Prince Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga
Marquis of Vescovato
Maurizio Ferrante Gonzaga (Venice, 21 September 1861 - Rome, 24 March 1938) was an Italian nobleman and general, decorated with the rank of Officer of the Military Order of Savoy, two gold medals, three silver medals and two bronze medals for military valour and the Cross of War Merit. He held the noble titles of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Marquis of Vescovato, Marquis of Vodice, Count of Villanova and Cassolnovo (from 1932), and Patrician of Veneto. He was also a senator of the Kingdom of Italy. He was born in Venice, still Austrian, on 21 September 1861, the son of Prince Antonio and Giuseppina Domenica Priamo. A pupil of the military school in 1879, he took the oath of allegiance in Alba in 1881 as a second lieutenant. Appointed captain in 1889 and major ten years later, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and chief of staff of the Livorno military division in 1906. He was posted in 1909 to the command of the Fourth Army Corps stationed in Genoa under the orders of General Luigi Cadorna and took part in the Italian-Turkish war in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica in 1913, being appointed colonel and commander of the mixed infantry regiment based in Tobruk. He was then promoted to major-general and appointed deputy governor of Cyrenaica.
Reggimento Ussari di Piacenza (Piacenza Hussar Regiment) was a volunteer military formation, formed in Emilia, in 1859. During the Second War of Italian Independence, many Hungarian patriots in favour of Hungary's liberation from Austrian rule came to Piedmont to support the nascent Italian nation and fight against the common Austrian enemy. After the armistice of Villafranca, about twenty Hungarian hussars led by Count Gregorio Bethlen, settled in the Pilotta barracks in Parma, where a Hussar regiment was formed, mainly made up of volunteers from Emilia and led by Hungarian hussars who acted as instructors to pass on the traditions and skills of the ancient Magyar cavalry. On 28 September 1859, the Piacenza Hussar Regiment was officially founded, which was incorporated into the Sardinian Army on 15 March 1860. The uniform of the Piacenza Hussars was the same as that of the Hungarian Hussars, the only difference being the royal numerals ‘VM’ (Vittorio Emanuele) instead of ‘FJ’ (Franz Joseph). In 1863-64 the regiment was employed in operations to repress post-unification brigandage in Calitri, Orsara di Puglia, Andretta and Ripacandida. During the Third War of Independence, it deployed at Custoza where, in the general rout, it managed to protect the retreat of the Italian units from the Austrian pursuers, at the cost of heavy losses. With a royal decree of 2 September 1871,
the 18th Cavalry Regiment (Piacenza) was renamed, in force from 10 September, and the Hussar uniform was abandoned, adopting the uniforms of the Royal Cavalry Regiments, from 1 April 1872. From that moment on, the typical Hussar traditions adopted by the corps were also gradually eliminated and forgotten. After taking part in the colonial wars of Eritrea and Libya and the First World War, the Piacenza Cavalry Regiment (18th), so renamed in 1876, was merged with the Lancieri di Novara Regiment, to be definitively disbanded on 1 July 1920.
The House of Gonzaga is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708 (first as a captaincy-general, then margraviate, and finally duchy). They also ruled Monferrato in Piedmont and Nevers in France, as well as many other lesser fiefs throughout Europe. The family includes a saint, twelve cardinals and fourteen bishops. Two Gonzaga descendants became empresses of the Holy Roman Empire (Eleonora Gonzaga and Eleonora Gonzaga-Nevers), and one became Queen of Poland and Grand Duchess of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Marie Louise Gonzaga). The first members of the family of historical importance are known to have collaborated with the Guelph faction alongside the monks of the Polirone Abbey. Starting from the 12th century they became a dominant family in Mantua, growing in wealth when their allies, the Bonacolsi, defeated the traditional familiar enemy, the Casalodi. In 1328, however, Ludovico I Gonzaga overthrew the Bonacolsi lordship over the city with the help of the Scaliger, and entered the Ghibelline party as capitano del popolo ("people's captain") of Mantua and imperial vicar of Emperor Louis IV. Ludovico
was succeeded by Guido (1360–1369) and Ludovico II (1369–1382), while Feltrino, lord of Reggio until 1371, formed the cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Novellara, whose state existed until 1728. Francesco I (1382–1407) abandoned the traditional alliance with the Visconti of Milan, in order to align their rising power with the Republic of Venice. In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua with the recognition of Emperor Sigismund, while obtaining recognition from the local nobility through the marriage of his daughter Margherita to Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara in 1435. In 1530 Federico II (1500–1540) received the title of Duke of Mantua. Also the two brothers of Federico II are historical characters of a certain importance: Ercole Gonzaga became a cardinal, presided over the Council of Trent and was almost elected Pope; Ferrante was a faithful ally of the Emperor Charles V who covered him with honors and positions, Ferrante was also the progenitor of the cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. In 1531, the family acquired the Marquisate of Montferrat through marriage. Through maternal ancestors, the Gonzagas inherited also the Imperial Byzantine ancestry of the Paleologus, an earlier ruling family of Montferrat. A cadet branch of the Mantua Gonzagas became dukes of Nevers and Rethel in France when Luigi (Louis) Gonzaga, a younger son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, and Margherita Paleologa, married the heiress. The Gonzaga-Nevers later came to rule Mantua again when Louis's son Charles (Carlo) inherited Mantua and Montferrat, triggering the War of the Mantuan Succession. Another cadet branch were first sovereign counts, later dukes of Guastalla. They descended from Ferrante, a younger son of Duke Francesco II of Mantua (1484–1519). Ferrante's grandson, Ferrante II, also played a role in the War of the Mantuan Succession. A further cadet branch was that of Sabbioneta, founded by Gianfrancesco, son of Ludovico III. Marie Louise Gonzaga, daughter of Prince Charles Gonzaga-Nevers, was a queen consort of Poland and grand duchess consort of Lithuania from 1645 to her death in 1667. Two daughters of the house, both named Eleanor Gonzaga, became Holy Roman Empresses, by marrying emperors Ferdinand II of Germany and Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, respectively. From the latter Empress Eleonora, the current heirs of the Gonzaga descend. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was a member of a junior branch of this family. The House of Gonzaga is the inspiration for the play-within-the-play in Shakespeare's Hamlet. In Act 3 scene 2, they act out a play called The Murder of Gonzago (or The Mousetrap). Gonzaga rule continued in Mantua until 1708 and in Guastalla until 1746. Both ruling lines going extinct until passing on to a minor Gonzaga-Vescovato branch, which is the only remaining existing branch.
Awards: Collar and star of the Order of the Redeemer (Ordine del Redentore), star and sash of the Order of the Crown of Italy (Ordine della Corona d'Italia) and star of the Military Order of Italy (Ordine Militare d'Italia).
