Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua explained

Ferdinando Gonzaga
Succession:Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Reign:22 December 1612 - 29 October 1626
Predecessor:Francesco IV Gonzaga
Successor:Vincenzo II Gonzaga
Father:Vincenzo I Gonzaga
Mother:Eleonora de' Medici
Spouse:Camilla Faa (morganatic) Catherine de' Medici
Issue:Francesco Giacinto Teodoro Giovanni
Birth Place:Mantua, Duchy of Mantua
Death Place:Mantua, Duchy of Mantua
Burial Place:Basilica palatina di Santa Barbara
House:House of Gonzaga

Ferdinand I Gonzaga (26 April 1587 – 29 October 1626) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.

Biography

Born in Mantua, he was the son of Vincenzo I and Eleonora de' Medici.

He was appointed a cardinal at the age of 20. A few years after his elder brother, Duke Francesco IV, died in 1612 without male heirs, he renounced the ecclesiastical career and succeeded his brother in both the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat.

In 1616 he secretly married Camilla Faà di Bruno, whom he divorced in the same year. Their son Francesco Giacinto Teodoro Giovanni Gonzaga, although accepted at court, was not made Ferdinando's heir. He died of the plague at the age of 14, during the 1630 siege of Mantua. On 16 February 1617 Ferdinando married Caterina de' Medici (1593–1629), the daughter of Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Ferdinand Gonzaga died in 1626. His younger brother Vincenzo II inherited the duchy.

Family

In 1616 he married Camilla Faà di Bruno, they had:

Honours

Sources

Ancestry

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