The decline of the duchy of Mantova begins with Vincenzo II who ,being weak, vicious and deeply in debt, was reduced to the sorest straits both economically and with his family.
Being childless and unable to annul his marriage, at his death the duchy passed to Carlo Rethel Gonzaga Nevers, a French prince belonging to a cadet branch of the Mantuan family.
The presence of a foreign prince as the lord of an Italian duchy small but very important, both geographically and politically, induced the Empire to send an army of 36.000 lansquenets who besieged Mantova and spread the plague.
When imperials left, Mantova had lost all its riches and the splendour of once was only a faint memory.
From this time onwards, the prestige of Mantova would never return again, notwithstanding the attempts of Carlo I and Carlo II. Under the latter, Palazzo Canossa(1669), Palazzo Valenti, Palazzo Sordi (1660) were built. At his death, he was succeeded by his son Ferdinando, whose portrait is still existing in Palazzo D'Arco. Unapt in politics, he was keen only on entertainments and performances, neglecting to modernize his duchy. He allied with the French at the time of the Spanish War of Succession that was a disaster for France.Fearing the punishment of the Empire, the duke left the fief in 1707 and escaped to Venezia with a great deal of paintings, furniture and jewels.At his death (1708) he was declared dethroned for t he reason and his family lost all rights on the duchy of Mantova that was annexed to Austria.
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