Duchy of Mantua
| Duchy of Mantua | ||||||||||
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Ducato di Mantova Ducatus Mantuæ |
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| State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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 Duchy of Mantua in 1576;
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| Capital | Mantua | |||||||||
| Languages | Lombard, Italian | |||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | |||||||||
| Government | Duchy | |||||||||
| Duke of Mantua | ||||||||||
| • | from 1273 | Pinamonte Bonacolsi (first People's Captain) | ||||||||
| • | 1328–1360 | Ludovico I Gonzaga (Lord Captain) | ||||||||
| • | 1407–1444 | Gianfrancesco Gonzaga (first Marquis) | ||||||||
| • | 1519–40 | Federico II Gonzaga (first Duke) | ||||||||
| • | 1665–1708 | Ferdinand Charles of Nevers (last duke) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early Modern | |||||||||
| • | Gonzagas' uprising | 16 August 1328 | ||||||||
| • | Imperial diploma of Sigismund of Bohemia | 22 September 1530 | ||||||||
| • | Charles V raises the Marquisate to Duchy | 8 April 1530 | ||||||||
| • | Gonzaga-Nevers' ascent to throne | 25 December 1627 | ||||||||
| • | Succession war | 1628–1631 | ||||||||
| • | Austrian rule | 1708–1797 | ||||||||
| • | Treaty of Campo Formio | 17 October 1797 | ||||||||
| Currency | Mantuan solidus, lira and others | |||||||||
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The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, Northern Italy, subject to the Holy Roman Empire.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Mantua was invaded by Byzantines, Lombards and Franks. In the 11th century it became a possession of Boniface of Canossa, marquis of Toscana. The last ruler of the family was the countess Matilde of Canossa (died 1115), who, according to legend, ordered the construction of the precious Rotonda di San Lorenzo (1082). After the death of Matilde of Canossa, Mantua became a free commune and strenuously defended itself from the Holy Roman Empire in the 12th and 13th centuries.
During the Investiture Controversy, Pinamonte Bonacolsi took advantage of the chaotic situation to seize power—as Captain General of the People—in 1273. His family ruled Mantua for the next century, making it more prosperous and artistically beautiful.
On 16 August 1328, the last Bonacolsi, Rinaldo, was overthrown in a revolt backed by the House of Gonzaga, a family of officials, namely the 60-year-old Luis and his sons Guy, Filippino and Feltrino. Ludovico, who had been podestà of the city in 1318, was elected capitano del popolo ("people's captain"). The Gonzaga built new walls with five gates and renovated the architecture of the city in the 14th century, but the political situation in the city did not settle until Ludovico II eliminated his relatives, seizing power for himself in 1370.
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Wikipedia