Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
city of
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
(first as
Marquis, later as
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...
) from 1519 until his death. He was also
Marquis of Montferrat
The Marquises and Dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin called Montferrat. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the ...
from 1536.
Biography
![Federico II Gonzaga (age 10) - Francesco Francia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Federico_II_Gonzaga_%28age_10%29_-_Francesco_Francia.jpg)
Federico was son of
Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua
Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 August 1466 – ) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death.
Biography
Francesco was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga.
Francesco had a career as a condottiero a ...
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 ...
. Due to the turbulent politics of the time, from the age of ten, he spent three years as a hostage in Rome under
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...
. From 1515 to 1517, Federico was the hostage of King
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 on ...
, to ensure Gonzaga assistance in Italy.
On 3 April 1519, Federico succeeded his father as Marquis of
Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and '' comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture. In 2017, it was named as the Eur ...
, initially under the regency of his mother and his uncles
Sigismondo
''Sigismondo'' is an operatic 'dramma' in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Maria Foppa.
The opera was not a success and Rossini later re-used some of its music in ''Elisabetta, regina d'Inghilterra'', ''The Barber ...
and
Giovanni Gonzaga
Giovanni Gonzaga (1474 – 23 September 1525) was an Italian nobleman of the House of Gonzaga, born at Mantua.
He was the youngest child of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. In 1494 he married Laura Bentivoglio, daughter of Giovanni II ...
. He received the imperial investiture from emperor
Charles V Charles V may refer to:
* Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558)
* Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain
* Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise
* Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690)
* Infa ...
on 7 April 1521. Pope
Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
named him
Captain General of the Church (commander in chief of the Papal Army) in July 1521, and he fought against the French at Parma in 1521 and at Piacenza in 1522.
Federico signed a marriage contract with the heir to the
Marquisate of Monteferrat,
Maria Palaeologina
Maria Paleologa (19 September 1508 – 15 September 1530) was an Italian noblewoman.
She was born and died in Casale, and was the eldest child of William IX, Marquess of Montferrat, and Anna d'Alençon. In 1517 her mother betrothed her to Federi ...
, with the aim of acquiring that land. In 1528, however, in exchange for two prisoners, Pope Clement VII voided the marriage contract.
Federico then signed another marriage contract with Charles V's third cousin, Julia of Aragon. In lieu of this move, in 1530 he was granted the ducal title, whereby their dynasty became Dukes of Mantua. However, when Boniface died by a fall from horse on 25 March of that year, Federico paid 50,000 ducats to Charles in exchange for the annulment of the contract, and pushed the pope for the restoration of his earlier marriage agreement. When Maria also died, he was able to marry her sister
Margaret on 3 October 1531. At the death of the last legitimate male heir of the
Palaiologos
The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; grc-gre, Παλαιολόγος, pl. , female version Palaiologina; grc-gre, Παλαιολογίνα), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek f ...
family,
Giovanni Giorgio (1533), the marquisate of Montferrat passed to the Gonzaga, who held it until the 18th century.
Like his parents, he was a patron of the arts; he commissioned the
Palazzo Te
or is a palace in the suburbs of Mantua, Italy. It is a fine example of the mannerist style of architecture, and the acknowledged masterpiece of Giulio Romano. Although formed in Italian, the usual name in English of Palazzo del Te is not that ...
, designed and decorated by
Giulio Romano
Giulio Romano (, ; – 1 November 1546), is the acquired name of Giulio Pippi, who was an Italian painter and architect. He was a pupil of Raphael, and his stylistic deviations from High Renaissance classicism help define the sixteenth-cent ...
, as his summer palace just outside Mantua. Romano spent 16 years as court artist under Federico's patronage. He also bought and commissioned several paintings from
Titian
Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, nea ...
, and had his portrait painted by both Titian and
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual a ...
.
Federico suffered long from
syphilis, like his father. He died on 28 June 1540 at his villa at
Marmirolo. His son Francesco briefly held the title of 2nd Duke of Mantua before dying in his teens; the second son, Gugliemo, became 3rd Duke of Mantua as well as Duke of Montferrat and carried on the line.
Family and issue
Federico and Margaret were parents to seven children:
*Eleonora Gonzaga.
*Anna Gonzaga.
*
Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua (10 March 1533 - 22 February 1550)
*Isabella Gonzaga, married
Francesco Ferdinando d'Ávalos Francesco Ferdinando d’Ávalos d'Aquino, 7th Marquis of Pescara, 3rd Marquis of Vasto (c. 1530 – 1571 in Palermo), was commander in chief of the Spanish army in Lombardy and Piedmont, governor of the State of Milan (1560–63) and viceroy of ...
*
Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
Guglielmo Gonzaga (24 April 1538 – 14 August 1587) was Duke of Mantua from 1550 to 1587, and of Montferrat from 1574 to 1587. He was the second son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat. In 1574, Montfe ...
(24 April 1538 - 14 August 1587), married
Archduchess Eleanor of Austria
Archduchess Eleanor of Austria (2 November 1534 – 5 August 1594) was Duchess of Mantua by marriage to William I, Duke of Mantua. She was the daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
Life
Eleanor was the ...
*
Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers
Louis de Gonzague, Duke of Nevers ( it, Ludovico, italic=no or Luigi di Gonzaga-Nevers; 18 September 1539 – 23 October 1595) was a soldier, governor and statesman during the French Wars of Religion. Of Italian extraction, his father and br ...
(22 October 1539 - 23 October 1595). Father of
Charles I, Duke of Mantua
*
Cardinal Federico Gonzaga (1540 - 21 February 1565).
Ancestry
See also
*
Sack of Rome
*
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars, also known as the Habsburg–Valois Wars, were a series of conflicts covering the period 1494 to 1559, fought mostly in the Italian peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and the Mediterranean Sea. The pr ...
References
Sources
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External links
Biography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Federico 02 of
1500 births
1540 deaths
Federico 2
Federico 2
Federico 2
Federico 2 of
16th-century Italian nobility
Burials at the Palatine Basilica of Santa Barbara (Mantua)
Captains General of the Church