Federico I Gonzaga (25 June 1441 – 14 July 1484) was
marquis of Mantua
The Marquisate or Margraviate of Mantua () was a margraviate centered around the city of Mantua in Lombardy (historical region), Lombardy. Ruled by the House of Gonzaga, Gonzaga family from its founding in 1433, it would later be raised to the ra ...
from 1478 to 1484, as well as a
condottiero
Condottieri (; singular: ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian military leaders active during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. The term originally referred specifically to commanders of mercenary companies, derived from the ...
.
Biography
Federico was born in Mantua in 1441, son of
Ludovico III and
Barbara of Brandenburg. He was a good friend of the court painter
Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, ; ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance painter, a student of Ancient Rome, Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with Perspective (graphical), pe ...
and received an education from Mantegna's mother as well as from
Vittorino da Feltre (d. 1446) and above all from
Iacopo da San Cassiano (from 1446 to 1449) and Ognibene da Lonigo (from 1449).
Federico fought for the
Sforza
The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti of Milan, Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ...
of
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
until 1470 and succeeded to the marquisate on 14 June 1478. He was, however, forced to split much of the Mantuan possessions with his brothers.
Federico continued to fight as a condottiero, and during his frequent absences Mantua was administered by Eusebio Malatesta, while the local army was under his brother-in-law, Francesco Secco d'Aragona. Federico took part in numerous actions in defence of the Duchy of Milan, in particular against the aggressive
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
. During one of these wars Francesco Secco occupied
Asola and other Venetian territories. Later, after the peace,
Ludovico Sforza
Ludovico Maria Sforza (; 27 July 1452 – 27 May 1508), also known as Ludovico il Moro (; 'the Moor'), and called the "arbiter of Italy" by historian Francesco Guicciardini, of Milan asked for the return of
Asola to Milan, to which Frederick had to acquiesce.
Federico died in Mantua at the age of 43, and was buried in the church of
Sant'Andrea.
Family
In 1463 Federico married
Margaret of Bavaria
Margaret of Bavaria (1363 – 23 January 1424, Dijon) was List of Burgundian royal consorts, Duchess of Burgundy by marriage to John the Fearless. She was the regent of the Burgundian Low Countries during the absence of her spouse in 1404–1419 ...
, daughter of
Albert III, Duke of Bavaria and Anna, Duchess of Brunswick-Grubenhagen; and sister of
John IV, Duke of Bavaria. They had the following issue:
*
Clara (1464–1503) married in 1482 to
Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier Duke of Sessa
*
Francesco II (1466–1519), Marquis of Mantua; married in 1490 to
Isabella d'Este granddaughter of King
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I (2 June 1424 – 25 January 1494), also known as Ferrante, was king of Naples from 1458 to 1494.
The only son, albeit illegitimate, of Alfonso the Magnanimous, he was one of the most influential and feared monarchs in Europe at the ...
*
Sigismondo (1469–1525)
Cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
since 1505 and Bishop of Mantua since 1511
*
Elisabetta (1471–1526) married in 1489 to
Guidobaldo da Montefeltro Duke of Urbino
* Maddelena (1472–1490) married in 1489 to
Giovanni Sforza Lord of Pesaro and Gradara
*
Giovanni (1474–1525) married in 1493 Laura Bentivoglio (d. 1523) and had issue. His descendants, the Marquises of Vescovato, have been the senior line of the House of Gonzaga since the 18th century, after the extinction of the other senior lines
Ancestry
See also
*
Italian Wars
The Italian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between 1494 and 1559, mostly in the Italian Peninsula, but later expanding into Flanders, the Rhineland and Mediterranean Sea. The primary belligerents were the House of Valois, Valois kings o ...
References
Sources
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Further reading
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External links
Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Federico 1
Federico 1
Federico 1
15th-century condottieri
Military leaders of the Italian Wars
1441 births
1484 deaths