Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Sabbioneta

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Gianfrancesco Gonzaga

Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Sabbioneta (born October 4, 1446 in Mantua , † August 28, 1496 in Bozzolo ) was an Italian nobleman, son of Margrave Ludovico III. Gonzaga of Mantua and since 1479 Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo and Lord of Bozzolo and Gazzuolo .

origin

Bronze medal with the portrait of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga

Gianfrancesco was the third of the five sons of Margrave Ludovico III. from Mantua from the old Italian noble family of Gonzaga , from his marriage to the Margravine Barbara von Brandenburg from the Hohenzollern dynasty . After his father's death in 1478, his eldest brother succeeded him as Federico I in the margraviate of Mantua. The second oldest brother, Francesco , had been a cardinal since 1461 and became Bishop of Mantua in 1466 . After his death in 1483, the youngest brother Ludovico followed him as Bishop of Mantua. Gianfrancesco and his brother Rodolfo , both of whom had embarked on a military career, did not opt ​​for a clerical status. After their father's death, Federico I gave them parts of the margravate. This agreement between the brothers, which was fixed in February 1479, was on June 10th by Emperor Friedrich III. ratified.

Gianfrancesco became Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo and Lord of Bozzolo and Gazzuolo. He became the progenitor of the later Dukes of Sabbioneta and Princes of Bozzolo, as the area was divided again under his sons. This branch line of the Gonzaga expired in the male line in 1703. His younger brother Rodolfo received Castel Goffredo , Castiglione and Solferino in the fraternal division . His descendants became extinct in the male line in 1819.

Life

Gianfrancesco Gonzaga grew up in the palace in Mantua and was brought up with his brothers in the spirit of the Renaissance, following the example of Vittorino da Feltre . His teachers were the prominent humanists Ognibene Bonisoli, from 1449 to 1453, and Bartolomeo Platina from 1453 to 1457. Between 1458 and 1459 he stayed with his maternal grandparents in Franconia for about a year to learn German. In the spring of 1462 he accompanied his brother, Cardinal Francesco, on a trip that took him to the Roman Curia . In the following year Gianfrancesco and his brother Rodolfo were among the people who came to Innsbruck to accompany Margarete von Bayern , the bride of the firstborn Federico, to Mantua. In 1465 his father sent him to the Kingdom of Naples to gain experience in the arms trade. In April 1466 he received the post of lieutenant general of the Neapolitan troops in northern Italy from King Ferdinand . Between 1467 and 1469, Gianfrancesco fought under the command of the Duke of Calabria and Federico da Montefeltros in the Kingdom of Naples and central Italy. He turned to his brother, thanks to his influence as a cardinal in Rome, Gianfrancesco was able to begin his military service with the Pope. From February 1469 until the late seventies he remained in the pay of the Pope, in Romagna and Bolognese under the command of Federico da Montefeltro, Gonfaloniere of the Church .

On June 12, 1478, his father died and Gianfrancesco and his brother Rodolfo were able to split off an independent territory from Mantua. In renegotiations, Margrave Federico I was able to save the strategically important center Viadana for Mantua, but only in exchange for Rodigo . The territories that he ceded to his brothers were lost forever to Mantua. The main line died out with Vincenzo II Gonzaga in 1627 and this resulted in a war of succession that threatened the independence of the duchy itself.

Between 1478 and 1484, Gianfrancesco stood at the side of his brother, the Marquis of Mantua, on the pay of the Duke of Milan . He participated with the Mantuan troops in the Battle of Poggio Imperiale in September 1479 and on the side of the Duke of Ferrara in the anti-Venetian battles in 1482. In 1484 his brother Federico I died and Gianfrancesco withdrew to his estate. The relationship with his nephew Margrave Gianfrancesco II was initially extremely tense. The advisors of the young margrave put the rumor of a conspiracy into circulation, whether true or untrue remains unclear. What is certain is that in those years exiled to his estates, Gianfrancesco devoted himself to the fortifications of his cities and the beautification of the main centers, Rodigo and Bozzolo. He was supported by his wife, Antonia del Balzo (1461–1538), daughter of Duke Pirro von Andria, an aristocrat with close ties to the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Naples, whom he married in July 1479. The last years of his life passed quietly. He died after a brief illness on August 28, 1496.

Marriage and offspring

Antonia del Balzo

Gianfrancesco Gonzaga married Antonia del Balzo on July 17, 1479 , who came from one of the most famous noble families in the Kingdom of Naples . They had eleven children together:

  • Ludovico Gonzaga (* 1480/81 in Bozzolo, † June 1540 in Sabbioneta) 2nd Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo
⚭ 1497 Francesca Fieschi († August 1528), daughter of Gian Luigi Fieschi Conte di Lavagna († 1510)
  • Barbara Gonzaga (* around 1482, † 1558 in Viadana ), ⚭ March 1499 Gianfrancesco Sanseverino (* around 1450, † 1501), since 1487 2nd Count of Caiazzo , since 1483 Count of Colorno, a son of the famous Condottiere Roberto Sanseverino d ' Aragona Count of Caiazzo and Colorno († 1487)
  • Federico Gonzaga (* around 1483 in Bozzolo, † December 28, 1527 in Todi ) Lord of Bozzolo , Rivarolo and Isola Dovarese , Condottiere
⚭ 1503 in Asola , Giovanna Orsini († 1528/30), a daughter of Lodovico Orsini Conte di Pitigliano
⚭ Emilia Camilla Bentivoglio (* after 1487, † November 19, 1529 in Gazzuolo), a daughter of Annibale II Bentivoglio (* 1466, † 1540) Lord of Bologna and Lucrezia d'Este (⚭ January 28, 1487), a illegitimate daughter of Ercole I. d'Este († 1505) Duke of Ferrara , Modena and Reggio
  • Antonia Gonzaga (* around 1493, † 1540), ⚭ (I) around 1510 Alfonso Visconti Signore di Saliceto († 1520); (II) Filippo Tornielli Conte di Melzo († 1553/54)
  • Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (* around 1493, † 1500)
  • Giovanna Gonzaga (* around 1495, †?), ⚭ Uberto Pallavicino Marchese di Zibello († 1531?)

  • Sabbioneta and Bozzolo as separate lords in the southwest of Mantua, 1750

  • Location of Sabbioneta in what is now the province of Mantua

  • Ludovico Gonzaga (1480–1540) Conte di Sabbioneta (1496–1540)

  • Ludovico's wife Francesca Fieschi († 1528)

  • Location of Bozzolo in what is now the province of Mantua

  • Federico Gonzaga (1483–1527) Signore di Bozzolo (1496–1527)

  • Location of Gazzuolo in what is now the province of Mantua

  • Pirro Gonzaga (1490–1529) Signore di Gazzuolo (1496–1529) e Bozzolo (1527–1529)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isabella Lazzarini:  GONZAGA, Gianfrancesco. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57. Rome 2001. Retrieved May 25, 2018
  2. ↑ JM Floristán: Sociedad, economía y religious en las comunidades griega y albanesa de Nápoles y Sicilia: nuevos documentos inéditos . In: Erytheia, Revista de Estudios Bizantinos y Neogriegos . tape 37 , 2013, p. 133 (Spanish).
  3. ^ Giovanni Agostino Caccia: Satire, e Capitoli piacevoli (1549) . Lampi di stampa, 2013, ISBN 978-88-488-1554-3 , p. 200 (Italian, online version in Google Book Search).
  4. ^ Giuseppe Coniglio “I Gonzaga”, page 474 f .; dall'Oglio editore 1967
predecessor Office successor
- Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo
1479–1496 		Ludovico Gonzaga di Sabbioneta
- Lord of Bozzolo
1479–1496 		Federico Gonzaga di Bozzolo
personal data
SURNAME Gonzaga di Sabbioneta, Gianfrancesco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian nobleman, Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo
DATE OF BIRTH October 4, 1446
PLACE OF BIRTH Mantua
DATE OF DEATH August 28, 1496
Place of death Bozzolo