[3] Starting from the 12th century they became a dominant family in Mantua, growing in wealth when their allies, the Bonacolsi, defeated the traditional familiar enemy, the Casalodi.

In 1328, however, Ludovico I Gonzaga overthrew the Bonacolsi lordship over the city with the help of the Scaliger, and entered the Ghibelline party as capitano del popolo ("people's captain") of Mantua and imperial vicar of Emperor Louis IV.

Francesco I (1382–1407) abandoned the traditional alliance with the Visconti of Milan, in order to align their rising power with the Republic of Venice.

Through maternal ancestors, the Gonzagas inherited also the Imperial Byzantine ancestry of the Paleologus, an earlier ruling family of Montferrat.

This began when Gianfrancesco Gonzaga funded a school led by Vittorino da Feltre where music and art were core subjects along with mathematics, history, Greek and Latin, religion, and philosophy.

Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, used her influence to financially support native composers at court (such as Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara) which contributed to popularizing the frottola.

[5] Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua, himself a gifted composer, founded the Basilica palatina di Santa Barbara (construction began 1562) which became a cultural center for sacred art and music.

He also brought several notable composers to the Mantua court, including Alessandro Striggio, Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, Giaches de Wert, Benedetto Pallavicino and Claudio Monteverdi.