Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vincent I of Gonzaga (21 September 1562 - 9 February 1612) was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat from 1587 to 1612.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
He was a son of William I, Duke of Mantua and Eleonora of Austria. His maternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
Vincent I was a major patron of the arts and sciences, and turned Mantua into a vibrant cultural center. Vincent employed the composer Claudio Monteverdi and the painter Peter Paul Rubens. In 1590 Monteverdi became a viol-player and cantor in the music chapel of Vincent; in 1602 Vincent appointed him master of music on the death of Benedetto Pallavicino. Vincent was also a friend of the poet Torquato Tasso. A small book published in Verona in 1589 describes how a comic actor named Valerini in the service of Vincent imagines an ideal gallery of art, in which statues of the most important art collectors are featured rather than the work of the artists themselves. Vincent was described as a colossus who would dominate the entire ideal gallery, called the Celestial Gallery of Minerva.[1]
The astronomer Giovanni Antonio Magini also served as tutor to Vincent's sons, Francis and Ferdinand.
Magini's life’s work was the preparation of the Atlante geografico d'Italia (Geographic Atlas of Italy), printed posthumously by Magini’s son in 1620. This was intended to include maps of each Italian region with exact nomenclature and historical notes. A major project, its production (begun in 1594) proved. Vincent, to whom the atlas is dedicated, assisted him with this project and allow for maps of the various states of Italy to be brought to Magini.
During the winter of 1603-1604, Galileo visited the Mantuan court in an effort to obtain a position there, and was offered a salary, but could not agree on the terms with Vincent, who instead presented him Galileo with a gold chain and two silver dishes.
Vincent's spendthrift habits are considered to have accelerated Mantua's economic and cultural decline.
Vincent was rumored to have been impotent and he is said to have sent a secret expedition to the New World in order to obtain a legendary aphrodisiac.[2]
On 20 July 1588, Emperor Rudolf II granted Vincent the right to an escutcheon of Austria, surmounted by an archducal coronet. Vincent created the Order of the Redemptor (or of the Most Precious Blood), approved by Pope Paul V, on 25 May 1608[3].
[edit] Issue
Vincent married Margherita Farnese in in 1581; their marriage was childless so they divorced. On 29 April 1584 he married Eleonora de' Medici, the daughter of Francesco I de' Medici and Johanna of Austria. Johanna was his mother's sister.
Vincent and Eleonora's marriage produced five children. They were:
- Francis IV Gonzaga (7 May 1586 – 22 December 1612), Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat between 9 February and 22 December 1612.
- Ferdinand I Gonzaga (26 April 1587 – 29 October 1626), Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.
- Guglielmo Dominico (1589 – 1591) - Died young
- Margerita Gonzaga (2 October 1591 – 7 February 1632) , wife of Henry II, Duke of Lorraine
- Vincent II Gonzaga (7 January 1594 – 25 December 1627), Duke of Mantua and Marquess of Montferrat from 1626 until his death.
- Eleonora Gonzaga (23 September 1598 – 27 June 1655), wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
[edit] Sources
- Bellonci, Maria (1956). A Prince of Mantua: The Life and Times of Vincenzo Gonzaga. Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
- Brinton, Selwyn (1927). The Gonzaga. Lords of Mantua. Methuen.
- Fenlon, Iain (1980). Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua. Cambridge University Press.
[edit] External links
Media related to Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua at Wikimedia Commons- Is Vincenzo I Gonzaga impotent?: The Medici Archives
- Museo di Mantova: Heraldic Arms
| Preceded by William |
Duke of Mantua 1587–1612 |
Succeeded by Francis IV |
| Duke of Montferrat 1587–1612 |
