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 county of Montechiarugolo ...

and a member of the

House of Gonzaga The House of Gonzaga (, ) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then Margraviate of Mantua, margraviate, and finally Duchy of Mantua, duchy). They also ruled M ...

Early life

He was the son of

Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla Vincenzo Gonzaga (1634 – 28 April 1714) was the reigning Duchy of Guastalla, Duke of Guastalla and by birth 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 hi ...

and his second wife, who was also his cousin, Maria Vittoria Gonzaga (1659-1707). His sister was Eleonora Luisa Gonzaga, sister in law to Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. He succeeded his father in 1714.

Personal life

He was engaged to Princess Maria Karolina Sobieska, granddaughter of

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 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, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

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 the ...

to Theodora of Hesse-Darmstadt (6 February 1706 – 23 January 1784), the only daughter of Prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt and his wife, Princess Marie Therese Ernestine of Croy-Havré (1673-1714). She was also granddaughter of Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt.
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 citi ...

. After his death, the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a 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 existed an important differe ...

was inherited by his younger brother Giuseppe Gonzaga.

References

Sources

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