Charles II Gonzaga (22 October 1609 – 30 August 1631) was the son of

Charles I, Duke of Mantua Charles Gonzaga ( it, Carlo I Gonzaga) (6 May 1580 – 22 September 1637) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also Charles III Duke of Nevers and Rethel, as well as Prince of Arche and Charleville. Biograp ...

, and Catherine de Lorraine-Guise (also known as Catherine de Mayenne). He was the Duke of

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in central France. It was the principal city of the ...

and

Rethel Rethel () is a commune in the Ardennes department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture and third-most important city and economic center in the department. It is situated on the river Aisne, near the northern border of Champagne and 37& ...

, together with his father. In 1621, he succeeded his uncle Henri de Lorraine-Guise as

Duke of Mayenne Duke of Mayenne (duc de Mayenne) is a title created for a cadet branch of the House of Guise. It subsequently passed by marriage to the Gonzaga in 1621. They sold it to Cardinal Mazarin in 1654; he bestowed it on his niece, Hortense Mancini in 1 ...

. In 1627 he married his cousin Maria Gonzaga, Marquise of Montferrat and heiress to the

Duchy of Mantua The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, northern Italy. Its first duke was Federico II Gonzaga, member of the House of Gonzaga that ruled Mantua since 1328. The following year, the Duchy also acquired the March of Montferrat, thanks to ...

. However,

Cesare II Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla Cesare II Gonzaga (Mantua, 1592 – 26 February 1632) was Duke of Guastalla. He was the son of Ferrante II Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla and Duke of Amalfi and of Vittoria Doria. He succeeded his father in 1630, but died 2 years later. From 1630 to ...

and

Emperor Ferdinand II Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were dev ...

rejected her claim to Mantua, leading to the

War of Mantuan Succession The War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–1631) was a related conflict of the Thirty Years' War, caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, last male heir in the direct line of the House of Gonzaga and ruler of the duchies of Mantua ...

(1628–1631). Charles was never

Duke 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 ...

since he died at

Cavriana Cavriana is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy. Geography Cavriana is in the northern part of the Province of Mantua. It is located about east of Milan and about northwest of Mantua. It is on ...

six years before his father. When the latter died in 1637, Charles's eight-year-old son, Charles II, became Duke of Mantua, his widow Maria acting as regent. His daughter Eleonora became

Holy Roman Empress The Holy Roman Empress or Empress of the Holy Roman Empire (''Kaiserin des Heiligen Römischen Reiches'') was the wife or widow of the Holy Roman Emperor. The elective dignity of Holy Roman emperor was restricted to males only, but some empresse ...

Family

In December 1627 he married his cousin Maria Gonzaga, the marriage being arranged by

Vincenzo II Gonzaga Vincenzo II Gonzaga (7 January 1594 – 25 December 1627) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1626 until his death. Vincenzo was the son of Duke Vincent I and Eleonora de' Medici and inherited the duchy upon the death of his elder ...

. Charles and Maria had: *Maria Gonzaga * Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (1629–1665). *

Eleonora Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

(1630–1686), who married in 1651

Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III (Ferdinand Ernest; 13 July 1608, in Graz – 2 April 1657, in Vienna) was from 1621 Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary from 1625, King of Croatia and Bohemia from 1627 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death in 1657. ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles 02 Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers 1609 births 1631 deaths

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

Heirs apparent who never acceded Nobility from Paris 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century peers of France