Born in Revere, In 1665 Ferdinand Charles received the imperial investiture on the Duchy of Mantua with the ceremony of Coronation at the Cathedral of St. Peter.

In this context his minister, Count Ercole Antonio Mattioli, might have become the Man in the Iron Mask, being imprisoned in Pinerolo since April 1679 for disclosing this pact to the enemies of France.

She was still in mourning for her husband the Duke de Lesdigueres and resisted Ferdinandos attempts to woo her,having heard his health was bad and not wanting to live in Italy.

[3] His support and hope for marriage lost he instead married Suzanne Henriette de Lorraine in pursuit of an heir and a dynastic alliance with another reigning ducal house under French influence.

In 1701, when the anti-French coalition forces conquered Mantua, he fled to Casale, leaving his consort Anna Isabella Gonzaga behind as regent during his absence.

[5] Placed under the Imperial ban in 1701 by Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, this was confirmed by the Diet of Regensburg, 30 June 1708, and all his possessions were confiscated.