Reign 1612 - 1626 Father Vincenzo I Gonzaga Predecessor Francesco IV Gonzaga Mother Eleonora de' Medici | Successor Vincenzo II Gonzaga Name Ferdinando Duke | |
Spouse Catherine de' Medici, Governor of Siena (m. 1617) Parents Eleanor de' Medici, Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Grandparents Archduchess Eleanor of Austria Cousins Louis XIII of France, Henrietta Maria of France, Gaston - Duke of Orleans, Elisabeth of France, Christine of France Similar People Vincenzo Gonzaga - Duke of, Francesco IV Gonzaga, Eleanor de' Medici, Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Ferdinando I de' Medici - G | ||
Ferdinand I Gonzaga (April 26, 1587 – October 29, 1626) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.
Contents
Biography
Born in Mantua, he was the son of Vincenzo I and Eleonora de' Medici.
He was appointed a cardinal at the age of 20. A few years after his elder brother, Duke Francesco IV, died in 1612 without heirs, he renounced the ecclesiastical career and succeeded his brother in both the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat.
In 1616 he secretly married Camilla Faà di Bruno, whom he divorced in the same year. Their son Francesco Giacinto Teodoro Giovanni Gonzaga, although accepted at court, was not made Ferdinando's heir. He died of the plague—or was murdered—during the 1630 siege of Mantua. On February 16, 1617 he married Catherine de' Medici (1593–1629), the daughter of Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
Ferdinand Gonzaga died in 1626. His younger brother Vincenzo II inherited the duchy.
Family
In 1616 he married Camilla Faà di Bruno,
had a son :