stipulated for Eleonora of 130,000 scudi. However, the negotiations quickly ended because of a previous marriage agreement of the Colonnas with the Doria family. Then, negotiations began for the marriage of Eleonora with Victor Amadeus, Prince of Piedmont and heir of the Duchy of Savoy; however, the intended groom expected a large territorial gain as a dowry, which the House of Gonzaga refused. Duke Vincenzo died in 1612, before he could arrange his youngest daughter's marriage. Marriage In July 1621 the widowed Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II sent his Privy Councillor Prince Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg to Mantua, instructing him to negotiate his marriage with Eleonora. After obtaining the dispensation of the Holy See for the Emperor's wedding with not only a relative (ratione consanguinitatis) but also his goddaughter (ratione affinitatis spiritualis ex baptismo contractae), on 21 November the contract was signed, which repeated the provisions made by Ferdinand II's first wife, and on the same day in the Basilica palatina di Santa Barbara at the ducal palace in Mantua the marriage per procura was concluded. The official wedding ceremony took place in Innsbruck on 2 February 1622 and celebrations were quite modest. Ferdinand II and Eleonora, who were accompanied by relatives, were married in the chapel of the imperial palace. As a wedding gift from the groom, the bride received a jewel made of diamonds and pearls worth 30,000 ducats; in addition, 18,000 florins were presented to Eleonora by the Tyrolean subjects of her husband. Two days after the wedding the newlyweds and guests took part in a liturgy at the convent of the Servants of Mary, Religious Sisters of the Servite Third Order in honor of the foundress, sister Anna Juliana Gonzaga, Dowager Archduchess-Countess of Tyrol (another Eleonora's aunt), who died a year before. Two days later, Eleonora's relatives received gifts from the Emperor and left for Mantua, and the next day the Imperial couple went to Vienna. In spite of the great age difference between them, Eleonora and Ferdinand II had a happy marriage. They had no children, but Eleonora was able to develop a close relationship with all her stepchildren, particularly with the youngest one, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm, in whom she formed a taste for art and literature. Like her husband, she was deeply religious and a strong supporter of the Counter-Reformation, being a benefactress of churches and monasteries and taking great interest in matters of