250px, Vespasiano I Gonzaga.
![Vespasiano I Gonzaga-Colonna](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Vespasiano_I_Gonzaga-Colonna.jpg)
Vespasiano I Gonzaga, Duke of Sabbioneta (6 December 1531 – 26 February 1591) was an Italian
nobleman
Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...
, diplomat, writer, military engineer and
condottiero
''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Euro ...
. He is remembered as a patron of the arts and the founder of
Sabbioneta, a town in Lombardy designed according to the Renaissance principles of the "
ideal city
An ideal city is the concept of a plan for a city that has been conceived in accordance with a particular rational or moral objective.
Concept
The "ideal" nature of such a city may encompass the moral, spiritual and juridical qualities of ci ...
".
He was born in
Fondi
Fondi ( la, Fundi; Southern Laziale: ''Fùnn'') is a city and '' comune'' in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. As of 2017, the city had a population of 39,800. The city has experienced steady popu ...
, a
Colonna
The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and pol ...
fief in the southern
Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on w ...
, the son of
Isabella Colonna and the condottiero
Louis Gonzaga, lord of Palazzolo, a member of a cadet branch 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
* Du ...
,
Dukes of Mantua
During its history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period.
From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of the House of Canoss ...
. Soon orphaned, he was educated under his aunt
Giulia Gonzaga, who had moved to Naples to escape attempts from other members of the Colonna family to kill Vespasiano in order to obtain the fiefs he had inherited from his mother.
left, 220px, The Ducal Palace of Sabbioneta.
At the age of eleven he was sent to the Spanish royal court to complete his education under King
Philip II of Spain, to whom he was distantly related through mutual descent from Kings of Aragon. The latter found in Vespasiano one of his most faithful advisers, and made him a
Grandee of Spain
Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...
and then
Viceroy of Navarre and
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
.
In 1556 he started his major project, the construction of a new, ideal city between Mantua and
Parma
Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...
which he christened "Sabbioneta" ("Sandy"), as it was to rise on the sandy banks of the
Po River. The project was finished in 1591. Sabbioneta had been declared an autonomous Duchy in 1577, thanks to the personal support of Vespasiano's friend
Rudolf II of Habsburg, whom he had met in the Spanish court.
He died at Sabbioneta in 1591.
Marriage and Children
Vespasiano Gonzaga married 3 times :
* Diana Folch de Cardona (1531–1559), daughter of Antonio Folch de Cardona and Beatriz de Luna.
* Anna d'Aragona y Folch de Cardona (?–1567), daughter of
Alfonso de Aragón y Portugal, they had
** Giulia (1565)
** Isabella Gonzaga (1565–1637), his heiress
** Luigi Gonzaga (1566–1580), died aged 14.
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxle ...
claims that Vespasiano kicked Luigi to death over Luigi failing to touch his cap in the street to him. (Huxley, Collected Essays, p. 24)
* Margherita Gonzaga (1562–1618), daughter of
Cesare I Gonzaga
Cesare I Gonzaga (1530 – 15 February 1575) was count of Guastalla from 1557 until his death. He was a member of the House of Gonzaga, the first-born son of the imperial condottiero Ferrante Gonzaga and Isabella di Capua. From the latter, he inh ...
lord of
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 ...
.
References
*
*Huxley, Aldous (1960). ''Collected Essays''. New York: Bantam Books.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Vespasiano 01
1531 births
1591 deaths
16th-century Italian nobility
City founders
16th-century condottieri
Grandees of Spain
Vespasiano 01
16th-century Italian diplomats
Italian Renaissance writers
Italian male writers
Knights of the Golden Fleece
People from the Province of Latina
Viceroys of Navarre
People from Sabbioneta