Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga di Castiglione

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga di Castiglione (also Aloisio or Aloysius) (born April 20, 1494 in Luzzara , † July 19, 1549 in Castelgoffredo ) was an Italian nobleman and condottiere during the Renaissance who fought in the Italian wars for over two decades . As lord of Castiglione , Solferino and Castelgoffredo , he founded a branch line of the widely ramified Gonzaga family , which existed until 1819.

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga, a condottiere of the Italian Renaissance

origin

Luigi Alessandro was the younger of the two sons of Margrave Rodolfo Gonzaga di Castiglione from the old Italian noble family of Gonzaga , from whose marriage to Caterina Pico della Mirandola , di Carpi widowed. His paternal grandfather was Margrave Ludovico III. of Mantua , whose grandson Gianfrancesco II Gonzaga , Margrave of Mantua (1484–1519), was Luigi's cousin.

In addition to his brother Gianfrancesco , who was six years older than him, he also had four sisters and three half-siblings from his mother's first marriage, who, as members of the Pio di Savoia family, claimed their father's successor in the Carpi domain .

On July 6, 1495, his father was killed in the battle of Fornovo at the age of 43. Gianfrancesco and Luigi Alessandro formally succeeded their father as Lords of Castiglione , Luzzara , Solferino and Castelgoffredo . The mother, Marchesa Caterina, took over the guardianship of her seven and one year old sons. The territory that they had inherited from their father, he had after the death of Margrave Ludovico III. from Mantua, together with his then underage brother Ludovico , received in 1478. The successor, Margrave Federico I , had granted his brothers border areas of the Margraviate of Mantua. The agreement that had been established between the brothers was signed on June 10, 1479 by Emperor Friedrich III. ratified. Federico I, who was not satisfied with some points, entered into renegotiations with his brothers Gianfrancesco and Rodolfo. As a result, Luigi Alessandro's father got the rule of Luzzara in 1480, in return for territorial cession to Mantua ( Canneto and Mariana ).

Childhood and youth

In December 1501, the mother died an unnatural death under obscure circumstances. Ariosto reports about this in his epilogue for Alberto Pio, Caterina's son's first marriage. Some sources say she was poisoned by her maid, others that she was strangled by her while she was sleeping. There is talk of spurned love on the one hand and greed for money on the other. Gianfrancesco was thirteen at the time, Luigi Alessandro only seven. Her 35-year-old cousin Margrave Gianfrancesco II of Mantua took the orphans under his protection and helped Luigi Alessandro to fulfill his father's testamentary disposition when he asserted the inheritance rights to Castelgoffredo in 1511 . At the beginning of January of this year, the bishop of Mantua , their uncle, had died, leaving a will in favor of another nephew, which contradicted the agreements made between the four brothers at the time. To declare his property, the eldest son of Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Sabbioneta had Castelgoffredo occupied, but on January 30th, Luigi Alessandro was able to recapture the legally inherited property with the help of armed troops from the Marquis of Mantua.

The fiefdom was confirmed by Maximilian I in 1502 and the primogeniture was established. In 1515, Emperor Maximilian I made the investiture . The brothers Gianfrancesco and Luigi Alessandro ruled the lords together. On May 29, 1521 the investiture was confirmed by Emperor Charles V ; afterwards the brothers made a division. Luigi Alessandro became sole lord of Castiglione , Solferino and Castelgoffredo , while Gianfrancesco became sole lord of Luzzara . He became the progenitor of the Marquis of Luzzara; the Gonzaga di Luzzara branch line became extinct in the male line in 1794.

Military career as a condottiere

Margrave Gianfrancesco II of Mantua decided to train Luigi Alessandro in the arms trade, with which he followed in his father's footsteps. His debut in this role took place on the occasion of the siege of Asola in battle against the Venetians in October 1515. The following year he was sent to the court of Francesco Maria I della Rovere , Duke of Urbino, to refine the military art and stayed there until the end of 1516. Between 1516 and 1520 Luigi commuted between Rome and France on behalf of the Pope. Luigi Alessandro married on July 24, 1519 in Mantua Ginevra Rangoni from Modena , daughter of Count Niccolò Maria Rangoni and widow of Count Giangaleazzo of Correggio . The couple initially lived in Mantua and often stayed at the court of muses of Margravine Isabella d'Este, who had been widowed since March 1519 . During one of these visits, Luigi met the poet Matteo Bandello , whom he would later bring as a guest to his court in Castelgoffredo.

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga

In 1521, Luigi Alessandro took part in the siege of Parma , occupied by the French, with the papal troops, led by Gianfrancesco's son Federico II , Gonfaloniere of the Church . The expulsion of the French was successful and the city capitulated after just three days, but Luigi Alessandro sustained a severe injury to his leg that forced him to limp for the rest of his life. Luigi lived with his wife, the marriage remained childless, mainly in his palazzo in Mantua (today Archivio di Stato di Mantova), which he had inherited from his father. From around 1520 to 1532 he began the expansion of Castelgoffredo, which he secured with towers and a moat, and the beautification of the castle there (today Palazzo Gonzaga-Acerbi ) with paintings attributed to the pupils of Giulio Romano . From around 1530, on the outskirts of Castelgoffredo, he added a country house to this representative seat (today Villa Gambaredolo).

In May 1523 he accompanied Ferrante Gonzaga , the 16-year-old brother of Margrave Federico II, to Spain to the court of Emperor Charles V, who began his long military career in the imperial service there. After his return in November 1523, he placed himself in the service of the Venetians at the beginning of 1524 , who were allies of the emperor at that time. He did not take part in the Battle of Pavia , but on the following day, February 25, 1525, he met the French King Francis I , who was imprisoned in the castle of Pizzighettone . Luigi took this opportunity to seek the release of a relative from the Bozzolo line of the Gonzaga, who was also a prisoner. In autumn 1526 he fought against the mercenaries who had invaded Italy and were marching towards Rome . Venice had switched sides and joined the French King's League of Cognac . In November he stood at the side of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere , who was in command of the papal troops against the imperial ones, when the Medici scion was badly wounded at Governolo . Since no doctor was found nearby, Luigi Alessandro had the comrade transported to his palazzo in Mantua, about 15 kilometers away. Despite being amputated, he succumbed to his wound there five days later.

After the sack of Rome in May 1527, Luigi resigned from the Venetian service and retired to Castelgoffredo. From 1529 there was a rapprochement between Margrave Federico II and the emperor. When Charles V arrived in Italy, Luigi Alessandro traveled to Genoa on behalf of Federico to pay homage . On November 5, 1529, he took part in the emperor's solemn entry into Bologna and he was also present at the emperor's coronation on February 24, 1530. This was followed on March 25th by the Emperor's visit to Mantua, during which Federico II Gonzaga was awarded the ducal dignity in a solemn ceremony. After a two-year period of rest, which he used to expand his residence Castelgoffredo, he ran out of finances and took on military duties again. In the summer of 1532 he joined Charles V's imperial troops in Austria to face the Turkish advance, but after the Ottoman threat had been overcome, he returned to Italy in October. In August of the following year he traveled again to Spain to settle the Montferrat attack for the Duke of Mantua . This mission was unsuccessful as the case was left to a legal commission.

  • Luigi's Palazzo in Mantua

  • Castel Goffredo, today Palazzo Gonzaga-Acerbi

  • Castelgoffredo in the 16th century

  • Castel Goffredo

  • Corte Gambaredolo at Castel Goffredo

  • Gonzaga coat of arms in Castel Goffredo

  • Santa Maria delle Grazie di Curtatone

  • Memorial plaque in Curtatone

Withdrawal into private life and involvement in power struggles

Over the years, his health deteriorated steadily. In addition to the increasing number of complaints from his leg injury, he was also plagued by gout attacks, which in the last years of his life forced him to spend a large part of the time motionless on a chair. For this reason he had to reduce his activity as a soldier over time, but, although he was often suffering, took part in the military events that took place in Piedmont between 1536 and 1537 . The war between King Francis I and Emperor Charles V for the Duchy of Milan that broke out after the death of Francesco II Sforza had different fronts. Luigi Alessandro fought in the campaign of 1537 under Alfonso d'Avalos against the French in Piedmont. After the fighting ended, he returned to his lands and no longer took part directly in subsequent military operations.

Luigi Alessandro had a very combative and glorious life. However, there were also downsides, such as the murder of Francesco Maria I della Rovere in 1538. He was exonerated and refuted by the Republic of Venice and the Emperor, but the truth of the matter could never be fully clarified. Nine years after the Duke of Urbino was assassinated, there was another murder involving Luigi. Pier Luigi II Farnese , the Duke of Parma , fell victim to a conspiracy of the nobility in Piacenza in 1547 .

In 1540, after twenty years of childless marriage, Luigi Alessandro's wife Ginevra died. In the same year he married Caterina Anguissola from Piacenza, daughter of Conte Gian Giacomo Anguissola, Patrizio di Piacenza and widow of Andrea di Borgo. She had three sons to Luigi Alessandro. Caterina's brother, Conte Giovanni Anguissola di Varano e Riva (1514–1578), was one of the leaders of the Piacenza conspiracy. Ferrante Gonzaga , the governor of Milan, had long been looking for an excuse to occupy Piacenza and did everything possible to encourage an internal uprising among the nobility. Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga was supposed to act as a mediator in this plot. In the Pope Paul III. The trial for the murder of the Duke of Parma ordered in 1548/49, according to statements by the duke's servants and relatives, it was established that Giovanni Anguissola was the leader of the conspiracy and the person responsible for the killing. The attackers were not punished. Presumably the Pope did not want to provoke the Emperor, maybe there were other reasons. The fact is that Anguissola was well taken care of; From 1553 he received an annual pension of 600 Scudi from Emperor Charles V and in 1564 he became Governor of Como with a salary of 100 Scudi per month. The special favor shown by Emperor Charles V to Luigi was manifested in a personal visit by the emperor to Castelgoffredo on June 28, 1543.

epilogue

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga can be seen as a typical condottiere of the Italian Renaissance. While on the one hand he was involved in the often bloody acts of war that shook the Apennine Peninsula for over two decades, on the other hand he showed with his personal interest in art and letters that he had intellectual inclinations, adored painting and literature and the friendship with poets and He used writers with whom he had extensive correspondence. One testimony is the care with which he had Castel Goffredo expanded and beautified. The education in these beautiful spiritual things will certainly have started early. His mother, Caterina, was the sister of the philosopher Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , and there is a good chance that she too had a high level of education. After her violent death he came to the court of the Marquis of Mantua and his beautiful wife Isabella d'Este . It is therefore natural that he too was a close friend of writers and poets and loved to surround himself with their presence. Pietro Aretino , with whom he exchanged a close correspondence, and Matteo Bandello , whom he brought to Castelgoffredo in 1525, should be emphasized . Matteo Bandello even accompanied him on some campaigns and was then his regular guest from 1527 to 1541. In numerous novels by Bandello, there are references to the stays in Castel Goffredo of those years.

As can be seen from a letter to Federico Gonzaga, Luigi Alessandro tried himself in creating a few comedies. His chivalry was praised, which he had acquired over the years with direct experience after he had repeatedly faced opponents in a duel. Based on his knowledge, he was asked more than once to settle disputes between different gentlemen with his own authority.

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga died on July 19, 1549 in Castelgoffredo, where he was buried in a chapel before he was buried with his son Alfonso in Santa Maria delle Grazie in Curtatone near Mantua, a burial place of various members of the Gonzaga family in 1595 .

By his testamentary decree of June 6, 1548, the estate was divided among his three sons. Alfonso received Castelgoffredo, Orazio became lord of Solferino and Ferdinando got Castiglione. The latter was the only one of the three brothers who left legitimate sons who continued this Gonzaga lineage that lasted until 1819.

Marriages and offspring

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga married Ginevra Rangoni (1488 - August 10, 1540) on July 24, 1519, daughter of Count Niccolò Maria Rangoni and widow of Count Giangaleazzo von Correggio . The marriage remained childless.

In his second marriage from 1540 he was married to Caterina Anguissola (* around 1508; † December 13, 1550), daughter of Conte Gian Giacomo Anguissola and widow of Andrea di / da Borgo, with whom he had three children:

  • Alfonso Gonzaga (* 1541 in Castelgoffredo; † May 7, 1592 (murdered on Gambaredolo near Castelgoffredo)) Lord of Castelgoffredo ⚭ August 1567 Ippolita Maggi (* 1555?; †? (After 1594)), daughter of Conte Cesare Maggi, Patrizio Milanese
  • Ferdinando Gonzaga (* July 28, 1544 in Castelgoffredo; † February 13, 1586 in Milan) Lord and since 1571 Margrave of Castiglione ⚭ November 11, 1566 Marta Tana (* 1550 - April 26, 1605), daughter of Conte Baldassarre Tana, Signore di Santena - Parents of St. Aloisius of Gonzaga
  • Orazio Gonzaga (* 1545 in Castelgoffredo; † January 13, 1589 in Mantua) Lord of Solferino ⚭ 1568 Paola Martinengo (*?; † 1574), daughter of Pietro Martinengo delle Palle

  • possibly Ginevra Rangoni (1488–1540)

  • Caterina Anguissola (1508–1550)

  • Alfonso Gonzaga di Castelgoffredo (1541–1592)

  • Ferdinando I. Gonzaga Marchese di Castiglione (1544–1586)

  • Ferdinando's son Luigi, St. Aloisius of Gonzaga (1568–1591)

  • Ferdinando's wife Marta Tana (1550–1605)

  • Orazio Gonzaga di Solferino (1545–1589)

  • Orazio's wife Paola Martinengo (15 ..– 1574)

literature

Web links

Commons : Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ The court files on this murder case are in the Archivio di Stato di Mantova, Arch. Gonzaga, b. 1869 . Raffaele Tamalio:  GONZAGA, Luigi. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57:  Giulini – Gonzaga. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2001. Accessed 31 May 2018
  2. ↑ The circumstances of the death of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere were recreated by Ermanno Olmi in the film Il mestiere delle armi . The film can be seen in German on YouTube under the name Der Medici-Krieger : 1526: Der Medici-Krieger (feature film) , accessed on June 4, 2018

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Isabella Lazzarini:  GONZAGA, Gianfrancesco. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57. Rome 2001. Retrieved May 26, 2018
  2. ↑ Bruno Andreolli:  PICO, Caterina. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 83. Rome 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2018
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Raffaele Tamalio:  GONZAGA, Luigi. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57:  Giulini – Gonzaga. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2001. Retrieved June 3, 2018
  4. ↑ Girolamo Tiraboschi : Storia della letteratura italiana, 1809
  5. ↑ Marion Philipp: Gates of Honor for Emperor Karl V .: Festival decorations as media of political communication , accessed on June 5, 2018
  6. ↑ Nicola Raponi:  anguissola, Giovanni. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 3. Rome 1961. Retrieved June 3, 2018
  7. ↑ Comune Castel Goffredo - Esplora la destinazione , accessed on June 5, 2018
  8. ↑ Luigi Russo : Matteo Bandello: Novelle (essay) , accessed June 5, 2018
  9. ↑ Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation - Andrea da Borgo , p. 172, accessed on June 5, 2018
  10. ^ Genealogical page on the family , accessed June 5, 2018
  11. ↑ stilearte.it: Il mistero della giovane vedova dipinta da Correggio. , accessed June 5, 2018
predecessor Office successor
Rodolfo Gonzaga di Castiglione Lord of Castiglione
1495–1549 		Ferdinando I. Gonzaga di Castiglione
Rodolfo Gonzaga di Castiglione Lord of Castelgoffredo
1495–1549 		Alfonso Gonzaga di Castelgoffredo
Rodolfo Gonzaga di Castiglione Lord of Solferino
1495–1549 		Orazio Gonzaga di Solferino
Rodolfo Gonzaga di Castiglione Lord of Luzzara
1495–1521 		Gianfrancesco Gonzaga di Luzzara
personal data
SURNAME Gonzaga di Castiglione, Luigi Alessandro
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gonzaga, Aloisio; Gonzaga, Aloysius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian nobleman, Lord of Castiglione, Solferino and Castelgoffredo
DATE OF BIRTH April 20, 1494
PLACE OF BIRTH Luzzara
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1549
Place of death Castelgoffredo