Vincenzo II Gonzaga (8 February 1594 – 25 December 1627) was

Duke of Mantua During its Timeline of Mantua, 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 ...

and

Duke of Montferrat The marquises and dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest of his ki ...

from 1626 until his death. Vincenzo was the son of Duke Vincent I and

Eleonora de' Medici Eleanor de' Medici (28 February 1567 – 9 September 1611) was a Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Vincenzo I Gonzaga. She served as regent of Mantua 1595, 1597 and 1601, when Vincenzo served in the Austrian campaign in Hungary, and in 1602, wh ...

and inherited the duchy upon the death of his elder brother

Ferdinand Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "courage" or "ready, prepared" related to Old High German "to risk, ventu ...

, receiving the imperial investiture on 8 February 1627. He received a

cardinalate The College of Cardinals (), also called the Sacred College of Cardinals, is the body of all cardinals of the Catholic Church. there are cardinals, of whom are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. Appointed by the pope, ...

in 1615 upon Ferdinando's succession, but did not travel to Rome to receive the red hat; the following year he married his relative Isabella Gonzaga, daughter of

Alfonso Gonzaga Alfonso Gonzaga (died 1649) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Titular Archbishop of ''Rhodus'' (1621–1649). ''(in Latin)''Count of Novellara, and the pope deprived him of his cardinalate. He and Isabella did not have any children, and as the only surviving son, he was encouraged to take a new wife; however the pope would not grant him a divorce.Johns Hopkins University (Project Muse) website, ''The University of Mantua, the Gonzaga, and the Jesuits, 1584–1630'', Chapter 9
/ref> Isabella was then accused of witchcraft, but was found innocent; three men were later executed for trying to murder her. Vincenzo also had problems with money and sold several of his paintings and valuables, particularly to the English King Charles I. Conscious of his poor health, the childless Vincenzo set up an inheritance for his lands through the marriage of his niece

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

(daughter of the former Duke Francis IV) with Charles of Nevers' son Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers. The elder Charles was a cousin of his father. Vincenzo died on the marriage day of Maria and Charles.

Family

Vincenzo II Gonzaga had no legitimate offspring from his wife, but he recognized four natural sons.Biblioteca Digitale Teresiana website, ''Albero genealogico dei Gonzaga''
/ref> By Paola Scarpelli: * Federico Gonzaga (1619–1630), Abbot of Lucledio. *Tiberio Silvio Gonzaga (1620 – 3 July 1630), Knight of the

Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic Church, Cathol ...

and Balì of Armenia. By Luigia "the Spanish": *Luigi Gonzaga (+1627), died in infancy. *Giovanni Gonzaga (+Malta 1645), Abbot of Lucledio, and Knight of the

Honours

Grand Master of the Order of the Redeemer

Ancestry

References

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Vincenzo 2 1594 births 1627 deaths Vincenzo 2 Vincenzo 2 Vincenzo 2 17th-century Italian cardinals 17th-century Italian nobility Resigned cardinals People from Gazzuolo