War of the Mantuan Succession

War of the Mantuan Succession
Part of the Thirty Years' War

The successful claimant, Charles I Gonzaga
Date1628–1631
Location
Northern Italy
Result Treaty of Cherasco recognises the Duke of Nevers as ruler of Mantua
Belligerents
Supporting the Duke of Nevers:
 Supporting the Duke of Guastalla:
Commanders and leaders
Strength
1628:
  • Up to 14,000 Mantuan and French troops
 1628:
  • 29,000 Spanish
  • 8,000 Savoyard
1630:
  • 34,000 Spanish
  • 30,000 Imperial Army
  • 25,000 Savoyard troops
  • 4,000 Tuscan
  • 2,000 Parman

The War of the Mantuan Succession (1628–1631) was a conflict related to the Thirty Years' War and was caused by the death in December 1627 of Vincenzo II, the last male heir in the direct line of the House of Gonzaga and the ruler of the duchies of Mantua and Montferrat. Those territories were key to control of the Spanish Road, an overland route that allowed Habsburg Spain to move recruits and supplies from Italy to their army in Flanders. The result was a proxy war between France, which supported the French-born Duke of Nevers, and Spain, which backed a distant cousin, the Duke of Guastalla.

Fighting centred on the fortress of Casale Monferrato, which the Spanish besieged twice, from March 1628 to April 1629 and from September 1629 to October 1630. French intervention on behalf of Nevers in April 1629 led Emperor Ferdinand II to support Spain by transferring Imperial troops from Northern Germany, who captured Mantua in July 1630. However, French reinforcements enabled Nevers to retain Casale, [a] while Ferdinand withdrew his troops in response to Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, and both sides agreed a truce in October 1630.

The June 1631 Treaty of Cherasco confirmed Nevers as Duke of Mantua and Montferrat in return for minor territorial losses. More importantly, the treaty left France in possession of Pinerolo and Casale, key fortresses that controlled access to passes through the Alps and protected its southern borders. The diversion of Imperial and Spanish resources from Germany allowed the Swedes to establish themselves within the Holy Roman Empire and was one reason that the Thirty Years' War continued until 1648.
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