Charles IV, Duke of Mantua

Charles IV, Duke of Mantua (August 31 1652 – July 5 1708) was the only child of Duke Charles III of Mantua and Montferrat, and the last ruler of the Duchy of Mantua of the House of Gonzaga.

Born in Revere, Charles IV first married Anna Isabella Gonzaga (d. August 11 1703), daughter of Ferrante III Gonzaga, sovereign Duke of Guastalla. On November 8 1704 he married secondly Susanne de Lorraine (February 1 1686-December 19 1710), daughter of Charles III duc d'Elbeuf by his third wife, Françoise de Montault de Navailles, daughter of Philipe de Montault de Bénac, duc de Navailles. This marriage was childless.

Frustrated by the Austrians in the conquest of Guastalla, he concluded a pact with Louis XIV of France on December 8 1678, selling Casale. In this context his minister, Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli, might have become the Man in the Iron Mask, being imprisoned in Pinerolo since April 1679 for disclosing this pact to the enemies of France.

The duke denied everything, but concluded a new pact with the French in 1681, obtaining thereby a yearly pension of sixty thousand lire, a career as an army general, and a part in any future French conquests in Italy. The French occupied Casale on September 29, 1681, and the Duke of Mantua lost respect in Italy.

Charles again chose the French side in the War of the Spanish Succession. He paid heavily for his choice, when the French were chased back over the Alps in 1706. Already declared a traitor in 1701 by Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, all his possessions were confiscated in 1708.

The House of Savoy obtained the remaining half of Montferrat, having already conquered the first half in the War of the Mantuan Succession in 1631. The Duchy of Mantua became Austrian and ceased to exist. Charles died the same year in Padua.

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