Ferdinando Gonzaga

Ferrante I Gonzaga (also Ferdinando I Gonzaga; 28 January 1507- 15 November 1557) was an Italian condottiero, a member of the House of Gonzaga and the founder of the branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla.

He was born in Mantua, the third son of Francesco II Gonzaga and Isabella d'Este. At the age of sixteen he was sent to the court of Spain as a page to the future emperor Charles V, to whom Ferrante remained faithful for his whole life. In 1527 he took part in the Sack of Rome and attended Charles' triumphant coronation at Bologna in 1530: at the death of Charles of Bourbon (1527) he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Imperial army in Italy. He became a Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1531.

He defended Naples from the assault of the French troops under Odet of Foix, Viscount of Lautrec, and obtained the surrender of the Republic of Florence. For this feat Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici who had been ousted from that city, named him papal governor of Benevento. Again for Charles V, he fought against the Turks at Tunis in 1535 and Algiers in 1543 with a contingent of 3,000 cavalry. He served Charles as Viceroy of Sicily (1535-1546), and Forte Gonzaga was named in his honour. He accompanied the Emperor to Germany in 1543 and fought the resolute campaign that enforced the Treaty of Crépy. He then served as Governor of the Duchy of Milan (1546-1554), in which role he fought in the War of Parma.

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