E-auction 512-424833 - bfe_775582 - ARDENNES - PRINCIPAUTY OF ARCHES-CHARLEVILLE - CHARLES II OF GONZAGUE Denier tournois, type 3

BULGE - PRINCIPALITY SOVEREIGN OF ARCHES-Charleville - CHARLES II OF GONZAGUE

(1637-1659)

Grand-son of Charles I of Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and builder of Charleville, Charles II was only seven years after the death of his grandfather. His father Charles Gonzaga died in 1631 by leaving a sister Eleanor who married the Emperor Ferdinand III. His mother, Marie de Gonzague, daughter of François II and his father's cousin, who is regent. He married Isabella Clara, daughter of Archduke Leopold of Austria and Claude de Medici, in 1649 he will only have a son, Charles Ferdinand III. He only brief passages in Charleville, often residing in Mantua or Paris. In 1659 he sold his Mazarin duchies of Nevers, Rethel, Mayenne, etc.. and retaining only the sovereign land of Arches with the city of Charleville. He died in 1665.