GONZAGA, an Italian princely family named after the town where it probably had its origin. Its known history begins with Luigi I. (1267-1360), who, after fierce struggles, supplanted his brother-in-law Rinaldo Bonacolsi as lord of Mantua in 1328, with the title of captain-general, and afterwards of vicar-general of the empire, adding the designation of count of Mirandola and Concordia, which fief the Gonzagas held from 1328 to 1354. In 1335 his son Guido wrested Reggio from the Scaligeri and held it until 1371. Luigi was succeeded by Guido (d. 1369) ; the latter's son Luigi II. came next in succession (d. 1382), then Giovan Francesco I. (d. 1407), then Giovan Francesco II. (d. 5444) who received for his military services to the emperor Sigismund the title of marquess of Mantua (1432), an investiture which legitimatized the usurpations of the house of Gonzaga. His grandson, Federigo I. (d. 1484), served under various foreign sovereigns, including Bona of Savoy and Lorenzo de' Medici; subsequently he upheld the rights of the house of Este against Pope Sixtus IV. and the Venetians, whose claims were a menace to his own dominions of Ferrara and Mantova. His son Giovan Francesco III. (d. 1519) commanded the allied Italian forces against Charles VIII. at the battle of Fornovo; he afterwards fought in the kingdom of Naples and in Tuscany, until captured by the Venetians in 1509. With the help of his wife, the famous Isabella d'Este, he promoted the fine arts and letters.
He was succeeded by his son Federigo II. (d. 1540), captain general of the papal forces. After the peace of Cambrai (15 29) his ally and protector, the emperor Charles V., raised his title to that of duke of Mantua in 1530; in 1536 the emperor decided the controversy for the succession of Monferrato between Federigo and the house of Savoy in favour of the former. His son Guglielmo subdued a revolt in Monferrato and was presented with that territory by the emperor Maximilian II. His grandson Vincenzo II. (d. 1627) appointed as his successor Charles, the son of Henriette, the heiress of the French family of Nevers Rethel, who was only able to take possession of the ducal throne after a bloody struggle ; his dominions were invaded and he him self reduced to the sorest straits. His great grandson, Ferdinand Charles, acquired Guastalla by marriage in 1678, but lost it soon afterwards ; he involved his country in useless warfare, with the result that in 1708 Austria annexed the duchy. On July 5, 1708, he died in Venice, and with him the Gonzagas of Mantua came to an end.