Everything about Ferrante Gonzaga totally explained
Ferrante I Gonzaga (Italian: Ferdinando I,
January 28 1507 -
november 15 1557) was an
Italian condottiero, a member of the
House of Gonzaga and the first of the branch of the Gonzaga of
Guastalla.
The third son of
Francesco II Gonzaga and
Isabella d'Este, at the age of sixteen he was sent to the court of Spain as a page to the future emperor
Charles V, to whom Ferrante remained faithful for his whole life. In 1527 he took part in the
Sack of Rome and attended Charles' triumphant coronation at Bologna in 1530: at the death of the conestable
Charles of Bourbon (1537) he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial army in Italy.
He defended
Naples from the assault of the French troops under
Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, and obtained the surrender of the
Republic of Florence. For this feat
Pope Clement VII, member of the
Medici who had been ousted from that city, named him papal governor of
Benevento. Again for Charles V, he fought against the Turks at
Tunis in 1535 and
Algiers in 1543 with a contingent of 3,000 cavalry. He served Charles as
Viceroy of Sicily (1535-1546), accompanying the Emperor to Germany in 1543 and fighting the resolute campaign that enforced the
Treaty of Crépy. He then served as
Governor of the Duchy of Milan (1546-1554).
In 1534 Ferrante married Isabella di Capua, who brought him the
fiefdoms of
Molfetta and
Giovinazzo.. In 1539 he bought the countship of
Guastalla, on the left bank of the
Po for 22,280 golden
scudi from Duchess
Ludovica Torello; it was in part a strategic puchase, for Guastallo lies near Ferrara, which Charles wished to take from the
Farnese. Ferrante's villa near Milan, La Gualtiera, is now known as La Simonetta. Ferrante rebuilt it in the 1550s, commissioning the services of the Tuscan architect
Domenico Giuntallodi of Prato. He was a patron and protector of the sculptor and medallist
Leone Leoni, who executed a bronze medal for him about 1555, with a reverse that depicts Hercules with upraised club besting the Nemean Lion and the legend
TV NE CEDE MALIS, "You don't yield to evil", alluding to his acquittal after indictment for misappropriation of funds and corruption. His son Cesare commissioned from Leone a more public monument from Leone, a bronze
Triumph of Ferrante Gonzaga over Envy, (1564), which stands in Piazza Rome, Guastalla. Like all the Gonzaga, Ferrante was a patron of tapestry-makers: a series
Fructus Belli ("the Fruits of War") was woven for him, and a lighter series of
Putti.
He died in
Brussels from a fall from a horse and battle fatigue received at the
Battle of St. Quentin. He was buried in the sacristy of the cathedral of Milan.
Ferrante was succeeded in Guastalla by his son
Cesare.
In
conspiracy theories, such as the one promoted in
The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Ferrante been alleged to be the fourteenth
Grand Master of the Priory of Sion.
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