Carlo I. Gonzaga

Carlo I. Gonzaga

Place Ducale in Charleville (built 1612–1628)

Carlo I. Gonzaga (born May 6, 1580 in Paris , † September 22, 1637 in Mantua ) was Duke of Nevers and Rethel from 1595 and Duke of Mantua from 1631 .

His father, Luigi Gonzaga (also called Ludovico ), was the later son of Duke Federico II of Mantua († 1540). Luigi came to France as a child (1549) and founded the Gonzaga-Nevers line (French: Gonzague-Nevers ) there in the 1560s . Carlo grew up there as well. As heir to his mother, Henriette de Cleves, he also became Duke of Nevers and Rethel.

As long as the main line of the House of Gonzaga ( Gonzaga di Mantova ) existed and ruled in Northern Italy (Duchies of Mantua and Montferrat), Carlo stayed on the Meuse and in the north-east of the Kingdom of France: As Prince of Arches on the Meuse, he was considered more independent Ruler ( prince sovereign ); there he founded the city of Charleville (1606). He was also in the service of the French crown for several years, for which he (officially until 1631) administered the powerful office of governor of Champagne and Brie. In the summer of 1622 he succeeded in averting the incursion of an abandoned mercenary army under Ernst von Mansfeld into France.

After the extinction of the main line of Gonzaga in 1627 and the Mantuan War of Succession Carlo Gonzaga was in connection with the Peace of Cherasco in 1631 by Emperor Ferdinand II. Of Mantua and Montferrat invested , after his predecessor, Duke Vincenzo II. Gonzaga on his deathbed about this regulation had documented by marrying his niece, Maria Gonzaga, on December 25, 1627, to Carlo's son Carlo II Gonzaga .

Carlo Gonzaga married Catherine de Lorraine (1585 - March 18, 1618), daughter of Charles II. De Lorraine , Duke of Mayenne , in February 1599 . The couple had six children:

• Francesco Gonzaga (* 1606; † 1622), Hereditary Prince
• Benedetta Gonzaga († September 30, 1637), nun
• Carlo II Gonzaga (* 1609; † 30 August 1631), Duke of Nevers, Rethel, Mantua, Montferrat and Mayenne ⚭ 25 December 1627 Maria Gonzaga (1609–1657), daughter of Duke Francesco IV Gonzaga of Mantua
• Luisa Maria Gonzaga (* August 18, 1611; † May 10, 1667) ⚭ 1) March 10, 1646 Władysław IV. Wasa (1595–1648), King of Poland , ⚭ 2) May 29, 1649 John II Casimir (1609 –1672), King of Poland
• Ferdinando Gonzaga († May 25, 1632)
• Anna Gonzaga (* 1616; † July 6, 1684) ⚭ May 4, 1645 Eduard (1625–1663), Count Palatine of Simmern

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  Ducal Palace in Nevers

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  Palazzo Ducale (Mantua)

literature

• Gino Benzoni:  CARLO I Gonzaga Nevers, duca di Mantova e del Monferrato. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 20:  Carducci-Carusi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1977.

Web links

Commons : Carlo I. Gonzaga  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gonzaga. In: Volker Reinhardt (ed.): The great families of Italy (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 485). Kröner, Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-520-48501-X , p. 300.
2. ↑ Krüssmann, Ernst von Mansfeld , pp. 429-432, 434 f. 437-439 and 441-444 (especially for the year 1622).

predecessor	Office	successor
Luigi	Duke of Nevers and Rethel 1595–1637	Carlo III.
Vincenzo II	Duke of Mantua and Montferrat 1630–1637	Carlo III.