Vespasiano Gonzaga

Vespasiano Gonzaga

Vespasiano Gonzaga Colonna (born December 6, 1531 in Fondi , † February 26 or 27, 1591 in Sabbioneta ) was an Italian nobleman from a sideline of the Gonzaga family from Mantua . From 1568 to 1578 he worked in Spain, initially as an advisor to Philip II , from 1571 as Viceroy of Navarre and from 1575 as Viceroy of Valencia and was primarily responsible for the construction of fortresses : he left the citadel of Pamplona and the fortifications of Alicante and build Peñíscola . From 1554 Vespasiano Gonzaga initiated the conversion of the Lombard town of Sabbioneta into a contemporary ideal fortress and residence town . In 1585 he was accepted into the Order of the Golden Fleece by Philip II .

Childhood and youth

Vespasiano, the name corresponded to that of the founder of the Roman imperial dynasty of the Flavians, came from a branch line of the Gonzaga of Mantua. He was the son of Luigi Gonzaga and Isabella Colonna , who came from one of the two most important urban Roman noble families. After the early death of his father, Vespasiano was placed in the care of his aunt Giulia Gonzaga, while his mother married the former Viceroy of Naples and Imperial General Filippo de Lannoy , Prince of Sulmona . Giulia Gonzaga was a beautiful and spirited woman and it was at her court that the intelligentsia of Naples met. Therefore, the young Vespasiano received an excellent humanistic education there. Vespasiano's grandfather Ludovico died in 1540 , from whom he inherited Sabbioneta , his later residence, and the associated collection of antiquities. Vespasiano was sent to the royal court in Valladolid in Spain for further education , where he was the honorary page of the 17-year-old Infante Philip (later Philip II ). Vespasiano stayed at the Habsburg court for three years and received excellent training. His training in mathematics and architecture, which was useful in his later construction activities, should be emphasized. He further developed a beneficial relationship with the emperor and Philip. In 1548/49 he accompanied him on a trip to Germany and Italy.

First marriage

In 1549 Vespasiano married Diana de Cardona , who came from a Spanish noble family. The marriage earned him the title Signore and some lands in Sicily. From 1551 to 1552 he took part in the emperor's entourage in the war against the Turks, then against the French King Henry II. In the fight against France, Vespasiano distinguished himself as a clever strategist and served under his stepfather as captain general of the emperor's Italian troops. After his return from the war, Vespasiano made the first orders to fortify his Sabbioneta residence. In 1554 extensive construction work began in the small town, which continued as long as Vespasiano was alive. In 1555 he went to war again, together with the Duke of Alba against Pope Paul IV , who had allied himself with the French, Florence and Ferrara against the emperor. After the end of the war in 1558 Vespasiano was accepted into the ranks of the Spanish grandees for his services in Brussels and returned to Sabbioneta in 1559 after the peace treaty with France. In the same year, his wife Diana allegedly died of a brain hemorrhage . According to a rumor, however, she was caught by her husband with a lover, then locked up and poisoned.

Second marriage

In 1564 Vespasiano married Anna d'Aragon, the great-granddaughter of Henry of Aragon , the brother of King Ferdinand the Catholic. The connection with the royal house of Aragon meant a prestige gain for Vespasiano, because Anna was also a fifth cousin of Philip II. From this marriage the son Luigi and the daughter Isabella emerged. Anna d'Aragon died in 1567 after three years of marriage.

Career and third marriage

After the death of his second wife, Vespasiano concentrated on his career under King Philip II. He was viceroy in Navarre in 1571/72, then in North Africa and from 1575 to 1578 he was viceroy in Valencia. During Vespasiano's time in Navarra and Valencia, he was involved in urban development there. In Navarra, he had the fortresses of Pamplona and San Sebastian expanded and, as viceroy of Valencia, he had two new bastions built in Peniscola, and he brought ideas for building fortifications with him to Sabbioneta. On May 5, 1565 he was appointed margrave and on November 18, 1577 by Emperor Rudolf II . In 1580 his only son Luigi died, according to rumors through the fault of his father. The Duke of Sabbioneta fell into melancholy and broke off his military career. In 1582 he married Margherita Gonzaga, the daughter of Cesare I Gonzaga . However, like his first marriage, he did not have any children from this marriage. He married his only child, daughter Isabella, in 1584 to Luigi Carafa della Stadera , Prince of Stigliano . In 1585 Vespasiano was appointed Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece (Toson d'oro) by King Philip II . Vespasiano died in 1591 at the age of 60.

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  Sabbioneta as a separate principality 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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  The father, Ludovico "Rodomonte" Gonzaga (1500–1532)

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  The mother, Isabella Colonna (1513–1570)

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  The aunt, Giulia Gonzaga (1513–1566)

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  Vespasiano Gonzaga

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  Anna d'Aragon, Vespasiano's second wife

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  The daughter, Isabella Gonzaga (1565–1637)

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  Margherita Gonzaga, Vespasiano's third wife

Sabbioneta

Sabbioneta was an insignificant place near Mantua . Her name means something like "the sandy (lat. 'Sabbia'), town built on the country". It was Vespasiano's building activity that made it one of the ideal cities of the Renaissance. Vespasiano inherited Sabbioneta from his grandfather Ludovico in 1540. During his minority, however, Vespasiano's guardians, Cardinal Ercole, and Ferrante Gonzaga, took care of the government there. After his marriage to Diana de Cardona, Vespasiano made Sabbioneta his residence and began the first construction work. After the death of his wife, he was there more often and personally took care of the expansion of the place. In 1562 he ordered the residents of the surrounding area to be relocated to the new city. In the same year, an academy for humanistic education was opened under the direction of Marius Nizolius (Mario Nizzoli). Vespasiano tried to bring learned men to his court, and because of the relatively high proportion of educated men in the population, Sabbioneta was also called "piccola Atene" by contemporaries. 1577 Vespasiano was appointed Duke and Sabbioneta received by Emperor Maximilian II. The town charter awarded. In the last years of his life, Vespasiano concentrated on building activities in Sabbioneta, which, however, lost its importance again after his death. Around 1590, the Teatro Olimpico, the oldest free-standing building in Europe that still exists today, was built in Sabbioneta and built solely for the purpose of the theater, which was realized according to the plans of Vincenzo Scamozzi .

On Sunday, February 25, 2018, as part of a solemn ceremony, the remains of Vespasiano and his closest relatives were brought back to the Chiesa della Incoronata, the court church of Sabbioneta, after years of temporary accommodation, and buried in the grave monument there under the statue of the duke . His title at the time of death read: His Highest Highness Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta, Margrave of Ostiano, Count of Rodigo, Lord of Bozzolo, Commessaggio and Rivarolo Mantovano, Duke of Traietto (Minturno), Count of Fondi, Baron of Anglona, ​​Lord of Turino and Caramanico, Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

literature

• Nicola Avanzini:  Gonzaga, Vespasiano. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 57:  Giulini – Gonzaga. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2001.
• Gerrit Confurius: Sabbioneta or The Fine Art of Founding a City . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3-596-10532-8 .
• Susanne Grötz: Sabbioneta. The self-presentation of a ruler. Marburg 1993, ISBN 978-3-89445-146-2
• Bettina Marten: Vespasiano Gonzaga's fortresses under Philip II of Spain, Diss. Hamburg 1995
• Bettina Marten: Vespasiano Gonzaga - an outsider in the family picture 2000.
• Volker Reinhard: The great families of Italy, Stuttgart, 1992. therein: d'Este, Gonzaga, Montefeltro. ISBN 3-520-48501-X

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Bettina Marten: Vespasiano Gonzaga - an outsider in the family picture 2000.
2. ↑ Gerrit Confurius: Sabbioneta or The beautiful art of the city foundation . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3-596-10532-8 .
3. ↑ Guide I GONZAGA: Sabbioneta , accessed on June 20, 2018
4. ↑ http://gazzettadimantova.gelocal.it/mantova/cronaca/2018/01/31/news/funerali-di-vespasiano-e-famiglia-ecco-il-programma-1.16421341