Ludovico Gonzaga di Sabbioneta

Ludovico Gonzaga

Ludovico Gonzaga di Sabbioneta (* 1481 in Bozzolo , † June 16, 1540 in Sabbioneta ) was an Italian nobleman, grandson of Margrave Ludovico III. Gonzaga of Mantua and since 1496 Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo and Lord of Bozzolo and Gazzuolo .

Life

Ludovico was the eldest of the four sons of Marquis Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Sabbioneta , son of Marquis Ludovico III. of Mantua from the old Italian noble family of Gonzaga , and the Neapolitan Antonia del Balzo , daughter of Duke Pirro of Andria . After his father's death in 1496, he succeeded him as Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo. The investiture by Maximilian I took place on September 17, 1497 for all brothers together. After a division of his father's property, his brother Federico (1483-1527) became lord of Bozzolo and brother Pirro (1490-1529) became lord of Gazzuolo.

Ludovico Gonzaga served France in 1499 and the emperor in 1500. After serving in Florence and Rome , he served the Republic of Venice . In June 1511 he became governor of Verona and in November 1513 governor of Brescia . In February 1515 he was appointed the Venetian ambassador in Milan . On April 21, 1521, Emperor Charles V gave him the authority to open a coin and mint money.

His brother Pirro fought on the French side in the war of Charles V against Francis I of France in 1522 and was subsequently deprived of all goods in 1523. The emperor signed a diploma issued in Valladolid on January 13, 1523, the confiscated fiefs of Ludovico's first-born son, Ludovico "Rodomonte" (1500–1532). Ludovico "Rodomonte" left his parents' house at the end of 1520 and went to Spain . Here in the service of the emperor, he stood out for his amazing strength during chivalric exercises and quickly won the sympathy of the emperor of the same age. In 1522 he allowed him to accompany him on his journey to England. On June 6, 1522, coming from Calais , they reached the court of Henry VIII in London, where there were successful negotiations, which at Windsor Castle resulted in the Treaty of Windsor , the alliance between England and the Emperor in the war against France.

The younger brother of Ludovico "Rodomonte", Ludovico's third son, Pirro Gonzaga , became Bishop of Modena on September 5, 1527 and a cardinal in Rome the following year , but died on January 28, 1529. Ludovico "Rodomonte" did not grow old either . In March 1530 he was still present at the elevation of Margrave Federico II Gonzaga to Duke of Mantua. The following year, on January 15, 1531, in Rome, he married Isabella Colonna , Duchess of Traetto and Countess of Fondi , the only daughter and heiress of Vespasiano Colonna Duca di Traetto e Conte di Fondi from his first marriage. Vespasiano Colonna had married Giulia Gonzaga, sister of Ludovico "Rodomonte", in 1526 as a second marriage. Her stepdaughter Isabella Colonna was the niece of Ludovico "Rodomonte" by marriage. In December 1531, their parents' son Vespasiano Gonzaga was born, he would remain an only child and inherit a considerable fortune. Ludovico "Rodomonte" led an expedition against Napoleone Orsini, the so-called rebel abbot of Farfa , who was arrested in Vicovaro when he was shot in the left shoulder on November 30, 1532 by an arquebus . The efforts of the papal doctors summoned to save his life were in vain, and he died on December 3rd.

Gianfrancesco "Cagnino" was the only one of former four sons of Ludovico who was still alive from then on. But he too died before his father, a year before him, at the age of 37 without leaving any descendants. When Ludovico Gonzaga died in June 1540, his grandson and universal heir Vespasiano was barely nine years old. Giulia Gonzaga, the second wife of Vespasiano's grandfather and at the same time his aunt, took him into her care, since his mother had married the former Viceroy of Naples and Imperial General Filippo de Lannoy, Prince of Sulmona , in 1536 . In the will, the guardians in the event of remarriage were the grandfather Ludovico and his uncle Gianfrancesco "Cagnino". Vespasiano stayed with his mother as long as the grandfather Ludovico Gonzaga lived, who decreed that after his death his grandson should come to Giulia, who took over the reign of Sabbioneta, Rodigo and Bozzolo.

Vespasiano Gonzaga was made Margrave in 1565, Prince in 1574 and Duke of Sabbioneta in 1577. Under his rule, Sabbioneta was developed into an ideal city of the Renaissance and reached a prosperity that can still be seen today. Despite three marriages, he had only one daughter, Isabella Gonzaga (1565–1637). After Vespasiano's death in 1591, a bitter dispute broke out between the relatives over the succession of the Duchy of Sabbioneta, as a result of which the small state was dismembered.

Marriage and offspring

Francesca Fieschi

Ludovico Gonzaga married in 1497 with Francesca Fieschi († August 1528), daughter of Gian Luigi Fieschi Conte di Lavagna , who came from one of the most respected noble families of the Republic of Genoa . They had ten children together:

• Ludovico "Rodomonte" Gonzaga (* August 16, 1500 in Mantua , † December 3, 1532 in Vicovaro ) Lord of Rivarolo ⚭ January 15, 1531 Isabella Colonna , Duchessa di Traetto , Contessa di Fondi (* 1513 in Fondi, † April 11 1570 in Naples ), daughter of Vespasiano Colonna Duca di Traetto e Conte di Fondi (* around 1480, † 1528)
  • Vespasiano Gonzaga (* December 6, 1531, † February 26, 1591) 3rd Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo, Margrave, Prince and 1st Duke of Sabbioneta
• Paola Gonzaga (* around 1501 in Sabbioneta, † 1550), ⚭ 1516 Galeazzo Sanvitale Conte di Fontanellato (* 1496 in Fontanellato, † December 2, 1550 in Parma ), son of Jacopo Antonio Sanvitale Conte di Fontanellato
• Gianfrancesco "Cagnino" Gonzaga (* 1502 in Bozzolo, † 1539 in Bozzolo), Lord of Bozzolo , ⚭ around 1528 Luigia Pallavicini (*? In Busseto , † 1552), a daughter of Pallavicino Pallavicini Marchese di Busseto
• Pirro Gonzaga (* 1505 in Bozzolo, † January 28, 1529 in Sabbioneta) bishop of Modena since 1527 and cardinal since 1528
• Caterina Gonzaga (*?, †?), Nun in Mantua
• Elisabetta (Isabella) Gonzaga (*?, †?), Nun in Mantua
• Ippolita Gonzaga (* around 1510, † 1571), ⚭ 1526 Galeotto II. Pico Conte di Concordia e Signore di Mirandola (* 1508 in Mirandola , † November 20, 1550 in Paris ), son of Ludovico I. Pico
• Giulia Gonzaga (* 1513 in Gazzuolo , † April 19, 1566 in Fondi), ⚭ July 26, 1526 Vespasiano Colonna Duca di Traetto e Conte di Fondi (* around 1480, † March 13, 1528) (Ludovico's father-in-law)
• Alfonso Gonzaga (* around 1514, † young)
• Eleonora Gonzaga (* around 1515, † before 1552), ⚭ 1543 Girolamo Martinengo Signore di Padernello (* 1514, † April 7, 1570)

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

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  Location of Sabbioneta in what is now the province of Mantua

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  Location of Bozzolo in what is now the province of Mantua

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  Ludovico "Rodomonte" Gonzaga (1500–1532)

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  Rodomonte's son Vespasiano Gonzaga (1531–1591)

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  Rodomontes wife Isabella Colonna (1513–1570)

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  Gianfrancesco "Cagnino" Gonzaga (1502-1539)

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  Pirro Cardinal Gonzaga (1505-1529)

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  Giulia Gonzaga (1513–1566)

Web links

• LMU : Emperors and Courts. Personal database of courtiers of the Austrian Habsburgs: Gonzaga, Ludwig
• Enciclopedia genealogica del Mediterraneo: GONZAGA: LINEE DI SABBIONETA E BOZZOLO

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Enciclopedia genealogica del Mediterraneo: GONZAGA: LINEE DI SABBIONETA E BOZZOLO , accessed June 20, 2018
2. ↑ Gino Benzoni :  GONZAGA, Luigi, detto Rodomonte. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57. Rome 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2018
3. ↑ Nicola Avanzini:  GONZAGA, Vespasiano. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57. Rome 2001. Retrieved June 20, 2018
4. ↑ Genealogical page on the family , accessed June 20, 2018

predecessor	Office	successor
Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Sabbioneta	Count of Sabbioneta and Rodigo 1496–1540	Vespasiano Gonzaga di Sabbioneta
Pirro I. Gonzaga di Gazzuolo	Lord of Bozzolo 1529–1540	Vespasiano Gonzaga di Sabbioneta