Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua

Who was Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua?

Vincenzo II Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1626 until his death.

He was the son of Duke Vincent I and Eleonora de' Medici and inherited the duchy at the death of his elder brother Ferdinand, receiving the imperial investiture on February 8, 1627. He had also received a cardinalate on Ferdinando's succession, but had dismissed it in 1616 to be able to marry his relative Isabella Gonzaga, daughter of Alfonso Gonzaga, Count of Novellara.

Conscious of his unstable health, the childless Vincenzo set up a descendance for his lands through the marriage of his niece Mary with Charles of Nevers' son Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers. The elder Charles was a cousin of his father. Vincent died on the marriage day of Mary and Charles.