GONZAGA FAMILY. — The alleged Germanic descent of the GONZAGA and their supposed kinship with the Ottonians are entirely legendary. As to their origin, it is still debated whether they were soldiers of Countess Matilda of Canossa or, from very ancient times, minor vassals of the monastery of St. Benedict in Polirone (the feudal bond with this monastery still existed toward the end of the fourteenth century). In 1574 he was general secretary of the Order. Among his works, much sought after in his time, are to be noted: *Ragionamenti sopra li sette peccati mortali* (Venice 1566), *Parafrasi* (Venice 1566), *Parafrasi* (Venice 1566); in verse (ibid. 1566) and in prose, with meditations and affections (ibid. 1572), commentaries on the *Seven Words of the Blessed Virgin* and on the *Magnificat* (Naples 1569, Parma 1585).
Lorenzo Di Fonzo