View source for Maria Gonzaga, Duchess of Montferrat

{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Maria Gonzaga
| image        = Maria Gonzaga.jpg
| caption      =
| succession   = [[List of rulers of Montferrat|Duchess of Montferrat]]
| reign        = 22 December 1612 - 14 August 1660
| predecessor  = [[Francesco IV Gonzaga]]
| successor    = [[Charles II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat]]
| birth_date   = 29 July 1609
| birth_place  = [[Mantua]]
| title        = Regent of Mantua
| death_date   = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1660|8|14|1609|7|29|}}
| issue        = Maria Gonzaga<br>[[Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat]]<br>[[Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686)|Eleonora, Holy Roman Empress]]
| full name    = Maria Gonzaga
| death_place  = Mantua
| spouse       = {{marriage|[[Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Nevers]]<br>|December 1627|30 August 1631|end=d.}}
| father       = [[Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua|Francesco Gonzaga]]
| mother       = [[Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal|Margaret of Savoy]]
| house        = [[House of Gonzaga|Gonzaga]]
}}
'''Maria Gonzaga''' or '''Maria of Mantua''' (29 July 1609 – 14 August 1660) was a reigning [[List of rulers of Montferrat|Duchess of Montferrat]] from 1612 until 1660, and [[regent]] in Mantua during the minority of her son from 1637 until 1647.
==Biography==
Maria was the eldest and only surviving child of [[Francesco IV Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua]] and [[Rulers of Montferrat|Montferrat]] and [[Margaret of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal|Margaret of Savoy]] (1589–1655), daughter of [[Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy]] and [[Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain]].{{sfn|Parrott|1997|p=22}}
Maria's father died aged 26 in 1612 when she was only three years old, and was succeeded as Duke of Mantua by his two brothers, who had no issue. This made Maria and her husband [[Charles II Gonzaga|Charles of Nevers]] in 1627 successors to the two Duchies. Maria was already Duchess of Montferrat since 1612. This led to the [[War of Mantuan Succession]].
The outcome was that, after the death of her husband Charles in 1631, his father [[Charles I, Duke of Mantua|Charles]] became the new Duke of Mantua until his death in 1637.
Maria exercised the [[Regent|regency]] of Mantua on behalf of her son for ten years, until 1647.<br> She died in 1660, aged 51.
==Issue==
Maria and Charles had:
*Maria Gonzaga
*[[Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat|Charles Gonzaga]] (1629–1665) married [[Archduchess Isabella Clara of Austria]]{{sfn|Parrott|1997|p=22}}
*[[Eleonora Gonzaga (1630–1686)|Eleanor Gonzaga]] (1630–1686), who married in 1651 [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor]]{{sfn|Parrott|1997|p=22}}
==See also==
*[[House of Gonzaga]]
*[[Rulers of Mantua]]
*[[Rulers of Montferrat]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Sources==
*{{cite journal |first=David |last=Parrott |title=The Mantuan Succession, 1627–31: A Sovereignty Dispute in Early Modern Europe |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=CXII, Issue 445, February |publisher=Oxford Academic |year=1997 |issue=445 |pages=20–65 |doi=10.1093/ehr/CXII.445.20 }}
==External links==
*{{in lang|it}} [http://www.sardimpex.com/gonzaga/GONZAGA2.htm Sardimpex.com : Gonzaga - Marchesi e Duchi sovrani di Mantova, indice L1]{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{in lang|en|it}} {{cite web |last=Marek |first=Miroslav |url=http://genealogy.euweb.cz/gonzaga/gonzaga3.html#MF4 |title= Gonzaga family |publisher= Genealogy.EU}}
{{House of Gonzaga}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Maria}}
[[Category:1609 births]]
[[Category:1660 deaths]]
[[Category:House of Gonzaga|Maria Gonzaga, Duchess of Montferrat]]
[[Category:Regents of Mantua]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Mantua]]
[[Category:Duchesses of Montferrat]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian women]]
[[Category:17th-century Italian nobility]]
[[Category:17th-century women regents]]
[[Category:17th-century regents]]
[[Category:Mothers of Italian monarchs]]