Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua

Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, known as the Turk , also spelled Lodovico (also Ludovico II; 5 June 1412 – 12 June 1478) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478.

Biography

Ludovico was the son of Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga and Paola Malatesta daughter of Malatesta IV Malatesta of Pesaro.

Ludovico followed the path of his father, Gianfrancesco, fighting as a condottiero from as early as 1432, when Gianfrancesco was vice-commander of Francesco Bussone's army. In 1433, he married Barbara of Brandenburg, niece of emperor Sigismund. although part of the family fiefs went to his brothers Carlo, Gianlucido and Alessandro. Venetian troops under Niccolò Piccinino however thwarted his attempt to regain Asola. The Peace of Lodi (1454) obliged Ludovico to give back all his conquests, and to renounce definitively his claim to the three cities. However, the pope was not satisfied with the host city, writing: "The place was marshy and unhealthy, and the heat burnt up everything; the wine was unpalatable and the food unpleasant." However, the council ended on a note of great personal prestige for Ludovico with the elevation of his son Francesco to the purple.

From 1466, Ludovico was more or less constantly at the service of the Sforza of Milan. He died in Goito in 1478, during a plague. He was buried in Mantua cathedral. The treatise takes the format of a Platonic dialogue, featuring an unnamed architect (evidently Filarete himself) who is building a new city for a princely patron (evidently Francesco Sforza of Milan). During the dialogue interspersing the treatise they are visited by another lord, in the figure of Ludovico: his role in the dialogue is to persuade Sforza that he has seen the error of his ways in showing favour to "modern architecture", by which is meant Gothic architecture, and, having seen the architecture of antiquity in Rome, now favours such architecture instead, which is also what Filarete is also trying to persuade his patron.

Children The Court of Mantua. At the left, Ludovico II Gonzaga. Besides him his wife Barbara von Brandenburg and their siblings Ludovico Gonzaga, Paola Gonzaga and Rodolfo Gonzaga. Ludovico III and Barbara had fourteen children:

Federico (1438? – died in infancy). Maddalena (1439? – died in infancy). Elisabetta (1440? – died in infancy). Federico I (1441 – 1484), Marquis of Mantua; married Margaret of Bavaria, daughter of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria and Anna, Duchess of Brunswick-Grubenhagen Francesco (1444 – 1483), created Cardinal by Pope Pius II. Paola Bianca (1445–1447), died in infancy. Gianfrancesco (1446 – 1496), Count of Sabbioneta and Lord of Bozzolo; married Antonia del Balzo. Had issue Susanna (1447–1481), a nun at Santa Paola di Mantua. Dorotea (1449–1467), married to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan. Cecilia (1451–1472), a nun at Santa Chiara di Mantua. Rodolfo (1452–1495), Lord of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Solferino, Suzzara and Poviglio; married firstly daughter of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta and then Caterina Pico. His great-grandson was Aloysius Gonzaga. Barbara (1455–1503), married in 1474 Eberhard I, Duke of Württemberg Ludovico (1460–1511), Bishop of Mantua. Paola (1463–1497), married Leonhard, Count of Gorizia.

In addition, Ludovico III had two illegitimate daughters: Caterina (wife of Gianfrancesco Secco, Conte di Calcio) and Gabriella (wife of Corrado Fogliani, Marchese di Vighizzolo).

It was said that the daughters of Barbara and Ludovico III had hunched backs, that is why Susanna was spurned by Galeazzo Maria Sforza and the marriage with Dorotea was delayed until the Milanese court found that her physical problems aren't so notorious like her oldest sister. Leonhard of Gorizia also postponed his marriage to Paola due to this and when they eventually married they had one stillborn child as it is thought that this deformity in her made it harder to have children.