The emblems of the order consisted of a red silk robe and a golden necklace with a medal on which were figured three drops of blood in a monstrance.
The duke was invested with these insignia by his son, Ferdinando Gonzaga, and with the approbation of Pope Paul V proclaimed grand master of the order, a dignity inherited by his successors in the duchy.
The duke in turn distributed the same insignia to fourteen knights chosen from the highest nobility of Mantua and the neighbouring states. The statutes of the order obliged the members to devote themselves to the defence of the Catholic religion, the Holy See and their sovereign.
This order lasted only a century. It disappeared when the last of its dukes, Ferdinand Charles, having died childless, the Emperor Joseph I in 1708 merged the duchy into his hereditary estates.
The House of Gonzaga is an Italian princely family that ruled Mantua in Lombardy, northern Italy from 1328 to 1708. They also ruled Monferrato in Piedmont and Nevers in France, as well as many other lesser fiefs throughout Europe. The family includes a saint, twelve cardinals and fourteen bishops. Two Gonzaga descendants became empresses of the Holy Roman Empire, and one became queen of Poland.
The counts of Nevers were the rulers of the County of Nevers, in France, The territory became a duchy in the peerage of France in 1539 under the dukes of Nevers.
The Duchy of Mantua was a duchy in Lombardy, northern Italy. Its first duke was Federico II Gonzaga, member of the House of Gonzaga that ruled Mantua since 1328. The following year, the Duchy also acquired the March of Montferrat, thanks to the marriage between Gonzaga and Margaret Paleologa, Marchioness of Montferrat.
Vincenzo Ι Gonzaga was the ruler of the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat from 1587 to 1612.
Margaret of Savoy was the last Habsburg Vicereine of Portugal from 1634 to 1640. In Portuguese she is known as Duquesa de Mântua, being by marriage the Duchess of Mantua and Montferrat. She was also regent of Montferrat during the minority of her daughter from 1612.
Blood of Jesus Christ, or Blood of Christ, was a military order instituted at Mantua by Vincenzo I Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, approved on 25 May 1608 by Pope Paul V. The motto of the order was Domine probasti me, or that Nihil hoc triste recepto. Jean Hermant speaks of the order and observes that it took its name from some drops of the blood of Jesus, said to have been preserved in the cathedral church of Mantua. Their number was restricted to twenty besides the Grand Master; the office whereof was attached to himself and his successors.
Margherita Barbara Gonzaga, was an Italian noblewoman, Duchess consort of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio between 1579 and 1597 by marriage to Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio. She was a significant cultural patron in Ferrara and Modena.
Ferdinand I Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1612 until his death.
Eleonora Gonzaga, was by birth Princess of Mantua, Nevers and Rethel from the Nevers branch of the House of Gonzaga and was Holy Roman Empress, German Queen, Queen consort of Hungary and Bohemia by marriage to Emperor Ferdinand III.
Vincenzo II Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1626 until his death.
Charles Gonzaga was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1627 until his death. He was also CharlesIII Duke of Nevers and Rethel, as well as Prince of Arche and Charleville.
Ercole Gonzaga was an Italian Cardinal.
Charles Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat was the son of Charles of Gonzaga-Nevers of Rethel, Nevers, Mantua, and Montferrat; and Maria Gonzaga. He followed his grandfather Charles I, Duke of Mantua, in 1637 as ruler of these lands, the first ten years under regency of his mother Duchess Maria. On 22 March 1657, Charles II receives the appointment as Imperial Vicar in Italy. Charles sold the Duchies of Nevers and Rethel in 1659 to Cardinal Jules Mazarin, the de facto Regent of France, and they became part of France.
Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga was the only child of Duke Charles II of Mantua and Montferrat, and the last ruler of the Duchy of Mantua of the House of Gonzaga.
Francesco IV Gonzaga, was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat between 9 February and 22 December 1612.
The Duchy of Guastalla was an Italian state which existed between 1621 and 1748. It was bordered by the Duchy of Modena and Reggio and the Po River to the north, on the opposite bank of the Duchy of Mantua.
Isabella Clara of Austria was a Duchess consort of Mantua, Montferrat, Nevers, Mayenne and Rethel by marriage to Charles II, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat.
Margaret Palaeologa, was the ruling Marquise regnant of Montferrat in her own right between 1533 and 1536. She was also Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Federico II, Duke of Mantua. Margaret acted as the regent of the Duchy of Mantua twice during the minority of her sons: for her elder son Francesco III Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua in 1540-1549, and for her younger son Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, between 1550 and 1556.
Isabella Gonzaga, was an Italian aristocrat. She was Lady Consort of San Martino dall'Argine by marriage to Ferrante Gonzaga, Lord of San Martino dall'Argine, and Duchess consort of Mantua and Montferrat by marriage to Vincenzo II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. She served as regent of San Martino dall'Argine during the minority of her son Scipione between 1605 and 1613.
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