Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat

Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Charles
Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Spouse Catherine of Lorraine
Issue
Francis, Duke of Rethel
Charles, Duke of Nevers
Ferdinand, Duke of Mayenne
Marie Louise, Queen of Poland
Anna, Countess Palatine of Simmern
Full name
Carlo Gonzaga
House House of Gonzaga
Father Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers
Mother Henriette of Cleves
Born 6 May 1580
Paris, France
Died 22 September 1637(1637-09-22) (aged 57)
Mantua

Charles Gonzaga (Italian: Carlo Gonzaga) (6 May 1580 – 22 September 1637) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also Duke of Rethel and Nevers, as well as Prince of Arches.

Contents

Biography

Born in Paris, he was the son of Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers and Henriette of Cleves.

In 1612, Charles, a descendant of the Byzantine Emperor Andronicus II Palaeologus through his grandmother, who was of the line of Theodore I of Montferrat, Andronicus' son.[1] claimed the throne of Constantinople, at the time the capital of the Ottoman Empire. He began plotting with the Maniots of Greece, who addressed him as "King Constantine Palaeologus". When the Ottoman authorities heard about this, they sent an army of 20,000 men and 70 ships to invade Mani. They succeeded in ravaging Mani and imposing taxes on the Maniots. This caused Charles to move more actively for his crusade. He sent envoys to the courts of Europe looking for support. In 1619, he recruited six ships and a number of men, but he was forced to abort the mission because of the beginning of the Thirty Years' War.[1][2]

At the death of the last legitimate male heir of the Gonzaga line in the Duchy of Mantua, Vincenzo II (1627), Charles inherited the title through an agreement. His son was married with Maria Gonzaga, daughter of former Duke Francesco IV.

However, his succession spurred the enmity of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy, who aimed at the Gonzaga lands of Montferrat, and, above all, of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, which did not like a philo-French ruler in Mantua. This led to the War of Mantuan Succession. In 1629 emperor Ferdinand II sent a Landsknecht army to besiege Mantua, Charles left without the promised support from Louis XIII of France. The siege lasted until July 1630, when the city, already struck by a plague, was brutally sacked. Mantua never recovered from this disaster.

The subsequent diplomatic maneuvers allowed Charles, who had fled to the Papal States, to return to the duchy in 1631, although not without concessions to the House of Savoy and to the Gonzaga of Guastalla. The situation of the Mantuan lands was dramatic, but he was able to trigger some economic recovery in the following years.

Charles died in 1637. His successor was his grandson Charles II, initially under the regency of Maria Gonzaga, Charles I's daughter-in-law.

Children

He married Catherine of Mayenne, daughter of Charles of Lorraine, Duke of Mayenne and Henriette of Savoy. They had six children:

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b Kassis, "Mani's History", 30
  2. ^ Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos, Deep into Mani: Journey into the Southern Tip of Greece", 26
  • Coniglio, Giuseppe (1967). I Gonzaga. Varese: Dall'Oglio. 


Preceded by
Vincenzo II
Duke of Mantua
1627–1637
Succeeded by
Charles II
Marquess of Montferrat
1627–1637


External links



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