Sack of Mantua: Siege, Succession, and Catastrophe in Habsburg Italy

The Sack of Mantua: Siege, Succession, and Catastrophe in Habsburg Italy In December 1627, a dying duke arranged one last marriage and extinguished a dynasty in the same breath. Within weeks, the courts of Paris, Madrid, and Vienna were maneuvering over the corpse of the House of Gonzaga, and within three years, two of the most celebrated cities in Italy lay in ruins.The Sack of Mantua is the stor...