Margherita Malatesta

Margherita Malatesta of the House of Malatesta (1370 – 28 February 1399) was the wife of Francesco I Gonzaga of the powerful House of Gonzaga, the ruler of Mantua in the north of the Italian peninsula, whom she married in 1393.[1] She acted as regent during the absence of her spouse in 1398-1399.[2]

Margherita Malatesta
Consort of the ruler of Mantua
Coat of arms
Reign1393-1399
PredecessorAgnese Visconti
SuccessorPaola Malatesta
Born1370 (1370)
Died(1399-02-28)February 28, 1399
Mantua
BuriedChurch of San Francesco (Mantua)
Noble familyHouse of Malatesta
Spouse(s)Francesco I Gonzaga
IssueGianfrancesco
Susanna
FatherGaleotto I Malatesta
MotherElisabetta da Varano

Life

She and her spouse were already related through the marriage of his sister, Elisabetta, to her brother, Carlo.[1][3] Francesco's first wife Agnese Visconti had been executed for infidelity in 1391.[4] Margherita and Francesco I were the parents of Gianfrancesco I the first Marquis of Mantua. Gianfrancesco married Paola Malatesta,[1] daughter of Malatesta IV, in 1409.

The network of related women Margherita Malatesta, Alda d'Este, and Elisabetta and Margherita Gonzaga are considered to have tied together the courts of Mantua, Ferrara, Rimini and Pesaro.[5] The Gonzaga family struck medals of Margherita.[6] Margherita brought the hereditary disease of rickets to the Gonzagas, which manifested itself periodically in the lords of Mantua until the 16th century. She died on February 28, 1399, and was interred in Church of San Francesco in Mantua, in the mausoleum of the Gonzagas.

Issue

Francesco and Margherita had two children:

  • Gianfrancesco (1395–1444), his successor and the marquis of Mantua[1][3]
  • Susanna, who died young
  • Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, tomb effigy of Margherita Malatesta
    Mantua, Palazzo Ducale, tomb effigy of Margherita Malatesta

References
  1. Robert Tavernor (1998). On Alberti and the Art of Building. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 125.
  2. Lazzarini Is. "Gonzaga, Francesco". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani — Volume 57 (2001) (in Italian). www.treccani.it. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  3. Giovanni Paccagnini; Maria Figlioli Paccagnini (1986). Palazzo Ducale of Mantua. Mantua: Electa.
  4. Christopher Kleinhenz (2004). Routledge Revivals: Medieval Italy. Vol. 2 (1 ed.). Routledge.
  5. Isabella Lazzarini (2015). Communication and Conflict: Italian Diplomacy in the Early Renaissance, 1350-1520. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 142.
  6. H. R. Storer (1888). "The Medals of St. Charles Borromeo". American Journal of Numismatics. 23 (2): 35.

Bibliography
  • Adelaide, Murgia (1972). I Gonzaga. Milan: Mondadori.
  • Giancarlo, Malacarne (2010). Gonzaga, Genealogie di una dinastia. Modena.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Litta Biumi, Pompeo. Famiglie celebri italiane (in Italian). Milano: Luciano Basadonna Editore.
  • Giuseppe Amadei; Ercolano Marani, eds. (1980). I ritratti gonzagheschi della collezione di Ambras. Mantua.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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