| Clara Gonzaga | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Montpensier Dauphine of Auvergne Duchess of Sessa |
|
| Engraved portrait of Clara Gonzaga by an unknown artist | |
| Spouse(s) | Gilbert, Count of Montpensier |
| Issue | |
| Louis II, Count of Montpensier Charles III, Duke of Bourbon François, Duke of Châtellerault Louise de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier Renée, Lady of Mercœur Anne |
|
| Noble family | House of Gonzaga |
| Father | Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua |
| Mother | Margaret of Bavaria |
| Born | 1 July 1464 Mantua, Italy |
| Died | 2 June 1503 (aged 38) France |
Clara Gonzaga, Countess of Montpensier, Dauphine of Auvergne, Duchess of Sessa (1 July 1464 – 2 June 1503)[1] was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Gonzaga. She was the daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and the wife of Gilbert, Count of Montpensier.
One of her six children was Charles III, Duke of Bourbon, who led the Imperial Army sent by Emperor Charles V against Pope Clement VII in what became the Sack of Rome, and where he was subsequently killed.
Clara is one of the characters in the Heptameron, which was written by Marguerite of Angouleme, sister of King Francis I of France.
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Clara was born in Mantua on 1 July 1464, the eldest daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua and Margaret of Bavaria (1 January 1442 – 14 October 1479). She had five siblings including Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua whose wife was the celebrated Isabella d'Este.
Clara's paternal grandparents were Ludovico II Gonzaga and Barbara of Brandenburg; and her maternal grandparents were Albert III, Duke of Bavaria and Anna of Brunswick-Grubenhagen-Einbeck, daughter of Duke Erich I of Brunswick-Salzderhelden and Elisabeth of Brunswick-Göttingen.
On 24 February 1482, in Mantua, at the age of seventeen, Clara married Gilbert of Bourbon-Montpensier, who in 1486 succeeded his father as Count of Montpensier and Dauphin of Auvergne. He was also Viceroy of Naples (1495), and the Duke of Sessa. He was the son of Louis I, Count of Montpensier and Joan, Dauphine of Auvergne. The marriage had been arranged by Clara's uncle Francesco Secco of Aragon who accompanied the newly-wed couple from Mantua to Milan on their lengthy journey to their home in France.
Gilbert and Clara had six children:
On 15 October 1496, in Pozzuoli, Italy, Clara's husband Gilbert (who had been the Viceroy of Naples since 1495), died of a fever, leaving her a widow at the age of thirty-two.
In 1499, Clara acted as mediator on behalf of her brother Francesco, who sought to form an alliance with King Louis XII of France in order to protect Mantua, which was then being threatened by both Cesare Borgia and the Doge of Venice.[3]
She maintained a correspondence with her sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este.[4]
Clara died on 2 June 1503. She was not quite thirty-nine years old. She was buried at the Chapelle Saint-Louis in the church of Aigueperse in Auvergne.[1]
Her many descendants included Louise Juliana of Nassau, King Louis XV of France, Marie Antoinette, Franz Josef I of Austria, and the House of Hanover which reigned in Great Britain from 1714 to 1901, and from which descends the current British Royal Family.
Clara Gonzaga appears as a character in Marguerite of Angoulême's book, the Heptameron.[5]