Gaetano I Boncompagni-Ludovisi

Gaetano I Boncompagni Ludovisi (1706–1777) was VII Duke of Sora and the Prince of Piombino, Marquis of Populonia, Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, Lord di Scarlino, Populonia, Vignale, Abbadia del Fango, Suvereto, Buriano, Cerboli e Palmaiolan, and Lord prince of the Tuscan Archipelago including the islands of Elba, Montecristo, Pianosa, Gorgona, Capraia, and Isola del Giglio, from 1745 until 1777. Biography He was the eldest son of Antonio I Boncompagni (1658–1731), VI Duke of Sora and Maria Eleonora I Boncompagni (1686–1745), and inherited the titles of both his parents. A declared supporter of the Spanish claims on Naples, just as his father had been, when Charles of Bourbon reconquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1734 during the War of the Polish Succession, Boncompagni was naturally to emerge as one of the most important characters of the new Kingdom of Naples. When Charles of Bourbon made his official entry into Naples, Boncompagni was designated, together with the prince of Centola and representing the Neapolitan nobility, to present the keys of the city to the new sovereign. In the same year he was appointed Field marshal and Gentleman of the chamber of the King. The following year, he was chosen as first Neapolitan ambassador to the court of Spain. For his diplomatic assignment, to which he had been enticed with the considerable sum of 1,500 ducats a month, Gaetano left Naples on 18 January 1735, arriving at the Spanish court on the following 2 September. Despite the magnificence with which this appointment took place, given the relations of subjection of the Neapolitan politics and diplomacy to that of Madrid, Gaetano's assignment had very little relevance beyond a simple homage from the new King of Naples to his parents in Madrid. King Philip V of Spain awarded him the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1736, and on 20 October of the following year, Gaetano was recalled to his homeland.