Ercole Gonzaga (23 November 1505 – 2 March 1563) was an Italian

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Biography

Born in

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

, he was the son of the Marquis Francesco Gonzaga and

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

, and nephew of Cardinal

Sigismondo Gonzaga Sigismondo Gonzaga (1469, Mantua – 3 October 1525, Mantua) was an Italian cardinal. He was the third son of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. Life He was the son of Frederick I of Mantua and commanded his brother Francesco II's troops ...

. He studied philosophy at

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

under

Pietro Pomponazzi Pietro Pomponazzi (16 September 1462 – 18 May 1525) was an Italian philosopher. He is sometimes known by his Latin name, ''Petrus Pomponatius''. Biography Pietro Pomponazzi was born in Mantua and began his education there. He completed h ...

, and later took up theology. In 1520, or as some say, 1525, Sigismondo renounced in his favour the See of Mantua; in 1527 his mother Isabella brought him back from Rome the insignia of the cardinalate. He was chosen to be a cardinal at the very young age of 20, this quick ascention to power being the fruit of the diplomatic mastery of Isabella Gonzaga. Notwithstanding his youth, he showed great zeal for church reform, especially in his own diocese; and in this he received help and encouragement from his friend Cardinal Giberti,

Bishop of Verona 235px, The facade of ''Palazzo del Vescovado'' The Diocese of Verona ( la, Dioecesis Veronensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in northern Italy. The diocese belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province of Venice. The bishop of Verona ...

. His mode of life was stainless and a manuscript work of his, ''Vitae Christianae institutio'', bears witness to his piety. He published a Latin

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

for the use of the priests of his diocese and built the diocesan seminary, thus carrying out reforms urged by the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...

, as his friends Contarini, Gilberti, Caraffa, and other bishops had done or were doing, even before the council had assembled. His charity was unbounded, and many young men of talent and genius had their university expenses paid by him. The popes employed him on many embassies, e.g. to the

Emperor Charles V Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain ( Castile and Aragon) ...

in 1530. Because of his prudence and his business-like methods, he was a favourite with the popes, with Charles V, and

Ferdinand I of Spain Ferdinand II ( an, Ferrando; ca, Ferran; eu, Errando; it, Ferdinando; la, Ferdinandus; es, Fernando; 10 March 1452 – 23 January 1516), also called Ferdinand the Catholic (Spanish: ''el Católico''), was King of Aragon and Sardinia from ...

, and with

Francis I of France Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

and

Henry II of France Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder bro ...

. From 1540 to 1556 he was guardian to the young sons of his brother

Federico II Gonzaga Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua (first as Marquis, later as Duke) from 1519 until his death. He was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536. Biography Federico was son of Francesco ...

who had died, and in their name he governed the Duchy of Mantua. The elder of the boys, Francesco, died in 1550 and was succeeded by his brother Guglielmo. In the

Papal conclave, 1559 The 1559 papal conclave (5 September – 25 December) was convened on the death of Pope Paul IV and elected Pope Pius IV as his successor. Due to interference from secular rulers and the cardinals' disregard for their supposed isolation from ...

it was thought he would certainly be made pope; but the cardinals would not choose as pope a scion of a ruling house. In 1561

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

named him

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

to the

, for which he had from the beginning laboured by every means at his command, moral and material. In its early stages, because not a few considered he was in favour of

Communion under both kinds Communion under both kinds in Christianity is the reception under both "species" (i.e., both the consecrated bread and wine) of the Eucharist. Denominations of Christianity that hold to a doctrine of Communion under both kinds may believe that ...

, he met with many difficulties, and interested motives were attributed to him. He contracted fever at

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

, where he died, attended by

Diego Laynez ''Several spellings of his names (James, Jacob; Laines, Laynez, Lainez) are in use and some of them can be found in other Wikipedia articles'' Diego Laynez, S.J. (sometimes spelled Laínez) (Spanish: ''Diego Laynez''), born in 1512 (Almazán, Sp ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Ercole 1505 births 1563 deaths

Ercole The male first name Ercole, Italian version of Hercules, can refer to: People * Ercole (name), list of people with the name House of D'Este *Ercole I d'Este (1431–1505), Duke of Ferrara *Ercole II d'Este (1508–1559), Duke of Ferrara, Modena a ...

16th-century Italian cardinals Bishops of Mantua Regents of Mantua 16th-century Italian Roman Catholic bishops Participants in the Council of Trent 16th-century Italian nobility