Clara Gonzaga, Countess of Montpensier, Dauphine of Auvergne, Duchess of Sessa was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Gonzaga.
Background
She was the daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and the wife of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier. 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).
Career
Clara is one of the characters in the Heptameron, which was written by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of King Francis I of France. She had five siblings including Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua whose wife was the celebrated Isabella d"Este. On 15 October 1496, in Pozzuoli, 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.
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 British ruling houses since 1714 (Hanover, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Windsor). Clara Gonzaga appears as a character in Marguerite of Angoulême"s book, the Heptameron.