Renaissance Architectures of Power: Ercole I and the Modern City

The long history of the House of Este traces its roots back to the year 1000. Its members, favoring at times the Ghibelline faction and at others the Guelph, skillfully navigated the political landscape by aligning themselves with either the Imperial cause or the Papacy, depending on the circumstances. The early Estensi, under Azzo VII, succeeded in 1240 (with Venetian intervention) in fully seizing power in Ferrara, maintaining control until 1308, when they voluntarily ceded dominion to the Venetian Republic. This was followed by the control of the city and its territory by the Angevins under King Robert of Anjou of Naples. Popular resentment against the new regime, fueled by the abuses of royal officials and Catalan men-at-arms, sparked a popular uprising. In 1317, this allowed three members of the d’Este family to enter the city and take possession. After obtaining the vicariate from the Popes in 1332, the Estensi expanded their sphere of influence in the region with the subsequent conquests of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The power of the house was definitively established under Marquis Niccolò III (1383–1441). He was succeeded by his natural sons Leonello (1407–1450) and Borso (1413–1471). In 1452, Borso obtained the title of Duke of Modena and Reggio Emilia from Emperor Frederick III of Habsburg; he received similar recognition for Ferrara only in April 1471 (on Easter Day) from Pope Paul II. Borso’s successor was his brother Ercole (also a natural son of Niccolò III), who was adept at successfully navigating the Italian Wars of his time. He was followed by other dukes until Alfonso II (1533–1597), son of Ercole II. Upon his death, having had no children despite three marriages, a severe dynastic crisis ensued, resulting in the surrender (1598) of the Duchy of Ferrara, which was devolved to the Papal States. Only the duchies of Modena and Reggio Emilia remained. Their last representative, Francesco V of Austria-Este, was forced to abandon these territories in June 1859 due to the outbreak of the Second Italian War of Independence and their subsequent annexation into the United Provinces of Central Italy. Thus ended one of the most important and long-lived Italian houses, renowned as patrons of the Renaissance and famous above all for transforming Ferrara into a cutting-edge cultural center.

A Saga of Blood and Ambition

The history of the Estensi often resembles a family saga—cruel and violent—in which members excluded from power and its connected honors felt sidelined and, in their quest for power, constantly sought external aid to assert their aspirations. Dante Alighieri himself, in the Divine Comedy, places Obizzo II d’Este in a canto of the Inferno, submerged up to his eyes in the boiling blood of the Phlegethon: “…that other, who is fair / is Obizzo of Este, who in truth / was quenched by his stepson up in the world.” This Marquis of Ferrara, who had stained himself with many violent acts during his life, was indeed strangled in his bed by his sons Azzo VIII and Aldobrandino II, who were jealous of their younger brother Francesco, their father’s favorite (January or February 1293).

Similar behavior was exhibited by Francesco d’Este, who, upon the death of Obizzo III (April 1352), felt cheated by the selection of the deceased’s seventeen-year-old son, Aldobrandino III, as Marquis. His reaction was violent, supported in his aims by the Carraresi of Padua and Malatesta Malatesta “Guastafamiglia,” Lord of Rimini; meanwhile, his kinsman Rinaldo (another claimant) likewise stepped forward with the connivance of the Gonzaga of Mantua. At the end of the conflict, Francesco d’Este chose not to return to Ferrara; he returned to Este, where his line would continue for about a century, and sought refuge in Milan, where Archbishop Giovanni Visconti granted him a monthly pension of 500 florins. He definitively turned to the profession of arms, serving Bernabò and Gian Galeazzo Visconti with honor. He linked his sword to the lords of Milan also through his marriages to Taddea da Barbiano and Caterina Visconti. For over thirty years, Francesco served as the “armed branch of the Biscione” (the Visconti serpent), leading Visconti armies against a coalition of enemies that included the Papal States and fearsome foreign mercenary companies. His campaigns saw him facing the English under Edward Despenser in Piedmont and measuring himself against the legendary Sir John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto). His life was a series of alternating fortunes typical of the trade: he was captured both at San Ruffillo in 1361 by Papal forces led by Galeotto Malatesta, Malatesta Ungaro, and Piero Farnese, and at Montichiari in 1373. In both cases, his high lineage always allowed him to regain his freedom (through the payment of a heavy ransom in the first instance; paid by Niccolò III d’Este in the second) and the opportunity to return to battle at the head of Visconti troops. He died in Milan in December 1384 and was honored with solemn funeral rites in Pavia and burial in the Lombard capital at the Church of Sant’Eustorgio.

The Reign of Niccolò III

Succession was not easy for Niccolò III either. The ever-present claims to the lordship by the collateral branch were now personified by Azzo, son of the aforementioned Francesco. The justifications were the usual ones: the young age of the new Marquis (ten years old) and the fact that he was a natural son, albeit legitimized by Pope Boniface IX. After a failed initial poisoning attempt, Azzo allied himself with several Estensi feudatories; he enjoyed the political support of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, with Giovanni da Barbiano as his ally in the enterprise; he was also flanked by the troops of the da Polenta, lords of Ravenna, and those of Cecco II Ordelaffi, lord of Forlì. The support of the Venetians and the recruitment of valiant condottieri allowed the Ferrarese to defeat their opponents in battle, capturing Azzo himself.

During his long reign, Niccolò III was able to overcome grave difficulties both internally and externally. He managed to ensure the survival of his lordship in a very turbulent general political situation caused by the formation and growth of neighboring regional states (Venice, Milan, Florence). The obsession that drove him to seek female conquests is one of the main traits that committed him to collective memory during his lifetime. Three wives—Gigliola da Carrara, Laura Malatesta (known as Parisina), and Rizzarda da Saluzzo—four natural sons (three of whom succeeded him: Leonello, Borso, and Ercole), and twenty-two other children born out of wedlock were the result of his amorous exuberance. It is said that 800 “damsels” were victims of his libertinism, so much so that a popular saying went: “On this side and that of the Po, they are all children of Niccolò.” In marriage, however, he found fewer joys and more troubles than fortunes, especially with his second wife, Parisina, who was caught in flagrant adultery with her stepson Ugo. Both lovers were condemned to beheading after a summary trial. He died in December 1441; there was talk of poison administered to him by Francesco Sforza.

Ercole I and the Modern Capital

New conflicts also arose upon the death of Borso d’Este when his brother Ercole I (1431–1505) was destined for succession. His was a prestigious curriculum: he had known the dust of the battlefield since his youth, campaigning in the Kingdom of Naples, initially for the Angevins against the Aragonese, and later for King Ferrante of Aragon against the militias of John of Anjou. In the service of the Serenissima (Venice), he fought against Federico da Montefeltro in the bloody Battle of Molinella. Leading the first squadron with his cavalry, he saved the Captain General Bartolomeo Colleoni from capture when he was about to be overwhelmed. During the clash, he lost three horses and was wounded by a musket shot to his right ankle while trying to restrain his retreating men.

With his election, the Ferrarese lordship became a pawn in a game among the various Italian states, with Venice supporting Ercole; Milan supporting Alberto (an illegitimate brother of Borso); and Mantua supporting Niccolò, a pleasure-seeking and idle youth. To survive, Ercole resorted to every possible means to rid himself of rivals, having no scruples about using the most underhanded and cruel methods. A prudent, shrewd man and a good commander, the new duke lacked the temperament of a statesman; he was particularly unable to cope with the grave economic situation of his state. Fortune assisted him with family ties that linked him to nearly all Italian courts. In this regard, he was the son-in-law of King Ferrante of Aragon, the father-in-law of the Marquis of Mantua Francesco II Gonzaga, as well as the regent and later Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza (“Il Moro”), and finally, the father-in-law of the eldest son of the Lord of Bologna, Giovanni II Bentivoglio (Annibale). Strengthened by these relationships, he often intervened as a mediator in the numerous conflicts of the time. Proclaiming himself personally neutral, he was able to secure profitable condotte (military contracts) for his sons, who served in different armies, even as adversaries. During his dukedom, Ferrara—thanks in particular to the Addizione Erculea designed with the architect Biagio Rossetti—became the first modern European capital. He married Eleanor of Aragon, who often played a decisive role in his stead during several critical phases of the duchy.

The Conspiracy of the Brothers

A further attempt to replace the legitimate heir occurred with the advent of Alfonso I, son of Ercole. There was a deep hatred between two of the duke’s brothers, Don Giulio and Ippolito, a Cardinal and Archbishop of Esztergom, Primate of Hungary. Mutual insults, retaliations, resentments, and boasts provoked the final drama. One day, Angela Borgia—cousin of Lucrezia, the wife of Duke Alfonso I—declared that she appreciated Don Giulio’s eyes more than the Cardinal’s entire body. Blinded by rage, the prelate ordered his henchmen to slaughter his brother and gouge out his eyes. The opportunity arose: Don Giulio was wounded and suffered severe damage to his sight. There was an attempt at reconciliation, but Don Giulio’s hostility grew over time, involving his brother Don Ferrante (who aspired to the dukedom) in a plot to assassinate both Ippolito and Alfonso. Two attempts were made by the conspirators to kill the Cardinal with poisoned daggers, both failing. The authors of the plot were discovered. Don Ferrante, on his knees, begged his brother the Duke for forgiveness and accused Don Giulio of the conspiracy. The latter, having fled to Mantua, was extradited and put on trial. The two Estensi had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment. They were confined in two small rooms in the Castelvecchio tower—one called the Tower of the Lions and the other of San Michele. Don Ferrante would be released after 34 years in prison; Don Giulio after 53.

At Ercole I’s side, his brother Sigismondo (1433–1507) always served faithfully. Lord of San Martino in Rio and other locations in the areas of Modena and Reggio, he never sought to usurp power, contenting himself with secondary roles. A fundamentally mediocre man, militarily he proved unfit for difficult situations, such as in 1482 when facing the Venetian troops of Roberto da San Severino. His successors of the San Martino branch would govern their fiefs through alternating fortunes until 1752.

Condottieri of the Cadet Branch of Este

While the main branch reigned in Ferrara, a cadet branch descending from Azzo d’Este, based in Este, linked its destiny to the Republic of Venice. Taddeo d’Este, born around 1385, inherited from his father a “vigor in the use of arms” and became one of the most reliable commanders of the Serenissima during its expansion into the Mainland (Terraferma). Married to Maddalena Arcelli, daughter of the condottiero Filippo Arcelli, Taddeo was a protagonist in the conquest of Friuli and Istria between 1414 and 1422, subduing Rovereto and pacifying vital territories for Venice. His career took place primarily in the great wars against the Visconti of Milan: he distinguished himself not so much through offensive actions as through the tenacity he fully revealed in the heroic and successful defense of Brescia in 1438 (where Niccolò Piccinino was repelled) and in the less fortunate defense of Piacenza (November–December 1447), besieged by the militias of Francesco Sforza. Taken prisoner, he was led to Cremona, where he proved useful to the future Duke of Milan in settling the constant disputes arising in the camp of the Ambrosian Republic over the division of loot. He was freed by Sforza, who gifted him weapons and horses. He died the following June under suspicious circumstances, leading to rumors of poisoning by the Venetians, who feared a possible betrayal.

Taddeo’s son, Bertoldo d’Este, took up his father’s mantle and protected the banner of Saint Mark beyond Italian borders. After cutting his teeth in Lombardy defending Orzinuovi from the Sforza in 1453 (resisting thirteen days of bombardment), Bertoldo linked his name to the wars against the Turks. Appointed Captain General in 1463 for the expedition to Morea (Peloponnese), he was given command of a force of 15,000 men. His campaign was marked by the reconstruction—in just two weeks through the tireless labor of his men and the galley slaves of the fleet—of a protective wall across the Isthmus of Corinth. The barrier (the Hexamilion) consisted of 136 towers, was 12 feet high, protected by a double ditch, and was 6 miles long, stretching from the Gulf of Lepanto to the Aegean Sea. His life ended tragically under the walls of Corinth. During a lull in the fighting, oppressed by the suffocating heat, he was struck and killed by a stone just as he had removed his helmet. He died a few days later in Negroponte.