Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua

Francesco IV Gonzaga
Francesco IV Gonzaga
Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Reign	1612
Predecessor	Vincenzo I Gonzaga
Successor	Ferdinando Gonzaga
Born	(1586-05-07)7 May 1586 Mantua
Died	22 December 1612(1612-12-22) (aged 26) Mantua
Noble family	Gonzaga
Spouse(s)	Margaret of Savoy (m. 1608)
Issue Maria Gonzaga
Father	Vincenzo I Gonzaga
Mother	Eleonora de' Medici

Francesco IV Gonzaga (7 May 1586 – 22 December 1612), was Duke of Mantua and (as Francesco II) Duke of Montferrat between 9 February and 22 December 1612.

Biography

Born in Mantua, he was the eldest son of Duke Vincenzo I and Eleonora de' Medici.

In 1607, Claudio Monteverdi dedicated his opera L'Orfeo to Francesco. The title page of the opera bears the dedication "Al serenissimo signor D. Francesco Gonzaga, Prencipe di Mantoua, & di Monferato, &c."

Francesco became Duke upon his father's death on 9 February 1612. He died at Mantua on 22 December 1612 without male heirs. He was succeeded by his brother Ferdinand; however, Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy, the father of Francesco's wife Margaret of Savoy, disputed this, leading to the War of the Montferrat Succession (1613–1617).

Family

On 19 February 1608 he married in Turin, Margaret of Savoy (1589–1655), daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy. They had three children (one son and two daughters), only one of whom survived into adulthood:

• Maria (29 July 1609 – 14 August 1660); married in 1627 Charles II of Gonzaga, Duke of Rethel end Nevers.
• Ludovico (27 April 1611 – 3 August 1612).
• Eleanore (12 September 1612 – 13 September 1612).

Honours

• Grand Master of the Order of the Redeemer

Ancestry