6 Grossi - Ferdinando

Ferdinando Gonzaga inherited Montferrat through the male Gonzaga line while simultaneously holding the title Duke of Mantua, a dual tenure that kept the small marquisate perpetually entangled in the broader Gonzaga inheritance disputes that would eventually ignite the War of the Mantuan Succession in 1628 — two years after his death. His reign over Montferrat was administratively thin, and the coinage reflects a territory minting largely out of obligation rather than economic vitality. Billon issues of this type circulated in a region squeezed between French and Spanish imperial interests, both of whom had treaty claims over Montferrat's ultimate disposition.