Antonio Ferrante Gonzaga (9 December 1687 – 16 April 1729) was the reigning

Duke of Guastalla This is a list of rulers of Guastalla, a town in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, on the right bank of the Po River. The County of Guastalla was established in 1406 for the Torelli family. In 1456, the county was partitioned, with Montechiarugolo and Casei ...

and a member of the

House of Gonzaga ) , type = Noble house , country = , estates = Ducal Palace (Mantua) Ducal Palace (Nevers) , titles = * Prince of Arches * Duke of Montferrat * Duke of Mantua * Duke of Guastalla * Duke of Nevers * Duke ...

Early life

He was the son of

Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla Vincenzo Gonzaga (1634 – 28 April 1714) was the reigning Duke of Guastalla and a member of the House of Gonzaga. Early life Vincenzo was born as the second son of Andrea Gonzaga, Count of San Paolo (d. 1686) and his wife, Laura Crispano dei m ...

and his second wife, who was also his cousin, Princess Maria Vittoria Gonzaga of Guastalla (1659-1707). His sister was

Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga (13 November 1686 – 16 March 1741) was the Duchess of Rovere and Montefeltro as the wife of Francesco Maria de' Medici. She was the eldest child of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and Sabbioneta and his second wif ...

, sister in law to

Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III de' Medici (14 August 1642 – 31 October 1723) was Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1670 until his death in 1723, the sixth and penultimate from the House of Medici. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinan ...

. He succeeded his father in 1714.

Personal life

He was engaged to

Maria Karolina Sobieska Maria Karolina Sobieska (25 November 1697 – 8 May 1740) was a Polish noblewoman, daughter of Jakub Ludwik Sobieski. Known as Marie Charlotte or only Charlotte, she was the Princess of Turenne and later Duchess of Bouillon by marriage. Charlo ...

, granddaughter of

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( pl, Jan III Sobieski; lt, Jonas III Sobieskis; la, Ioannes III Sobiscius; 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobie ...

but Maria Karolina (known as Charlotte) refused and married Frédéric Maurice Casimir de La Tour d'Auvergne, Prince of Turenne instead. He married first with Margherita

Cesarini Cesarini is an Italian surname and the name of an Italian noble family. Notable people mostly include members of the noble Cesarini family, who held various ecclesiastical titles. Notable members *Alessandro Cesarini (died 1542), Italian cardina ...

(1695-1725). After death of his first wife, he was remarried on 23 February 1727 in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

Landgravine Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

Theodora of

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

(6 February 1706 – 23 January 1784), daughter of Prince

Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (20 July 1671 in Darmstadt – 11 August 1736 in Vienna) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, Imperial Field marshal and Governor of Mantua. Life Philip was a younger son of Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (163 ...

and his wife, Princess Marie Therese Ernestine of Croy-Havré (1673-1714). She was also granddaughter of

Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis VI of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Ludwig) (25 January 1630 – 24 April 1678) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1661 to 1678. He was the eldest of three sons of the Landgrave George II of Hesse-Darmstadt and Sophia Eleonore of Saxony. M ...

.
These marriages remained childless.

Death

Antonio Ferrante was burned alive in an accident in his capital,

Guastalla Guastalla ( Guastallese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Reggio Emilia in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Geography Guastalla is situated in the Po Valley, and lies on the banks of the Po River. Guastalla is located at around from the citie ...

. After his death, the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once exis ...

was inherited by his younger brother

Giuseppe Gonzaga Giuseppe Gonzaga (20 March 1690 – 16 August 1746) was the last reigning Duke of Guastalla and a member of the House of Gonzaga. Early life He was the second son of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and his second wife, Princess Maria Vit ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Antonio Ferrante 1687 births 1729 deaths Antonio Ferrante Antonio Ferrante 17th-century Italian nobility 18th-century Italian people