Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga

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Portrait of Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga at the Uffizi, Florence.

Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga (1395 - 23 September 1444) was marquess of Mantua from 1407 to 1444. He was also a condottiero.

[edit] Biography

Gianfrancesco inherited the rule of Mantua in 1407, when he was 12. In his first years he was under the patronage of his uncle Carlo Malatesta and, indirectly, of the Venice. In 1409 he married to Paola Malatesta, daughter of Malatesta V Malatesta of Pesaro. He was the first Gonzaga o bear the title of marquess, which he obtained by Emperor Sigismund on September 22, 1433.

He fought for the Papal States and the Malatestas in 1412 and 1417, respectively, and was capitano generale (commander-in-chief) of the Venetian Armies from 1432. Later he left the alliance with Venice and entered at the service of the Visconti of Milan, starting an unsuccessful war against the Serenissima which caused the lost of several Mantuan territories.

During his reign the famous humanist Vittorino da Feltre was called in Mantua, as well as numerous artists like Pisanello and others, starting the traditional role of the city as a capital of Italian Renaissance. He founded the first workshop in Italy for the manufacture of tapestries.