Isabella Gonzaga | |
|---|---|
| Lady consort of San Martino dall'Argine Duchess consort of Mantua and Montferrat | |
 Portrait which is often misidentified with Isabella Gonzaga. It is presumed to decpict Anne Marie d'Orléans. | |
| Born | 1576 |
| Died | 1630 |
| Noble family | House of Gonzaga |
| Spouse(s) | Ferrante Gonzaga, Lord of San Martino dall'Argine Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua |
| Father | Alfonso I Gonzaga, Count of Novellara |
| Mother | Vittoria di Capua |
Isabella Gonzaga (Italian: Isabella Gonzaga di Novellara; 1576 – 1630), was an Italian aristocrat. She was Lady Consort of San Martino dall'Argine by marriage to Ferrante Gonzaga, Lord of San Martino dall'Argine, and Duchess consort of Mantua and Montferrat by marriage to Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. She served as regent of San Martino dall'Argine during the minority of her son Scipione between 1605 and 1613.
Considered one of the most beautiful women of her time, after the death of her first husband, she was regent of San Martino all’Argine, Isola Dovarese, Rivarolo and Commessaggio from 1605 to 1613, due to the fact that her eldest son was still a minor. Her disastrous second marriage to a distant cousin resulted in an accusation of witchcraft and an Inquisition process initiated at the request of her second husband's relatives, including his brother, Ferdinando I, which culminated in her complete rehabilitation. She played a fatal role in the extinction of the main branch of the House of Gonzaga, which initiated the beginning of the War of the Mantuan Succession.