Vincenzo I Gonzaga

Vincenzo I of Gonzaga (September 21, 1562-February 9, 1612) was ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and Montferrat from 1587 to 1612.

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.

Vincenzo I was a major patron of the arts and sciences, and turned Mantua into a vibrant cultural center. Vincenzo employed the composer Claudio Monteverdi and the painter Peter Paul Rubens. In 1590 Monteverdi became a viol-player and cantor in the music cappella of Vincenzo; in 1602 Vincenzo appointed him "maestro di musica" on the death of Benedetto Pallavicino. Vincenzo 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 Vincenzo 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. Vincenzo was described as a colossus who would dominate the entire ideal gallery, called the "Celeste Galeria di Minerva". [http://www.mostragonzaga.it/english/exhibition/]

The astronomer Giovanni Antonio Magini also served as tutor to Vincenzo's sons, Francesco and Ferdinando.

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. Vincenzo, 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 Vincenzo, who instead presented him Galileo with a gold chain and two silver dishes.

Vincenzo's spendthrift habits are considered to have accelerated Mantua's economic and cultural decline.

Vincenzo 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. [http://www.siporcuba.it/cn-narr-mantua.htm]

On July 20, 1588, Emperor Rudolf II granted Vincenzo the right to an escutcheon of Austria, surmounted by an archducal coronet. Vincenzo created the Order of the Redemptor (or of the Most Precious Blood), approved by Pope Paul V, on May 25, 1608 [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/national/italy2.htm] .

Issue

He married his cousin Eleonora de' Medici, the daughter of Francesco I de' Medici and Johanna of Austria, Johanna was Eleonora of Austria's sister.Their marriage produced five children, they were:
*Francesco IV Gonzaga (May 7, 1586 – December 22, 1612), Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat between February 9 and December 22, 1612.
*Ferdinando I Gonzaga (April 26, 1587 – October 29, 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

*Vincenzo II Gonzaga (January 7, 1594 – December 25, 1627), Duke of Mantua and Marquess of Montferrat from 1626 until his death.

*Eleonora Gonzaga (September 23, 1598 – June 27, 1655), wife of Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

ources

*cite book|first=Maria|last=Bellonci|year=1956|title=A Prince of Mantua: The Life and Times of Vincenzo Gonzaga|city=London|publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson
*cite book|first=Selwyn|last=Brinton|year=1927|title=The Gonzaga. Lords of Mantua|city=London|publisher=Methuen
*cite book|first=Iain|last=Fenlon|year=1980|title=Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua|city=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press

External links

* [http://www.medici.org/news/dom/dom092001.html Is Vincenzo I Gonzaga impotent?: The Medici Archives]
* [http://www.mumm.mantova.it/interno/percorsi_tematici/schede_araldica/07.jsp Museo di Mantova: Heraldic Arms]

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