Gonzaga, Luigi Alessandro

Family and Early Years

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga was born in Lutzar on April 20, 1494. He was the second son and sixth child in the family of Rodolfo, Senor Luzzara, Margrave Castell-Goffredo, Castiglione and Solferino, and Catherine Pico della Mirandola, aristocrat from the house of Pico . On the paternal side, he was a grandson of Ludovico III , Margrave of Mantua and Barbara of Brandenburg , a princess from the Hohenzollern house. On the maternal side was the grandson of Gianfranchesko I, the lord of Mirandola and Concordia and Julia Boyardo, an aristocrat from the house of Boyardo, counts of Scandiano ^[1] .

The prince was baptized with the name Alessandro, but everyone called him Luigi (or Aloisio). Luigi's father died in the battle of Fornovo on July 6, 1495, fighting against the army of the French king . On December 6, 1501, his mother died under unclear circumstances. The seven-year-old Luigi was taken under his protection by a cousin, Francesco II , Margrave of Mantua, who took care of the prince's good education and protected his possessions from claims from the Venetian Republic. According to the will of his father, Luigi received the possession of the feuds of Castell-Goffredo, Castiglione and Solferino. The prince's father and both grandfathers were confectioners. Luigi himself was also preparing for a military career since childhood ^[2] .

Condottier and Diplomat

For the first time, Luigi participated in the battle during the defense of Asola against the army of the Republic of Venice in October 1515. In the same year, the prince entered the service of Francesco Maria , Duke of Urbino, when he was out of favor with the pope . Together with him, from 1516 to 1520, Luigi was on the road between the Papal region and the French kingdom. In 1521, in the army of the Papal State, under the command of a cousin Federico II , Margrave Mantua, participated in the siege of Parma. In this battle, Luigi was badly wounded in the leg, resulting in a limp for life. In April 1522, in the army of the Holy Roman Empire, under the command of Margraves Ferdinand and Alphonse d'Avalosos, he participated in the complete expulsion of the army of the French kingdom and their allies from Italian territory ^[2] .

Luigi then returned to Castel Goffredo, from where he went to the Kingdom of Spain in May 1523, where until November of that year he served Emperor Charles V as a junk chamber with an annual guesthouse of a thousand ducats . At the beginning of 1524 he enlisted in the army of the Republic of Venice, at that time a former ally of the empire. February 24, 1525 participated in the Battle of Pavia , ending with the capture of Francis I. A few days later, the French king visited Luigi at his Pizzigetton castle near Venice. The next armed conflict in which Luigi was involved was the war of the Cognac League . In the fall of 1526, together with Giovanni Medici , nicknamed the Black Stripes, he participated in the defense of Rome, after the looting of which in May 1527 he resigned from the army of the Republic of Venice, in disagreement with the methods of Commander-in-Chief Francesco Maria, Duke of Urbino . He joined the cousin of Federico II, Margrave of Mantua, but was in Castel Goffredo until he established relations with the emperor. In the summer of 1529, Luigi arrived in the Kingdom of Spain to discuss the trip of Charles V to Italian territories. The result of his diplomatic activity was the visit of the emperor in February 1530 to Mantua and the elevation of Federico II to the ducal dignity ^[2] .

In the summer of 1532, Luigi again enlisted in the army of the Holy Roman Empire, located on the border with the Ottoman Empire, to repel an impending attack on the Kingdom of Hungary. But the attack did not happen, and in October of that year he returned home as part of the Italian corps. In August 1533, Luigi again arrived in the Spanish kingdom with a diplomatic mission. He asked Charles V to recognize the Margrave of Monferrato for the Duke of Mantua. After some time, his request was granted ^[2] .

Over the years, Luigi's health has been greatly weakened. An old leg wound reminded of itself. Frequent bouts of gout limited his movement. Most of the time the Margrave spent sitting. But despite this, in 1536-1537 he participated in hostilities in the territory of Piedmont, which broke out after the suppression of the house of Sforza and the annexation of the empires of the Duchy of Milan. Luigi fought on the side of the emperor against the French king. With the end of this war, he returned to Castel Goffredo and was no longer directly involved in armed conflicts ^[2] .

Patron

In addition to military and diplomatic activities, Luigi Alessandro was fond of literature and art. He turned Castel Goffredo, the capital of his margrave, into one of the cultural centers on the Apennine Peninsula. From 1520 to 1532, he fortified the city’s fortifications and built a palace with interiors in the style of Giulio Romano . Patronized poets and writers who lived at his court. Among them, the most famous were Pietro Aretino and Matteo Bandello . Luigi himself had the gift of a speaker. He is the author of several comedies. He was also a recognized duel expert by contemporaries. He was repeatedly invited as an arbitrator to resolve disputes of honor between the nobles ^[2] .

Personal life

Luigi Alessandro was twice married. In July 1519, he married his first marriage with (d. 1540), the daughter of Bianca Bentivoglio and Niccolo Rangoni, Count Castelcrescente and Borgofranco, the widow of Gianalezzo da Correggio Visconti, Count Correggio. Margrave lived twenty years with his first wife. She died before giving birth to his children. In the same 1540 in Piacenza he married a second marriage with (d. 13.12.1550), daughter of Angela Tedeschi and Gian Giacomo Anguissola, Count of Anguissol, widow of Andrea del Borgo. In this marriage he had three sons ^{[2] [3]} :

• Alfonso (1541 - 7.5.1592), Venetian patrician, owner and margrave of Castel Goffredo (imperial inverture since 1565), served in the army of the Spanish kingdom in Flanders, in August 1567 in Wanzagello married with Hippolyta Mudgee;
• (07.7.1544 - 13.2.1586), Venetian patrician, owner and Margrave Castiglione (imperial investiture since 1579), chamber-junker of the Spanish king , cavalier of the Order of Alcantara from 1566, colonel of the infantry of the Italian corps in the army of the Spanish kingdom , the imperial commissar in Val di Taro in 1578, the governor of the Margrave Monferrato in 1579, on November 11, 1566 in Madrid, married with Marta Tana;
• (1545 - 13.1.1589), Venetian patrician, owner and margrave Solferino (imperial investiture since 1565), married in 1568 with Paola Martingo delle Palle.

Later years

Luigi Alessandro Gonzaga died on July 19, 1549 at Castel Goffredo. He was buried in a chapel in the . In 1595, the remains of the Margrave were reburied in the sanctuary of Our Lady of Grace in Kurtaton near Mantua ^[2] .

In the second scene of the third act of William Shakespeare ’s tragedy “ Hamlet ” (1600-1601), the “Duke of Gonzago” is mentioned: “This is a representation of the murder committed in Vienna. Gonzago is the name of the duke, his wife is a Baptist ... ” ^[4] . It is believed that the author used the death story of the Urban Duke Francesco Maria I , the husband of Eleanor Gonzag , the cousin of Luigi Alessandro ^[5] . Margrave Castell-Goffredo was suspected of involvement in the death of the Duke. In 1538, Francesco Maria was killed by a barber who poisoned him by pouring poison into his ear. Under torture, the accused named the customers - Luigi Alessandro and his brother-in-law, Condotier , who were acquitted by the emperor and the Republic of Venice during the trial. However, the society remained firmly convinced of their involvement in the crime ^{[6] [7]} . Luigi Alessandro also participated in organizing the assassination in 1547 of the Parma Duke of Pierluigi ; he was a mediator between the customer of the crime Ferrante Gonzaga and one of the conspirators, brother-in-law of ^[2] .

In the 2001 film Medici the Great Knight of War , directed by Ermanno Olmi, the role of Luigi Alessandro was played by actor Aldo Toscano ^[8] .