Margherita Gonzaga, Duchess of Ferrara

Born in Mantua on 27 May 1564, Margherita Barbara was the second child and first daughter of Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Archduchess Eleanor of Austria. Her paternal grandparents were Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Margherita Paleologa, ruling Marquise of Montferrat. Her maternal grandparents were Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. She was named after both her paternal grandmother and maternal aunt Archduchess Barbara of Austria, Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio.[1]

At the court in Mantua, Margherita grew up with her older brother, Vincenzo Gonzaga (later Duke of Mantua and Montferrat) and her younger sister, Anna Caterina Gonzaga (by marriage Archduchess of Austria and Countess of Tyrol). Margherita felt a deep affection for her brother, being both with a strong-willed character and heightened ambition. The upbringing of the princess included strict adherence to all religious practices. She also studied literature and Latin; later Margherita herself wrote books in this language. Under the influence of her father, a music lover and composer, the princess learned to play musical instruments, sing and dance.[2]

In 1578 Duke Guglielmo Gonzaga began negotiations for a marriage between his 14-years-old daughter Margherita with the 31-years-old Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. With this union, the Duke of Mantua hoped to restore the political alliance between the Houses of Gonzaga and Este and create a coalition together with the Houses of Savoy and Farnese against the House of House of Medici, whose head received from the Emperor the title of Grand Duke.[2]

Alfonso II d'Este was twice a widower; his two previous wives, Lucrezia de' Medici and Barbara of Austria (Margherita's maternal aunt), died without giving birth to an heir. In 1567 the Papal Bull Prohibitio alienandi et infeudandi civitates et loca Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae of Pope Pius V prohibited to illegitimate children (or the descendants) from being invested in Church fiefdoms; without any other close agnate as his cousin Cesare d'Este (whose father was an illegitimate son of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara) and with the fear that his family could lose the Duchy of Ferrara, Duke Alfonso II decided to contracted a third marriage.[2][3]

On 24 February 1579 was celebrated the marriage by proxy in Mantua. On 27 May of the same year, accompanied by a cortege led by her brother, Margherita solemnly entered Ferrara. The princess was greeted by the Duke's courtiers with lighted torches and emblems depicting a flame and the motto in Latin “Ardet aeternum” (May she burn forever), which implied the Duke's promise to his young wife to love her forever.[2]

At the court in Ferrara, Margherita provided patronage to poets, painters and musicians. The Duchess took music lessons from the court Maestro di cappella Ippolito Fiorini.[2] In order to please his young wife, Duke Alfonso II reorganized the concerto delle donne, which before her represented a group of singing aristocratic courtiers, mostly the new Duchess' ladies in waiting, and the concerts were frequently held in her apartments;[4] under Margherita, by 1582, a group of singing lovers was transformed into a chamber ensemble of professional singers and performers. The ensemble consisted of three sopranos: Laura Peverara, Livia d'Arco, Anna Guarini and Vittoria Bentivoglio;[5] in addition also played fo them to do custom harp, viola and lute respectively, bass Giulio Cesare Brancaccio (later replaced by bass Melchiore Palontrotti), while the harpsichord was played by Luzzasco Luzzaschi and the archlute and Bandora were played by Ippolito Fiorini.[6]

In January 1582, Margherita gave a ball at which she danced with eleven other women, half of whom were dressed in men's clothing —some were also part of the concerto delle donne, including Laura Peverara (who cross dressed in at least one instance),[7] Anna Guarini, and Livia d'Arco, at least in 1582 and 1583,[8] as well as Vittoria Bentivoglio, a member of the first incarnation of the concerto. The ball was given twice —with and without masks, with the dances being accompanied by singing and musical performance of the concerto delle donne.[6] This groundbreaking only-female dance group was called balletto delle donne; they performed not only at the Duchess's balls, but also at other events,[9] for example, at the wedding of the composer Carlo Gesualdo, Prince of Venosa and Eleonora d'Este (cousin of Margherita's husband) in 1594.[10]

Instead of the balletto being a spontaneous dance among the courtiers, as it had been up until 1579, it became an elaborate and well-rehearsed entertainment.[11] These entertainments frequently included the women cross-dressing, which was often commented on by contemporary chroniclers. Alfonso II assisted in these entertainments by helping to keep the floor cleared and other small favors, however, he was not as personally involved in them as Margherita, who danced in them herself, nor was he as involved with them as he was with the concerto delle donne.[12] One ballet was composed and performed in honor of the marriage, on 22 February 1581, of Laura Peverara, who was very highly esteemed by the Ducal couple.

The programs for the balletto were made handwritten rather than printed, and none survive. Alfonso II kept the entertainments at his court highly secret, and one contemporary wrote that the entertainments were so private that a program couldn't be obtained, not even to be sent to Cardinal Luigi d'Este, the Duke's younger brother. Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Ippolito Fiorini wrote the music for the balletto, and Giovanni Battista Guarini wrote the texts, however, these do not survive. This entertainment probably continued until the end of the Este court in 1597, when the city was taken over by the Papacy.[13]

Among the poets at Margherita's court were Tarquinia Molza[14] and Torquato Tasso, who dedicated their works to her; admitted to St. Anne's Hospital due to a mental disorder, he was able to return to society, thanks to the patronage of the Duchess's brother. A great number of madrigals and anthologies of madrigals were dedicated to the Duchess, either singly or to both herself and her husband. These include a number of madrigals by the maestro di capella of Cardinal Luigi d'Este, Luca Marenzio, including "Lucida perla", to a text by Giovanni Battista Guarini for her wedding; "O verdi selvi" with text by Tasso, as well as a number of madrigals with texts by Tasso dedicated to "her" dwarf or nana, Isabella, such as "Là dove sono i pargoletti Amori".[3] Margherita also took an active part in her husband's leisure time. Together they traveled, hunted and angling. The Duchess also patronized the local theater and kept actors at the court. Margherita's special passion were dogs, which she bred in large numbers. Growing up, the Duchess began to participate in deeds of mercy. So, she founded the Orphanage of Saint Margaret in Ferrara, for the maintenance of which a special tax on the oil trade was introduced in the Duchy of Ferrara.[2][15]

Like his previous two marriages, Alfonso II was childless in his union with Margherita. Contemporaries associated the Duke's inability to produce heirs with a trauma he received in childhood when he fell from a horse. Alfonso II tried with all his might to avoid the annexation of the Duchy of Ferrara, a fief of the Papal States. For this, he even participated in a crusade against the Ottoman Empire. But after the death of Alfonso II on 27 October 1597, Pope Clement VIII did not recognize Cesare d'Este as Alfonso II's heir. On 28 January 1598 the Duchy of Ferrara was officially incorporated into the Papal States and the Ducal court moved to Modena.[2] However, most of the movable property of the Ducal Palace of Ferrara and the adjacent garden remained in the ownership of the House of Este and passed to Margherita, now Dowager Duchess.[15]

Margherita's late husband in his will ordered to pay her the amount 200,000 ducats at a time and an annuity of 4,000 ducats annually. On 20 December 1597, the Dowager Duchess left Ferrara and returned to Mantua. On her way back she was accompanied by a retinue sent by her brother, already ruling Duke of Mantua and Montferrat. At the court of Vincenzo, she bore the title of "Most Serene Lady of Ferrara" (Serenissima Signora di Ferrara). Here, the Dowager Duchess was able to display her political talents. So, in June 1601, her brother appointed her Regent of the Duchy of Montferrat, before going to war with the Ottoman Empire in Hungary. During this time, acting on behalf of her brother, she began secret negotiations for the marriage of her nephew Francesco Gonzaga, Hereditary Prince of Mantua and Princess Margaret of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy; the marriage was concluded in 1608. At the end of 1601, Margarita returned to Mantua. From June to October 1602, she again acted as Regent of Montferrat.[2]

The Dowager Duchess continued to do charity work in Mantua. In 1599, on the outskirts of Borre, she founded a convent for tertiary Franciscan women. In 1602 she helped the Theatines to settle down. In 1603, for another group of tertiary Franciscan women on the outskirts of Pradella, Margaret decided to found a new monastery, assigning for it a maintenance of 25,000 ducats; she commissioned the prefect of the ducal factories, Antonio Maria Viani, to build a larger and more worthy religious building than the already existing one. The final building was the Church of Sant'Orsola,[16] whose construction was finally completed in 1608. On 21 October 1608, the Dowager Duchess settled in this monastery, but without taking monastic vows; she founded her court here, parallel to her brother's in the Ducal Palace. Under her, the Church of Sant'Orsola became a place where princesses from the House of Gonzaga and girls from local aristocratic families received a good education. She also continued to patronize women artists,[17] including the artist and nun Lucrina Fetti.[18] Margherita also collected a large collection of paintings, which included works by Antonio Maria Viani, Ludovico Carracci, Parmigianino, Francesco Francia, Domenico Fetti and many other painters.[2][19]

In the last years of her life, Margherita devoted more time to prayer, but continuing to kept close attention to the political situation of the Duchy of Mantua. On 9 February 1612 her brother Duke Vincenzo died, and was succeeded by his oldest son Francesco IV Gonzaga, who reigned only ten months, dying of smallpox on 22 December 1612, just a few weeks after the death of his only son, 17-months-old Ludovico, who also died from smallpox. Margherita became in the Regent of the Duchies of Mantua and Montferrat until the arrival of her other nephew, Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga, who gave up his ecclesiastical titles in order to become the new Duke of Mantua. Following the banishment of Margaret of Savoy, the new Duke entrusted to his aunt Margherita the care of Francesco IV's only surviving child, 3-years-old Maria Gonzaga, rightful heiress of the Duchy of Montferrat.

Margherita Barbara Gonzaga died in Mantua on 8 January 1618 aged 53 and was buried in the Church of Sant'Orsola, founded by her.[2] In memory of the Dowager-Duchess of Ferrara, an epitaph was published with verses of poets who knew her during her lifetime.[20]