GONZAGA FAMILY, a noted Italian family which held the supremacy in Mantua 1328-1707. On 14 Aug. 1328 Lunovtco (or LUIGI GONZAGA) assumed the sovereignty after his sons had driven out the Bonacors: family and taken possession of Mantua. He died 1360, aged 93. Among his descendants, GIAN FRAN CESCO GONZAGA, in 1432, obtained possession of the city, with its territory, under the title of marquisate, as a fief from the Emperor Sigis mund. GUGLIEMO (1550-87) and VICENZO (1587 1612), both rulers of note, were patrons of the Tasso family, the father of the poet having been secretary to the former. Among the noted scholastics of the family was Luta' Gox zocA. (1568-91), a Jesuit who, canonized as Saint Aloysius, became the patron saint of students. With VINCENZO II, the reigning line became extinct in 1627. The next heir would have been the Duke of Nevers, but the Duke of Guastalla, Ferdinand II, one degree more remote, laid claim to the whole inheritance, and Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy, claimed Montferrat. It was evident that the house of Nevers had a legal right, and France, Venice and the Pope supported him. Spain and
Austria, on the other hand, supported the groundless claims of the Duke of Savoy, whence arose a war concerning the Man tuan succession, which ended with the triumph of Charles, Duke of Nevers. His grandson, CHARLES III, succeeded him in 1637, and during his reign the principality ob tained full independence. He died in 1665. Many persons of his family have obtained mili tary renown. Others have been conspicuous for their love of the arts and sciences. Cmswit, in 1565, erected the academy Degl'invaghiti; and others of the family founded galleries of paint ings and antiquities. Giulio Romano, under their patronage, established an extensive school for painting, and many celebrated artists received from them support and honor. Consult Hare, C., 'A Princess of the Reformation' (New York 1912); Solari, E., 'Ercole Gonzaga' (Venice 1904); Symonds, 'The Renaissance in Italy' (London 1898).