Guidobaldo da Montefeltro

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro ( born January 17, 1472 Gubbio, † April 11, 1508 ) was the son of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and since 1482 his successor.

The young Duke of Urbino married Elisabetta Gonzaga in 1489 ( 1471-1526 ), daughter of Federico I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. Elisabetta Gonzaga, a rarely formed for that time, self-confident, generous and virtuous woman, endowed the court of the Duke of Urbino, the special appeal, and thanks to her influence succeeded Guidobaldo, the splendor of a princely court of the Renaissance after the death of his father maintain. The Duke and Duchess proved to be prudent patrons, so that the court of Urbino gained a good reputation among writers, musicians, painters, philosophers or diplomats. Finally, Elisabetta was 1490 sister in law and friend of the major Renaissance Princess Isabella d' Este.

Guidobaldo da Montefeltro was in 1502 expelled and dispossessed of Cesare Borgia from his duchy. After the death of Cesare's father, Pope Alexander VI. , In 1503 and the subsequent fall of the Borgia soon Guidobaldo da Montefeltro got his duchy and his personal possessions back.

The marriage of Guidobaldo and Elisabetta remained childless because of the impotence of the Duke. Therefore, Guidobaldo 1504 adopted Francesco Maria della Rovere, the son of his sister Giovanna da Montefeltro and certain this favorite nephew of Pope Julius II as his successor. 1508 took over the family della Rovere, the rule in the Duchy of Urbino. Francesco Maria II della Rovere, the last Duke of Urbino, in 1625 gave the duchy to the Papal States.

Baldassare Castiglione began his famous Il Libro del Courtier, the book by Hofmann, writing as a member of the court of Guidobaldo and Elisabetta.