A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Gonzaga, Cecilia de
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GONZAGA, CECILIA DE,
An Italian lady of high birth, gave proofs, even when a child, of a remarkable fondness for learning. Her father, John Francis Gonzaga, Lord of Mantua, procured the best masters to instruct her, and at the age of eight she is said to have known Greek. She was religious and charitable as well as learned, gave marriage portions to poor young women, and repaired and beautified convents and churches; in order to do this, she was obliged to use the greatest self-denial in her personal expenses. Her father, for a long time, resisted her desire of taking the veil, but he at length gave a reluctant consent to the irrevocable step which cut her off for ever from the active pursuits of life. She was born about 1422.