Born in Mantua, he was the son of Vincenzo I and Eleonora de' Medici.

A few years after his elder brother, Duke Francesco IV, died in 1612 without male heirs, he renounced the ecclesiastical career and succeeded his brother in both the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of Montferrat.

In 1616 he secretly married Camilla Faà di Bruno, whom he divorced in the same year.

Their son Francesco Giacinto Teodoro Giovanni Gonzaga, although accepted at court, was not made Ferdinando's heir.

[2] On 16 February 1617 Ferdinando married Caterina de' Medici (1593–1629), the daughter of Ferdinand I, Grand Duke of Tuscany.