Faith in the Family: the Practice of Religion By the Gonzaga

Abstract

The internal correspondence of the Gonzaga of Mantua—about 7, 000 letters exchanged amongst three generations (1418-1484)—affords considerable evidence as to the practice of religion in an aristocratic Italian family. For most of the Gonzaga, faith was a matter of routine observances and charitable gestures. Responsibility for religious concerns was divided: Gonzaga women were expected to pray for relatives and the family as a whole; those Gonzaga men who became ecclesiastics were expected to afford the family access to Church wealth. Only in the event of a family death did the Gonzaga articulate their religious faith. This faith was orthodox, stoic, and humanistic. Concern centered not on the one who had just died, but on the survivors—and the integrity of the family unit.