William (Guglielmo) Gonzaga (24 April 1538 - 14 August 1587) was Duke of Mantua and Montferrat (as Guglielmo X of Monferrato) from 1550 to 1587.
He was the second son of Frederick II Gonzaga of Mantua and Margaret Palaeologina of Montferrat.
In 1574, Montferrat was elevated to a Duchy and he became its first duke. He was succeeded by his son Vincent I of Gonzaga.
William as patron of music
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William was particularly interested in sacred vocal music, and is known particularly to music historians for his extensive correspondence with Palestrina. He built a large new church in Mantua, that of Santa Barbara. He engaged in an unprecedented negotiation with the Papacy to create his own rite for Mantua, and devoted considerable resources to developing a musical repertoire for the church, commissioning works by Giaches de Wert and Palestrina. Part of his correspondence with Palestrina discusses the work commissioned in detail, stipulating William's requirements, and therefore giving a sense of his musical preferences. William's musical tastes were conservative for the day. He enjoyed imitative contrapuntal music but was concerned to maintain clarity of text, thereby showing the influence of Tridentine reforms. Upon his death, his son Vincent invited followers of the more modern trends to his court. [1]
Marriage and children
On April 26, 1561, William married Eleonora of Austria, sixth daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. They were parents to three children:
- Vincent I, Duke of Mantua (21 September 1562 - 9 February 1612).Married Eleonora de' Medici (Eleanor's niece).
- Margherita Gonzaga (27 May 1564 - 6 January 1618). Married Alfonso II d'Este.
- Anna Caterina Gonzaga (17 January 1566 - 3 August 1621). Married her maternal uncle Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria.
References and further reading
- Iain Fenlon, Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua, Cambridge University Press, 1980. ISBN 0521229057.
| Preceded by Francis III |
Duke of Mantua 1550–1587 |
Succeeded by Vincent I |
| Marquess and Duke of Montferrat 1550–1575–1587 |
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