House of Gonzaga

House of Gonzaga
Noble house
Motto: "Conduct us to the Mount"
(Latin: Ad montem duc nos)[1]
Country Italy
 France
Founded1328; 696 years ago (1328)
FounderLudovico I Gonzaga
Current headMaurizio Ferrante Gonzaga
(of the Vescovato cadet branch)
Final rulerFerdinando Carlo Gonzaga
Titles
Estate(s)Ducal Palace (Mantua)
Ducal Palace (Nevers)
Deposition1708 (1708) (Duchy of Mantua)
Cadet branchesGonzaga di Vescovato
(only remaining branch)

The House of Gonzaga (US: /ɡənˈzɑːɡə, ɡɒn-, -ˈzæɡ-/,[2] Italian: [ɡonˈdzaːɡa]) is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then margraviate, and finally duchy). They also ruled Monferrato in Piedmont and Nevers in France, as well as many other lesser fiefs throughout Europe. The family includes a saint, twelve cardinals and fourteen bishops. Two Gonzaga descendants became empresses of the Holy Roman Empire (Eleonora Gonzaga and Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers), and one became Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Marie Louise Gonzaga).

  1. ^ Francesca Cappelletti; Gerlinde Huber-Rebenich (1997). Der Antike Mythos und Europa. Gebrüder Mann Verlag. p. 250.
  2. ^ "Gonzaga". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 4 July 2019.