Clara Gonzaga

Clara Gonzaga
Countess of Montpensier Dauphine of Auvergne Duchess of Sessa
Engraved portrait of Clara Gonzaga by an unknown artist
Spouse(s)	Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
Issue
Louis II, Count of Montpensier Charles III, Duke of Bourbon François, Duke of Châtellerault Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier Renée, Lady of Mercœur Anne
Noble family	House of Gonzaga
Father	Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua
Mother	Margaret of Bavaria
Born	1 July 1464 Mantua, Italy
Died	2 June 1503 (aged 38) France

Clara Gonzaga, Countess of Montpensier, Dauphine of Auvergne, Duchess of Sessa (1 July 1464 – 2 June 1503)^[1] was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Gonzaga. She was the daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and the wife of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier.

One of her six children was Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, who led the Imperial Army sent by Emperor Charles V against Pope Clement VII in what became the Sack of Rome, and where he was subsequently killed.

Clara is one of the characters in the Heptameron, which was written by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of King Francis I of France.

Family

Clara was born in Mantua on 1 July 1464, the eldest daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and Margaret of Bavaria (1 January 1442 – 14 October 1479). She had five siblings including Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua whose wife was the celebrated Isabella d'Este.

Clara's paternal grandparents were Ludovico II Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg; and her maternal grandparents were Albert III, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Einbeck, daughter of Duke Erich I of Brunswick-Salzderhelden and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Göttingen.

Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, son of Clara Gonzaga and Gilbert, Count of Montpensier

Marriage and issue

On 24 February 1482, in Mantua, at the age of seventeen, Clara married Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier, who in 1486 succeeded his father as Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne. He was also Viceroy of Naples (1495), and the Duke of Sessa. He was the son of Louis I, Count of Montpensier and Joan, Dauphine of Auvergne. The marriage had been arranged by Clara's uncle Francesco Secco of Aragon who accompanied the newly-wed couple from Mantua to Milan on their lengthy journey to their home in France.

Gilbert and Clara had six children:

• Louis II, Count of Montpensier (1483 – 14 August 1501), died unmarried.
• Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, Count of Montpensier, Dauphin of Auvergne, Constable of France (17 February 1490 – 6 May 1527 Rome). He led the Imperial Army sent by Emperor Charles V against Pope Clement in what became the Sack of Rome, where he was killed. Married Suzanne, Duchess of Bourbon, daughter of Anne of France and Peter II, Duke of Bourbon. His children by Suzanne all died young.^[2]
• François, Duke of Châtellerault (1492 – 13 September 1515 at the Battle of Marignano).
• Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier (1482 – 5 July 1561). By dint of her three brothers having died childless, she became the heiress of the Montpensier county and the Auvergne dauphinate. She was invested as Duchess of Montpensier in February 1538.^[1] In 1499, she married as her first husband Andre III de Chauvigny, Prince of Deols, Viscount de Brosse; on 21 March 1504, she married secondly, her cousin Louis of Bourbon, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon, by whom she had three children.
• Renée, Lady of Mercœur (1494 – 26 May 1539), married Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, by whom she had six children.
• Anne (1495–1510)

Widowhood and death

On 15 October 1496, in Pozzuoli, Italy, Clara's husband Gilbert (who had been the Viceroy of Naples since 1495), died of a fever, leaving her a widow at the age of thirty-two.

In 1499, Clara acted as mediator on behalf of her brother Francesco, who sought to form an alliance with King Louis XII of France in order to protect Mantua, which was then being threatened by both Cesare Borgia and the Doge of Venice.^[3]

She maintained a correspondence with her sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este.^[4]

Clara died on 2 June 1503. She was not quite thirty-nine years old. She was buried at the Chapelle Saint-Louis in the church of Aigueperse in Auvergne.^[1]

Her many descendants included Louise Juliana of Nassau, King Louis XV of France, Marie Antoinette, Franz Josef I of Austria, and the House of Hanover which reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901, and from which descends the current British Royal Family.

Clara Gonzaga appears as a character in Marguerite of Angoulême's book, the Heptameron.^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Dukes of Bourbon
2. ^ Francis Hackett: Francis The First, p. 236
3. ^ George R. Marek: The Bed and the Throne: the Life of Isabella D'Este, p. 77, Harper & Row, 1976, ISBN 978-0060128104
4. ^ George R. Marek: The Bed and the Throne: the Life of Isabella D'Este, p. 82, Harper & Row, 1976
5. ^ Francis Hackett: Francis The First, p. 63

Persondata
Name	Gonzaga, Clara
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1 July 1464
Place of birth	Mantua, Italy
Date of death	2 June 1503
Place of death	France