Giovanni Gonzaga

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Giovanni Gonzaga

Giovanni Gonzaga , German Johann Gonzaga (* 1474 in Mantua ; † September 23, 1525 ibid) was an Italian nobleman and condottiere during the Renaissance who fought in the Italian wars for over two decades . As lord of Vescovado and Poggio , he founded a branch line of the widely ramified Gonzaga family , which is the only Gonzaga line that still exists today.

Origin and private life

Giovanni was the youngest of the three sons of Margrave Federico I Gonzaga from the old Italian noble family of Gonzaga , from whose marriage to Princess Margaret of Bavaria , daughter of Albrecht III. , Duke of Bavaria-Munich . His paternal grandfather was Margrave Ludovico III. from Mantua . Gianfrancesco II Gonzaga , Margrave of Mantua (1466–1519), was Giovanni's eldest brother.

Giovanni Gonzaga grew up with his two brothers and three sisters in the palace in Mantua . His training began in early childhood. Together with his older brothers Gianfrancesco and Sigismondo , he was trained in the spirit of the Renaissance by important teachers, such as the humanist Gian Mario Filelfo (1426–1480) in the period from 1478 to 1480 and the writer Colombino Veronese (1440–1482) up to 1482 informed. He had already lost his mother at the age of five and when he was ten years old, in July 1484, his father also died. His eldest brother succeeded him as Margrave of Mantua at the age of 18. His 35-year rule was to have a significant impact on Giovanni's life. In contrast to the previous deaths of the regents of Mantua, in which parts of the country were cut off for the later sons of the testator, Sigismondo and Giovanni received nothing. Giovanni's life in the shadow of his brother was preprogrammed. One of his main tasks was to represent the brother on occasions that the brother was prevented from attending or was not particularly interested in. For example, instead of Gianfrancesco, he was at the wedding of the youngest sister Maddalena to Giovanni Sforza , lord of the city of Pesaro in October 1489 and took part in the great celebrations of October 29th and 30th in Pesaro.

Laura Bentivoglio

On June 20, 1491, Giovanni married Laura Bentivoglio in Bologna , the daughter of Giovanni Bentivoglio , the ruler of the city. In all likelihood, the consummation of the marriage was postponed until February 10, 1492, after Giovanni returned to Bologna from Mantua and stayed in the city for the duration of the entire Carnival . A "nice celebration" was organized in his honor by his father-in-law, during which Giovanni, disguised and riding a donkey, had to be active in an "egg fight " ( battaglia delle uova ). On his first wedding anniversary, June 20, 1492, he came back from Mantua to Bologna to accompany his brother-in-law Alessandro Bentivoglio (1474–1532) at his wedding to Ippolita Sforza (1481–1520). On October 3, 1492 Giovanni was again the guest of his father-in-law to travel from Bologna with 40 horses to Rome to meet Alexander VI. to pay homage on behalf of the Marquis of Mantua after his election as Pope . After that, Giovanni was only in Bologna on June 19, 1493 to “visit his wife” who had never left the city in the meantime. It was not until the beginning of 1494 that Laura, escorted by a delegation of 120 people commissioned by Giovanni, was finally brought from her parents' house to her husband in Mantua. The following year their first child, Federico, was born.

Military career as a condottiere

At the side of Ludovico il Moro

In September 1494 Giovanni was supposed to move to the Aragonese camp with 50 armed men, but he was in no hurry to fight. He preferred entertainment and variety at the court of the young Duke of Calabria , as he announced in a letter dated January 25, 1495 to his sister-in-law Isabella d'Este , with whom he was in lively correspondence. It gives the impression that both entered a competition to outbid each other who would have had the most fun, because on February 11th he reports to her: "We are here every day at parties and entertainment". In May Giovanni entered the service of Ludovico Sforza il Moro, Duke of Milan; apparently this corresponded to a wish of his brother. During this time he took part in the anti-French offensive of the Holy League and took part in the siege of Novara , and then on raids into the territory of Savoy, with the intention of punishing the regent, Duchess Bianca of Montferrat . In April 1496 he was militarily active with 50 men in Somma to support King Ferdinand II of Naples . Together with his brother-in-law Giovanni Sforza , he played a major role in the surrender of Atella on July 22nd, which brought the kingdom back into the hands of Ferdinand. At the head of 200 mounted men, they captured an enemy supply column a few days earlier. A certain tragedy lies in the fact that the capitulation had to be signed by the French viceroy of Naples, Count Gilbert von Montpensier . Giovanni's sister Clara (Chiara) (1464-1503), ten years older than him, was married in 1481 to Count Gilbert, who came from the House of Bourbon , for reasons of family policy . After Atella was evacuated , he and his troops went to Pozzuoli to be embarked there when an epidemic broke out among his crew, probably the plague of which Gilbert died in October 1496. Clara lost her husband and six children the father.

Il Moro's capture 1500

After the end of the campaign, Giovanni returned to Mantua and went from there to Milan at the end of November. In September 1498 he then entered the service of the Republic of Venice . Since 1499, Margrave Gianfrancesco of Mantua had been concerned about the situation in the neighboring Duchy of Milan . To the expansion plans of King Ludwig XII. not directing at Mantua, he thought it appropriate to maintain restraint personally. Instead, he hired Giovanni to help ally Il Moro to regain power from French hands. So he fought on February 19, 1500 with the Moro during the conquest of Vigevano and at the end of March with 700 crossbowmen on horseback in Marignano . But on April 11th Giovanni was captured along with Cardinal Ascanio Maria Sforza and many other Milanese nobles and brought with them to Piacenza . He freed himself by paying, it is said, 3,000 ducats . After the defeat of Il Moro, Margrave Gianfrancesco assured that his brother Giovanni had acted on his own initiative, not without promising that he would punish him with a very severe reprimand. Indeed, Giovanni was publicly “banditized” ( bandizato ) by the Marquis on April 26th in Venice . In these circumstances, Giovanni found it inappropriate to stay in Mantua in any case. And indeed he went away. At the end of July 1500 he was in Pesaro and at the beginning of August in Ancona to cross over to Fiume with a caravel .

Bologna and the Pope

Called for assistance against Cesare Borgia by his father-in-law , Giovanni arrived in Bologna at night on November 2, 1502 with a hundred armed men. The disapproval of his sister-in-law Isabella , the regent of Mantua in the absence of the husband, was immediate. She forbade military action against the Pope's son and threatened the gallows for disobedience. Presumably she didn't want to turn the Borgia's eyes on Mantua or provoke the Pope's wrath. Fortunately, the situation between the Borgia and the Bentivoglio calmed down without the use of weapons. However, Giovanni, who was delighted to have qualified as a “Reipublicae Bononiensis armutum gubernator” (meaning: leader of the military of the Republic of Bologna ), had a problem. He was now with about a hundred men in a town that did not need a military. On December 19, he offered his services to the Republic of Venice, which, however, did not accept the offer. Another application with the intercession of the Podestà of Verona Bernardo Bembo at the beginning of 1503 was unsuccessful.

Giovanni Bentivoglio with his family, picture by Lorenzo Costa , 1488

In May 1503 he received some goods from his uncle Ludovico Gonzaga , the bishop of Mantua, including Poggio in the southeast of the margraviate. According to the instructions of his brother Gianfrancesco on January 28, 1505, Giovanni was in Rome when the marriage contract between his daughter Eleonora and Francesco Maria della Rovere was signed and publicly announced on February 13 in the papal palace. As a result of this engagement to the nephew of Pope Julius II (1503–1513), Giovanni finally returned to service after all attempts to enter Venice's service had failed. In September 1505 he was in Romagna to recapture the territories occupied by the Venetians for the Pope. On September 12, 1506, he found himself at the side of the Pope when he triumphantly entered Perugia and escorted him on his way to Bologna , from where Giovanni Bentivoglio and his family had fled between November 1st and 2nd. Circumstances forced Giovanni to contribute to the expulsion of his own father-in-law when he triumphantly entered the city on November 11th with the Pope.

Service for Emperor Maximilian I and Massimiliano Sforza of Milan

In 1509 Giovanni entered imperial service and was on 30 April 1510 I. Emperor Maximilian to the Captain-General of the troops ( capitano generale delle troops appointed). On August 23, he awarded him the nomination as Capitano and Governor of Lazise . The fact that the imperial coffers were empty was thus compensated for by the award of titles with the illusion of virtual income. During this time his brother Gianfrancesco was imprisoned in Venice and Giovanni was suspected of a secret agreement with Venice supposedly to free the margrave. His real situation, however, was extremely humiliating; in November 1510 he was in Verona with only two armed men and no money. At the beginning of 1511 he finally had a new assignment. In January he accompanied the bishop of Gurk Matthäus Lang on a mission. On August 5th, Giovanni arrived in Vicenza at the head of 200 mounted men, having been appointed lieutenant and governor of this city and its territory on June 29, 1511. In mid-October 1511 he took part in the unsuccessful siege of Treviso with about 50 to 60 horses . On October 29th he finally had to evacuate Vicenza; so it was easy for the Serenissima to recapture the city on November 4th. Until the end of 1512 he was a lieutenant and formed the “government” of the city of Verona with two other imperial advisers.

From November 1512, when Massimiliano Sforza arrived in Mantua, Giovanni's fate was closely linked to his fate. On December 29th, he escorted his son Il Moros to Milan, where he made his ceremonial entry as Duke of Milan through the Porta Ticinese . In agreement with the emperor, the young duke awarded Giovanni the title "Caesareus capitaneus ac ducalis armorum gubernator" on February 23, 1513 (meaning: imperial leader and ducal leader of the military ). Associated with this was an annual salary of 1,000 gold ducats in quarterly installments. On February 24th, Giovanni and his descendants were also enfeoffed with Piadena , Calvatone and Spineda . According to a letter dated March 30th to his sister-in-law Isabella , he enjoyed the life he was now leading: the dances follow one another, people go to bed late. And so it is not surprising that Isabella was shocked when she saw how emaciated he was.

Battle of Novara 1513, woodcut from 1548

On June 6, 1513, the fighting strength of Giovannis and his soldiers was in demand when the battle of Novara was about Massimiliano against the French King Louis XII. To defend. Grateful for the happy outcome, he was endowed with the fief of Casalmaggiore by the Duke on August 23rd, and the Emperor confirmed on the 26th of the month. In the years 1513 and 1514 the marriage pacts were made between Giovanni's son Alessandro and the relative of Duke Ippolita Sforza, who was guaranteed an annual income of 2500 ducats as a dowry, as well as between the second-born of Giovanni, Francesco and Lucrezia, the natural daughter of the Bishop of Lodi , Ottaviano Maria Sforza (a natural son of Duke Galeazzo Maria ), with a dowry of an annual income of 2000 ducats. On April 20, 1514, Casteldidone , another fiefdom, came into Giovanni's hands. His position in Milan was now excellent. In a report dated March 31, 1515 by a Milan merchant to the King of France, one can read: “Four who rule Milan: Massimiliano Sforza, the Duke; his brother Francesco ; his uncle the Bishop of Lodi; Giovanni Gonzaga, who lives with his wife like the Duke in the castle . "

Giovanni's position was immediately taken advantage of by his sister-in-law Isabella of Mantua , who, when she learned of the poor health of the last lord of Pesaro Galeazzo Sforza, urged Giovanni to take possession of his collection of antiquities. Because the main heir was the Duke Massimiliano, she had to give her the antiques, which she actually received on April 11th. In her greed for antiquity, Isabella immediately appointed Giovanni as her procurator , who had to make sure that nothing was "stolen or hidden" - and completely overlooked the fact that Galeazzo Sforza was still alive; he did not die until April 14th. After Galeazzo's death, Giovanni sent his sister-in-law the good news that the antiques were undoubtedly beautiful and were carefully valued at over 1000 Scudi . As a good procurator “bono procuratore” he will see to it that the Duke sends her to her in Mantua as quickly as possible.

In May 1515 Giovanni was injured in a fight and received treatment in Mantua. On July 30th, appointed captain of the Sforza army in the war against Venice, he crossed the Adda and opened combat with 1000 infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen in Lodi . From here he accompanied Cardinal Matthäus Schiner to Monza on September 3rd . After his defeat in the Battle of Marignano on September 14th, Giovanni was one of the few who remained loyal to Duke Massimiliano. In Castello Sforzesco they held out the siege for three weeks until Massimiliano decided on October 4th to surrender and abdicate. On October 11th, the French King Francis I made his triumphal entry into Milan. In the negotiations for the transfer of power, two circumstances helped Giovanni to a reasonably happy position: his companion, Duke Massimiliano stood up for him and Charles de Montpensier , Duke of Bourbon , the commandant of the French militia was the son of his sister Claire (Chiara ), and Giovanni's biological nephew. Giovanni was taken into the service of the king, at the head of a force of 50 lances and 100 archers and with a pension of 2000 Scudi. The two daughters-in-law from the Sforza house were compensated for the loss of income with an annual replacement of 1,000 Scudi each.

Vescovado / Vescovato and the heirs

Vescovato on a map from 1702 ( exclave directly on the left edge)

Of course, the fall of the Duke of Milan also meant relegation for Giovanni. The Casalmaggiore fief, which once belonged to him, was given to someone else by the king and as a simple captain he was one of many and exchangeable at any time. On December 8, 1516, Francis I wrote to Marshal Odet de Foix that the Gonzaga was sent to Parma with 300 lances and 2000 infantrymen . In April 1517 Giovanni is said to have been in the Rimini region . In 1519 he bought the fief of Vescovado from the Gonzaga di Novellara family ; He received confirmation of the purchase from Emperor Charles V in 1521. At the beginning of November 1520, Giovanni went to Milan again to pay his respects to the French governor Odet de Foix. In August 1521 he placed himself with 50 lances in the service of his nephew, the Marquis Federico II of Mantua . - Now he was no longer on the side of France when he came to Medole on October 28, 1521 with 800 horses and 60,000 ducats to “pay” to the men of the “German camp”, the Alemani and the Svizzeri were already waiting impatiently for their pay. From there he brought it to Matthäus Schiner , through whose initiative it was possible to retake Milan from the French in the Battle of Bicocca on April 27, 1522.

On May 27, 1522, Pandolfo Malatesta , the former ruler of the city of Rimini , returned to Rimini with his son Sigismondo, and briefly renewed his rule. He was forced to leave Rimini on March 5, 1523. Giovanni Gonzaga brought Pandolfo's son Sigismondo to safety in agreement with the Marquis of Mantua. Sigismondo Malatesta was the son of his sister-in-law Violante Bentivoglio and Giovanni's nephew.

The fact that in September 1523 his son Alessandro had taken over the leadership of 600 Mantuan forces shows that Giovanni had retired from military service. Giovanni Gonzaga died on September 23, 1525, his wife had preceded him in 1523. She had given him five sons and three daughters.

Giovanni Gonzaga is the progenitor of the Marquis and Princes of Vescovato. This branch line is the only one of the once widely ramified House of Gonzaga that still exists today. Of his five sons, Sigismondo I continued the line. His son Sigismondo II became the 1st Marchese di Vescovado in 1559. The generals Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga (1861–1938) and Ferrante Vincenzo Gonzaga (1889–1943) are Giovanni's direct descendants.

Marriage and offspring

Giovanni Gonzaga married Laura Bentivoglio (around 1478/80; † 1523) in 1492, daughter of Giovanni II Bentivoglio and Ginevra Sforza , with whom he had eight children:

  • Federico Gonzaga (1495 - 22 September 1545), Abbot of San Benedetto in Polirone
  • Francesco Gonzaga (* 1496; † 1523) ⚭ 1514 Lucrezia Sforza, the natural daughter of the Bishop of Lodi , Ottaviano Maria Sforza (1475–1545)
  • Alessandro Gonzaga (* 1497; † 17 September 1527) Lord of Vescovado 1525 ⚭ 1513 Ippolita Sforza (*?; † 1543), daughter of Federico Sforza Conte di Santa Fiora and Bartolomea Orsini
  • Ginevra Gonzaga (1498 - December 14, 1570), abbess of Santa Paola in Mantua
  • Sigismondo I. Gonzaga (* 1499; † December 31, 1530) Lord of Vescovado 1527 ⚭ Antonia Pallavicino (*?; † August 31, 1554), daughter of Cristoforo Pallavicino Marchese di Busseto
  • Camilla Gonzaga (* 1500; † 1572 or 1585) ⚭ February 13, 1523 Pietro Maria Rossi, 2nd Marchese di San Secondo (* 1504; † August 15, 1547), son of Troilo de 'Rossi, 1st Marchese di San Secondo
  • Eleonora Gonzaga (* 1501; †?) ⚭ Bernardino Schizzi, Patrizio di Cremona
  • Galeazzo Gonzaga (* 1502 - 7 January 1573), governor of Modena under Duke Ercole II. D'Este , writer

  • Laura Bentivoglio (1480-1523)

  • Alessandro Gonzaga (1497-1527)

  • Sigismondo Gonzaga di Vescovado (1499-1530)

  • Camilla Gonzaga (1500–1572 / 85)

  • Pier Maria de 'Rossi (1504–1547)

  • Galeazzo Gonzaga (1502–1573)

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The date of birth of Laura Bentivoglio is not known, it probably was between 1478 and 1480.
  2. ↑ Bianca von Montferrat , the widow of Charles I of Savoy and regent for his son Charles II , had granted Charles VIII's French troops free passage through Savoy in 1494 and made the attack on the Republic of Florence and the Kingdom of Naples much easier.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Gino Benzoni :  GONZAGA, Giovanni. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57. Rome 2001. Retrieved June 29, 2018
  2. ^ ersch and Gruber : Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste , 1846. Ferdinand II. (King of Naples) , page 67 f., Accessed on June 30, 2018
  3. ↑ Ferdinand Gregorovius : Lucrezia Borgia , 1874. , new edition 2017, page 236., accessed on July 1, 2018
  4. ↑ Library of Historical Classics of All Nations: Life and Government of Pope Leo the Tenth , 1818. , p. 254., accessed July 2, 2018
  5. ↑ Genealogical page on the family , accessed on July 2, 2018
predecessor Office successor
- Lord of Poggio
1503–1525 		Alessandro Gonzaga di Vescovado
- Lord of Vescovado
1519–1525 		Alessandro Gonzaga di Vescovado
personal data
SURNAME Gonzaga, Giovanni
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gonzaga, Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian noblemen and condottiers during the Renaissance
DATE OF BIRTH 1474
PLACE OF BIRTH Mantua
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1525
Place of death Mantua