Clara Gonzaga
Encyclopedia
Clara Gonzaga, Countess of Montpensier, Dauphine of Auvergne, Duchess of Sessa (1 July 1464 – 2 June 1503) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Gonzaga
. She was the daughter of Federico I Gonzaga
, Marquess of Mantua and the wife of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
.
One of her six children was Charles III, Duke of Bourbon
, who led the Imperial
Army sent by Emperor Charles V
against Pope Clement VII
in what became the Sack of Rome
, and where he was subsequently killed.
Clara is one of the characters in the Heptameron
, which was written by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of King Francis I of France
.
, Marquess of Mantua whose wife was the celebrated Isabella d'Este
.
Clara's paternal grandparents were Ludovico II Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg
; and her maternal grandparents were Albert III, Duke of Bavaria
and Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Einbeck, daughter of Duke Erich I of Brunswick-Salzderhelden and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Göttingen.
of Naples (1495), and the Duke of Sessa. He was the son of Louis I, Count of Montpensier
and Joan, Dauphine of Auvergne. The marriage had been arranged by Clara's uncle Francesco Secco of Aragon who accompanied the newly-wed couple from Mantua to Milan on their lengthy journey to their home in France.
Gilbert and Clara had six children:
, Italy, Clara's husband Gilbert (who had been the Viceroy of Naples since 1495), died of a fever, leaving her a widow at the age of thirty-two.
In 1499, Clara acted as mediator on behalf of her brother Francesco, who sought to form an alliance with King Louis XII of France
in order to protect Mantua, which was then being threatened by both Cesare Borgia
and the Doge of Venice
.
She maintained a correspondence with her sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este.
Clara died on 2 June 1503. She was not quite thirty-nine years old. She was buried at the Chapelle Saint-Louis in the church of Aigueperse in Auvergne.
Her many descendants included Louise Juliana of Nassau, King Louis XV of France
, Marie Antoinette
, Franz Josef I of Austria
, and the House of Hanover
which reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901, and from which descends the current British Royal Family
.
Clara Gonzaga appears as a character in Marguerite of Angoulême
's book, the Heptameron
.
House of Gonzaga
The Gonzaga family ruled Mantua in Northern Italy from 1328 to 1708.-History:In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua, and in 1530 Federico II received the title of Duke of Mantua. In 1531, the family acquired the Duchy of Monferrato through marriage...
. She was the daughter of Federico I Gonzaga
Federico I Gonzaga
Federico I Gonzaga was marquess of Mantua from 1478 to 1484, as well as a condottiero.-Biography:Federico was born in Mantua in 1441, son of Ludovico II and Barbara of Brandenburg...
, Marquess of Mantua and the wife of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
Gilbert, Count of Montpensier
Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier son of Louis de Bourbon and Gabrielle La Tour, Count of Montpensier and Dauphin d'Auvergne...
.
One of her six children was Charles III, Duke of Bourbon
Charles III, Duke of Bourbon
Charles III, Duke of Bourbon was a French military leader, the Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne. He commanded the Imperial troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in what became known as the Sack of Rome in 1527, where he was killed.-Biography:Charles was born at Montpensier...
, who led the Imperial
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
Army sent by Emperor Charles V
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...
against Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
in what became the Sack of Rome
Sack of Rome (1527)
The Sack of Rome on 6 May 1527 was a military event carried out by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor in Rome, then part of the Papal States...
, and where he was subsequently killed.
Clara is one of the characters in the Heptameron
Heptameron
The Heptameron is a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite of Navarre, published in 1558. It has the form of a frame narrative and was inspired by The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio...
, which was written by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of King Francis I of France
Francis I of France
Francis I was King of France from 1515 until his death. During his reign, huge cultural changes took place in France and he has been called France's original Renaissance monarch...
.
Family
Clara was born in Mantua on 1 July 1464, the eldest daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and Margaret of Bavaria (1 January 1442 – 14 October 1479). She had five siblings including Francesco II GonzagaFrancesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua
Francesco II Gonzaga was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death.-Biography:Gonzaga was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga. He had a career as a condottiero acting as Venice's commander from 1489 to 1498...
, Marquess of Mantua whose wife was the celebrated Isabella d'Este
Isabella d'Este
Isabella d'Este was Marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whose innovative style of dressing was copied by women throughout Italy and at the French court...
.
Clara's paternal grandparents were Ludovico II Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
; and her maternal grandparents were Albert III, Duke of Bavaria
Albert III, Duke of Bavaria
Albert III the Pious of Bavaria-Munich , , since 1438 Duke of Bavaria-Munich. He was born to Ernest, Duke of Bavaria and Elisabetta Visconti, daughter of Bernabò Visconti.-Life:Albert was born in Munich....
and Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Einbeck, daughter of Duke Erich I of Brunswick-Salzderhelden and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Göttingen.
Marriage and issue
On 24 February 1482, in Mantua, at the age of seventeen, Clara married Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier, who in 1486 succeeded his father as Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne. He was also ViceroyViceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
of Naples (1495), and the Duke of Sessa. He was the son of Louis I, Count of Montpensier
Louis I, Count of Montpensier
Louis de Bourbon was the third son of John I, Duke of Bourbon and Marie de Berry, Duchess d'Auvergne; Count of Montpensier, Clermont-en-Auvergne and Sancerre and Dauphin of Auvergne, brother of Charles I of Bourbon...
and Joan, Dauphine of Auvergne. The marriage had been arranged by Clara's uncle Francesco Secco of Aragon who accompanied the newly-wed couple from Mantua to Milan on their lengthy journey to their home in France.
Gilbert and Clara had six children:
- Louis II, Count of MontpensierLouis II, Count of MontpensierLouis de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier was the son of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier and Claire Gonzaga. He was Count of Montpensier and Clermont-en-Auvergne and Dauphin d'Auvergne from 1496 to his death....
(1483 – 14 August 1501), died unmarried. - Charles III, Duke of BourbonCharles III, Duke of BourbonCharles III, Duke of Bourbon was a French military leader, the Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne. He commanded the Imperial troops of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in what became known as the Sack of Rome in 1527, where he was killed.-Biography:Charles was born at Montpensier...
, Count of Montpensier, Dauphin of AuvergneDauphin of AuvergneDauphin d'Auvergne, or in Occitan Dalfi d'Alvernha was Count of Clermont and Montferrand , troubadour and patron of troubadours. He was born c. 1150 and died in 1234 or 1235...
, Constable of FranceConstable of FranceThe Constable of France , as the First Officer of the Crown, was one of the original five Great Officers of the Crown of France and Commander in Chief of the army. He, theoretically, as Lieutenant-general of the King, outranked all the nobles and was second-in-command only to the King...
(17 February 1490 – 6 May 1527 Rome). He led the Imperial Army sent by Emperor Charles V against Pope Clement in what became the Sack of Rome, where he was killed. Married Suzanne, Duchess of BourbonSuzanne, Duchess of BourbonSuzanne de Bourbon was suo jure Duchess of Bourbon and Auvergne from 1503 to her death. Her husband was Charles de Bourbon.-Inheritance and marriage:...
, daughter of Anne of FranceAnne of FranceAnne of France was the eldest daughter of Louis XI of France and his second wife, Charlotte of Savoy. Anne was the sister of King Charles VIII of France, for whom she acted as regent during his minority; and of Joan of France, who was briefly queen consort to Louis XII...
and Peter II, Duke of BourbonPeter II, Duke of BourbonPeter II, Duke of Bourbon was the son of Charles I, Duke of Bourbon and Agnes of Burgundy, and a member of the House of Bourbon...
. His children by Suzanne all died young. - François, Duke of ChâtelleraultDuke of ChâtelleraultThe French noble title of Duke of Châtellerault has been created several times.The first was for François de Bourbon-Montpensier, a younger son of Gilbert, Comte de Montpensier. He received the duchy-peerage of Châtellerault in 1515, but died the same year, being succeeded by his brother Charles,...
(1492 – 13 September 1515 at the Battle of MarignanoBattle of MarignanoThe Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on September 13 and 15, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan...
). - Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of MontpensierLouise de Bourbon, Duchess of MontpensierLouise de Bourbon was the Duchess of Montpensier, suo jure from February 1538 to 1561. She was the great great great grandmother of La Grande Mademoiselle.- Inheritance :...
(1482 – 5 July 1561). By dint of her three brothers having died childless, she became the heiress of the Montpensier county and the Auvergne dauphinate. She was invested as Duchess of Montpensier in February 1538. In 1499, she married as her first husband Andre III de Chauvigny, Prince of Deols, Viscount de Brosse; on 21 March 1504, she married secondly, her cousin Louis of Bourbon, Prince of La Roche-sur-Yon, by whom she had three children. - Renée, Lady of MercœurRenée of BourbonRenée of Bourbon, Duchess of Lorraine also called, Renée, Lady of Mercœur, , was a daughter of Gilbert de Bourbon, Count of Montpensier by Clara Gonzaga, and sister of Charles de Bourbon, Duke of Bourbon....
(1494 – 26 May 1539), married Antoine, Duke of LorraineAntoine, Duke of LorraineAntoine , known as the Good, was Duke of Lorraine from 1508 until his death in 1544.-Biography:Antoine was born at Bar-le-Duc, the son of René II, Duke of Lorraine and Philippa of Guelders...
, by whom she had six children. - Anne (1495–1510)
Widowhood and death
On 15 October 1496, in PozzuoliPozzuoli
Pozzuoli is a city and comune of the province of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean peninsula.-History:Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of Dicaearchia...
, Italy, Clara's husband Gilbert (who had been the Viceroy of Naples since 1495), died of a fever, leaving her a widow at the age of thirty-two.
In 1499, Clara acted as mediator on behalf of her brother Francesco, who sought to form an alliance with King Louis XII of France
Louis XII of France
Louis proved to be a popular king. At the end of his reign the crown deficit was no greater than it had been when he succeeded Charles VIII in 1498, despite several expensive military campaigns in Italy. His fiscal reforms of 1504 and 1508 tightened and improved procedures for the collection of taxes...
in order to protect Mantua, which was then being threatened by both Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia
Cesare Borgia , Duke of Valentinois, was an Italian condottiero, nobleman, politician, and cardinal. He was the son of Pope Alexander VI and his long-term mistress Vannozza dei Cattanei. He was the brother of Lucrezia Borgia; Giovanni Borgia , Duke of Gandia; and Gioffre Borgia , Prince of Squillace...
and the Doge of Venice
Doge of Venice
The Doge of Venice , often mistranslated Duke was the chief magistrate and leader of the Most Serene Republic of Venice for over a thousand years. Doges of Venice were elected for life by the city-state's aristocracy. Commonly the person selected as Doge was the shrewdest elder in the city...
.
She maintained a correspondence with her sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este.
Clara died on 2 June 1503. She was not quite thirty-nine years old. She was buried at the Chapelle Saint-Louis in the church of Aigueperse in Auvergne.
Her many descendants included Louise Juliana of Nassau, King Louis XV of France
Louis XV of France
Louis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, Franz Josef I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
, and the House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
which reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901, and from which descends the current British Royal Family
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...
.
Clara Gonzaga appears as a character in Marguerite of Angoulême
Marguerite de Navarre
Marguerite de Navarre , also known as Marguerite of Angoulême and Margaret of Navarre, was the queen consort of Henry II of Navarre...
's book, the Heptameron
Heptameron
The Heptameron is a collection of 72 short stories written in French by Marguerite of Navarre, published in 1558. It has the form of a frame narrative and was inspired by The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio...
.