250px, Vespasiano I Gonzaga. Vespasiano I Gonzaga-Colonna

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 Giulia Gonzaga (1513 – 16 April 1566) was an Italian ruler and letter writer of the Renaissance. She was the countess regnant of Rodigo as the heir of her late spouse between 1528 and 1541. Biography Giulia was born in Gazzuolo (near Mant ...

, 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 Philip II) in Spain, while in Portugal and his Italian kingdoms he ruled as Philip I ( pt, Filipe I). (21 May 152713 September 1598), also known as Philip the Prudent ( es, Felipe el Prudente), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from ...

, 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 ...

and then

Viceroy of Navarre This is a list of Spanish Viceroys of Navarre from 1512 to 1840, when the function was abolished. *1512 : Diego Fernández de Córdoba y Arellano, marqués de Comares *1515 : Fadrique de Acuña, Conde de Buendía *1516 : Antonio Manrique de L ...

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 m ...

which he christened "Sabbioneta" ("Sandy"), as it was to rise on the sandy banks of the

Po River The Po ( , ; la, Padus or ; Ancient Ligurian: or ) is the longest river in Italy. It flows eastward across northern Italy starting from the Cottian Alps. The river's length is either or , if the Maira, a right bank tributary, is included. T ...

. 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 Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the ...

, 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 Alfonso de Aragón y Portugal, or Alfonso I de Ampurias ( Segorbe, 1489–1563), was Count of Ampurias and Duke of Segorbe. Biography He was a son of Enrique de Aragón y Pimentel and Guiomar de Portugal, and succeeded his father as Count of Am ...

, 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 in ...

lord of Guastalla.

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