Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat

Charles II Gonzaga
Portrait of Duke Charles II
Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Reign	1637 - 1665
Predecessor	Charles I Gonzaga
Successor	Ferdinand Charles Gonzaga
Born	3 October 1629
Died	14 August 1665 (aged 35)
Spouse	Isabella Clara, Archduchess of Austria
Issue	Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat
Father	Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers
Mother	Maria Gonzaga

Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (31 October 1629 – 14 August 1665) was the son of Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers (+ 1631) of Rethel, Nevers, Mantua and Montferrat, and Maria Gonzaga. He followed his grandfather Charles I, Duke of Mantua in 1637 as ruler of these lands, the first 10 years under regency of his mother Duchess Maria. On 22 March 1657 Charles II receives the appointment as Sosai Cesareo in Italy and Imperial Vicar. Charles sold the Duchies of Nevers and Rethel in 1659 to Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the factual Regent of France, and they became part of France.

On 7 November 1649 Charles II married Isabella Clara of Austria (12 August 1629 – 24 February 1665), a daughter of Leopold V, Archduke of Austria, and thus into the imperial family. The marriage was an act of diplomacy and they had only one child, his successor Ferdinand Charles, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (1652–1708). The relationship between husband and wife effectively ended, and Charles continued a relationship with a noblewoman Margherita della Rovere, and also had affairs with men including the castrato Atto Melani.^[1] In his book "The Last Medici" Harold Acton records that his death occurred in the midst of lascivious intercourse.^[2]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat

16. Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua               8. Louis Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers                       17. Margaret Palaeologina               4. Charles I, Duke of Mantua                             18. Francis I of Cleves, Duke of Nevers               9. Henriette of Cleves                       19. Marguerite of Bourbon-La Marche               2. Charles Gonzaga                                   20. Francis, Duke of Guise               10. Charles, Duke of Mayenne                       21. Anna d'Este               5. Catherine de Lorraine                             22. Honorato II de Savoy               11. Henriette of Savoy, Marquise de Villars                       23. Jeanne Françoise of Foix               1. Charles II Gonzaga                                         24. Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua               12. Vincenzo I Gonzaga                       25. Archduchess Eleanor of Austria               6. Francesco IV Gonzaga                             26. Francesco I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany               13. Eleonora de' Medici                       27. Archduchess Joanna of Austria               3. Maria Gonzaga                                   28. Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy               14. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy                       29. Margaret of France, Duchess of Berry               7. Margaret of Savoy                             30. Philip II of Spain               15. Catherine Michelle of Spain                       31. Elisabeth of Valois

Honours

• Grand Master of the Order of the Redeemer

References

1. Roger Freitas, The Eroticism of Emasculation: Confronting the Baroque Body of the Castrato, The Journal of Musicology, Vol. 20, No. 2. (Spring, 2003), pp. 196-249.
2. Acton, Harold. The Last Medici. p. 84.