerges from the Sagramoro Corradi, who was bishop of Mantua from 1307 to 1320.
• Giulio Corradi
• Guido di Antonio Corradi da Gonzaga was the immediate progenitor of the house and the father of Luigi I Gonzaga , who in 1328 brought rule of Mantua to his family by driving out the Bonacolsis, which lasted until 1708.
• Bartolomeo Corradi
• Federico Corradi, clergyman and canon of Mantua, who in 1285, as papal inspector of the Abbey of San Benedetto di Polirone, asserted claims of his family to Gonzaga by submitting - presumably forged - documents and thus made a significant contribution to his family taking control of the abbey in 1287 Gonzaga was enfeoffed.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga", page 12; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
2. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga", page 13; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
3. ^ Dante Alighieri, "Commedia" in German prose by Kurt Flasch, page 91; Fischer Klassik, Fischer Verlag Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-596-90595-9
4. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga", page 11; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
5. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga", page 13; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
6. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga", page 13; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
7. ^ Giuseppe Pezza-Rossa, Storia cronologica dei vescovi mantovani, Mantova, 1847.

literature

• Giuseppe Coniglio: "I Gonzaga"; dall'Oglio editore, 1967
• Kate Simon: «The Gonzaga - A ruling family of the Renaissance»; Translated from the American by Evelyn Voss, Verlag Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne, 1991, p. 228
• Pompeo Litta, Famiglie celebri d'Italia. Gonzaga di Mantova, Torino, 1835.
• Dante Alighieri, "Commedia" in German prose by Kurt Flasch, page 91; Fischer Klassik, Fischer Verlag Frankfurt am Main 2015, ISBN 978-3-596-90595-9
• Giuseppe Pezza-Rossa, Storia cronologica dei vescovi mantovani, Mantova, 1847

See also

• Gonzaga
• San Benedetto di Polirone
• Mathildic goods
• Mantua

Web links

• Family tree of the Corradi-Gonzaga