Background
Gonzaga was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga.
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. He was described as "short, popular-eyed, snub-nosed and exceptionally brave, and was regarded as the finest knight in Italy". On that occasion he was captured by the Venetians, who held him as hostage for several months and humiliated him.
This caused his perpetual hostility towards that city, and he refused any subsequent request to return to command its army.
Under their reign, Mantua knew a great age of cultural splendour, with the presence in the city of artists such as Andrea Mantegna and Jacopo Bonacolsi. Francesco had the Palace of Saint Sebastian built, where Mantegna"s Triumph of Caesar was eventually placed.
Beginning in 1503, he started a long relationship with Lucrezia Borgia. Another son, Ferrante Gonzaga originated the branch of the Counts of Guastalla.
Isabella d"Este and Francesco Gonzaga had 8 children:
Eleonor Gonzaga, born 1493, died 1570.
Married Francesco Maria I della Rovere Duke of Urbino. Margherita, born 1496. Livia, born 1501, died 1508.
Ippolita Gonzaga, born 1503, died 1570.
Ippolita became a nun in the Dominican convent of South. Vincenzo. Federico II, Duke of Mantua, born 1500, died 1540.
Ercole Gonzaga, born 1506, died 1565. Became a Cardinal. Ferrante Gonzaga, born 1507, died 1557.
Married Isabella di Capua.
Livia, later known as Sister Paola, born 1508, died 1569
In the 2011 Showtime series The Borgias, Francesco Gonzaga is portrayed by Irish actor Patrick O"Kane. This portrayal of the Duke of Mantua is not married to Isabella d"Este, but is instead married to a deranged woman named Bianca.
