His lover was:
Matilda di Padova.
1. Lucrezia Barbiano, daughter of Niccolo Barbiano.
2. Orsolina Macaruffi
His lover was:
Orsolina Macaruffi (d.1362)
Natural offspring:
a. Beatrice d'Este married Jacques di Savoie, Prince de Piedmont
His lover was:
Orsolina Macaruffi (d.1362)
Natural offspring:
a. Beatrice d'Este married Jacques di Savoie, Prince de Piedmont
b. Aldobrandino d'Este (1325-1381), Bishop of Modena and Ferrara
c. Azzo d'Este, Podesta di Modena
d. Obizzo d'Este, Vicar of Ferrara
e. Giacoma d'Este married Zambrosino Beccadelli
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| Obizzo III of Ferrara @Wikipedia |
(1294-1352)
Marchese di Ferrara
1317-1352
Marchese di Modena
1336-1352
Signore di Parma
1344-1346.
Son of Aldobrandino II d'Este & Alda Rangoni.
Husband of:
1. Giacoma de' Peppoli (d.1341), mar 1317, daughter of Romeo de' Peppoli
2. Lippa Ariosti, mar 1347
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| Lippa Ariosti @Wikipedia |
Lippa Ariosti (1305-1347)
Daughter of: Jacopo Ariosto, Patrician of Bologna.
" . . . A beautiful Bolognese woman, Lippa di Jacopo Ariosti, had become passionately attached to the Marchese Obizzo in his exile, and on his restoration to Ferrara she followed him and became his mistress. La bella Lippa da Bologna, as Messer Lodovico was to call her, bore her princely lover a goodly series of sons, three of whom---Aldobrandino, Niccolo II and Alberto---ascended the throne of the Estensi as vicars of the Church in Ferrara and vicars of the Empire in Modena. Obizzo married her on her deathbed, and she was buried with great state as lawful Marchesana in the church of San Francesco, the Pantheon of the reigning House. Lippa's two brothers Bonifazio and Francesco, and her cousin Niccolo Ariosti, followed her to Ferrara. The two former rose to high honours in the Court, and were among the principal advisers of Obizzo's successors; Niccolo Ariosti founded the third Ferrarese branch of his family, from which the great poet was to be born." (Dukes and Poets in Ferrara: 16)
"On the 27th day of November (1347) died the noble and magnificent lady, Madonna Lippa degli Ariosti of Bologna, wife of the magnificent and illustrious Lord of Ferrara, Marchese Obizzo, whom he espoused in the last infirmity of her death, with the knowledge and licence of the Holy Father, Messer Pope Clement VI. By the which magnificent lady the aforesaid Marchese Obizzo generated eleven children, to wit, seven male and four female. She was buried at the Place of the Friars Minor at Ferrara with most great and magnificent honour'. . . ." (Dukes and Poets in Ferrara: 16)
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| Albert V of Ferrara @Wikipedia |
(1347-1393)
Signore di Modena e Ferrara
1388-1393.
Son of: Obizzo III d'Este, Marchese di Ferrara & Lippa Ariosto.
Husband of: Giulia de Roberti.
His lover was:
Isotta Albaresani.
Natural offspring:
a. Niccolo III d'Este.
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| Niccolo III of Ferrara |
(1383-1441)
Marchese di Ferrara
1393-1441
Son of: Alberto I d'Este, Signore di Modena & Isotta Albaresani.
Husband of:
1. Gagliola da Carrara (1382-1416), mar 1397
2. Parisina Malatesta (1404-1425), mar 1418
3.Ricciarda di Saluzzo (d.1474), mar 1429
"Ercole d'Este was born on 26 October 1431, the son of Marchese Nicolo III, then aged 48, and of his young bride whom he had married in January of that year. Rizzarda, daughter of Tomaso II di Saluzzo (1356-1416), from a small state near the source of the river Po, in Piedmont, near the French border. Not a great deal is known about Rizzarda. Litta does not provide her date of birth, but contents himself with the observation that 'she had no difficulty marrying a many of mature years who had recently decapitated his wife and his natural son, accused of incestuous relations'. She would have been half the age of her husband. The Diario Ferrarese describes her inaccurately as the daughter of Alovixe, late marquess of Saluzzo, probably a muddled reference to her brother Lodovico (1406-1475), but the marriage was almost certainly arranged through her half brother Valeriano (1374-1443), who acted as regent for Lodovico. Rizzarda's father, Tomaso III, was the author of a chivalric romance, Le Chevalier Errant, which he wrote whilst imprisoned in France. . . Rizzarda's marriage coincided with the granting by King Charles VII of FRance of the use of fleurs de lys in the d'Este coat of arms, and coming from an essentially French background she would not have felt too displaced within the predominantly francophile cultural atmosphere of the Ferrarese court. . . ." (Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d'Este (1471-1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital: 5)
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| Niccolo III of Ferrara |
'Here and there along the Po all are children of Niccolo.'" (Italian Renaissance Resources)
His lovers were:
1) Anna de Roberti (d.1483)
Natural offspring:
a. Bianca Maria d'Este (1440-1506), mar Galeotto Pico, Conte di Concordia
b. Rinaldo d'Este (1436-1503), Abbot of S. Maria della Pomposa & Signore di Ostellato, mar Lucrezia de Montferrato, Signora di Bistagno, Signora del Monasterio, Signora di Cassinasco & Signora di San Giorgio.
" . . . Stella's successor as Niccolo's official mistress was Maria Anna di' Roberti (d.1483). Thought she may have given her four children, they never took precedence over his offspring by Stella. Still, because she also held the status of official mistress, Maria Anna's three daughters were all married off to members of the Italian nobility. Her daughter Bianca Maria (1440-1506) was married to Galeotto Pico, the Lord of Mirandola, in 1468. The other two daughters may have been Maria Anna's but they may also have been another Roberti woman's offspring by Niccolo." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 128)
"Maria Anna outlived Niccolo by forty years, so she must have been very young when their affair commenced, just as Isotta had been when she began her affair with Sigismondo. Upon her death in 1483 she was interred by her illegitimate son Rinaldo with much honor. Rinaldo had been made Abbot of Pomposa but he renounced the post in order to give it to his sons in 1469. Instead he became Lord of Ostellano and in 1472 he married Lucretia, the daughter of Marquis Guglielmo IV of Montefeltro. Maria Anna had, like many other princely mistresses, benefited from her relationship with the ruler of Ferrara, as did her children by him. Though she clearly did not surpass the influence that Stella and her children had wielded, she was publically recognized as Niccolo's official mistress and she and her children benefited from the status of her relationship." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 129)
2) Caterina de' Medici.
Natural offspring:
a. Meliaduse d'Este (1406-1452), Abbot of Pomposa & Ferrara
b. Margherita d'Este, mar Galeotto Roberto Malatesta
c. Margherita d'Este, mar Galasso II Pio
d. Viridis d'Este
e. Orsina d'Este mar Aldobrandino Rangoni
N. Malatesti
Andrea Gualengo
3) Filippa della Tavola.
N. Malatesti
Andrea Gualengo
3) Filippa della Tavola.
Natural offspring:
a. Alberto d'Este, Signore del Polesine di Rovigo (1415-1502)
a. Alberto d'Este, Signore del Polesine di Rovigo (1415-1502)
b. Beatrice d'Este (1427-1497), mar a). Niccolo da Correggio, mar 1448; b) Tristano Sforza (1424-1477)
c. Isotta d'Este (1425-1456) married a) Oddantonio da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (1427-1444), mar 1444; b) Istvan de Frangepan, Conte di Veglia e Modrus, Ban of Croatia (d.1481) mar 1446
d. Gurone d'Este (d.1484) mar N. Sanseverino
Natural Offspring: "...Gurone Maria, son of Camilla della Tavola, served the church with greater seriousness than Meliaduse. He became abbot of Nonantola in 1440, and was later Apostolic Protonotary and accompanied Pope Pius II to the Council of Mantua in 1459. His benefices precluded his provision from the Camera Ducale, but when he died in 1484 he left three children, including Nicolo Maria, who succeeded him as abbot of Nonantola and became bishop of Adria in 1487...." (Herculean Ferrara: 42)
"Two of Niccolo's other illegitimate sons, Alberto (1415-1502) and Gurone Maria (died 1484), were the children of a woman of an even lesser status: Niccolo's maid, Camilla della Tavola (sometimes referred to as Filippa). Camilla's children were prevented from being knighted by the Emperor Sigismund, along with Meliaduse, and neither were they legitimized by the emperor as Leonello adn Meliaduse were. The lowly station of Alberto and Gurone's mother most likely explains their less than preferential treatment." (Ladies, Concubines, and Pseudo-wives: Mistresses in the Courtly Culture of the Emilia-Romagna of Renaissance Italy: 113-114)
" . . . Beatrice (1427-before 1497)---who was widely admired and so well-known for her skill at the dance that she was dubbed 'the Queen of Feasts'---married Lord Niccolo of Correggio in 1448. After her first husband's death, she was then wed to the illegitimately-born Tristano Sforza. Camilla, also in 1448, married Lord Rodolfo Varano of Camerino. Niccolo's daughter Orsina, whose mother was the wife of a farrier, Messer Antonio Rampino, became the third wife of a gentleman of the bedchamber, Andrea Gualengo, in 1469. Orsina's mother was clearly of a status lower than those of many of his other daughter's mothers, since her marriage was far less prestigious but still impressive for the illegitimate daughter of a farrier's wife. Niccolo had two daughters both named Margherite by unknown mothers, one of whom was married to Sigismondo Pandolfo's older brother, Galeotto Roberto Malatesta, in 1429, and who entered a convent upon her husband's death. Clearly Margherite's mother must have been of a noble status in order for her to have been able to make such a brilliant match." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 128)
4) Stella de' Tolomei dell' Assassino.
Natural offspring:
a. Ugo d'Este (1405-1425)
b. Leonello d'Este, Marchese di Ferrara (1407-1450) married Margherita Gonzaga, Maria d'Aragona di Napoli
c. Borso d'Este (1413-1471)
" . . . Two years after the death of Gigliola, he married, in 1418, Laura Malatesta, called Parisina, even though by that time he had had a relationship for years with Stella dei Tolomei, known as Stella dell'Assassino or Stella dell'Assassino who gave him the children that would write the most tragic and most beautiful pages in the history of the Estense household: Ugo, Leonello and Borso...." (Il Castello di Ferrara)
" . . . Two years after the death of Gigliola, he married, in 1418, Laura Malatesta, called Parisina, even though by that time he had had a relationship for years with Stella dei Tolomei, known as Stella dell'Assassino or Stella dell'Assassino who gave him the children that would write the most tragic and most beautiful pages in the history of the Estense household: Ugo, Leonello and Borso...." (Il Castello di Ferrara)
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| Ercole I of Ferrara |
Son of: Niccolo III d'Este & Ricciarda di Saluzzo.
Husband of: Eleonora d'Aragona, Principessa di Napoli, mar 1473, daughter of Ferdinando I di Napoli.
Husband of: Eleonora d'Aragona, Principessa di Napoli, mar 1473, daughter of Ferdinando I di Napoli.
Ercole's physical appearance & personality.
"In person, Ercole was somewhat above the middle height, and powerfully made. Few men, even in the prime of life, could endure greater bodily fatigue. He as passionately addicted to all manly and athletic amusements, and was one of the most expert sportsmen of the age. Judging from his portrait painted by Dosso Dossi, though not handsome he had a remarkably intelligent cast of countenance. His brow was broad and open, indicative of great intellect; his complexion clear, his eyes dark and well placed in his head, his nose aquiline, and his features generally well formed. At the same time there was an appearance of effeminacy in his face, arising probably from the natural absence of beard and moustache, which, especially in his advancing ears, was far from pleasing. In manners he was amiable and condescending; and he possessed to a remarkable degree the faculty of gaining the confidence and affection of all who surrounded him." (Lucrezia Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara: A Biography, Vol 2: 40)
"Tall, handsome, swarthy, with an expression of calm self-command, Ercole had such a chilly personality that he was called the North Wind and the Diamond. Only his son-in-law, Lodovico Sforza, equaled him in his combination of contradictory qualities and psychological mysteries. As a youth growing up at the Neapolitan court Ercole won a reputation as a valiant and gallant soldier, but in his maturiy he as a timid and incompetent general. No ruler of his time was as sincerely religious as Ercole. But he could be as cruel, treacherous and cynically opportunistic as a Borgia. Intelligent, crafty, cautious, unscrupulous, Ercole could be blind to political disasters within his own duchy and shortsighted about foreign politics. He was a good husband and a reasonably good father to his six legitimate and two illegitimate children. During his reign Ferrara was nearly destroyed in a disastrous war, but it also reached its peak as a center of Renaissance culture." (Princes of the Renaissance)
Ercole's personal & family background.
"Ercole d'Este was born on 26 October 1431, the son of Marchese Niccolo III, then aged 48, and of his young bride whom he had married in January of that year, Rizzarda, daughter of Marchese Tomaso II di Saluzzo (1356-1416), from a small state near the source of the river Po, in Piedmont, near the French border. Not a great deal is known about Rizzarda. Litta does not provide her ate of birth, but contents himself with the observation that 'she had no difficulty in marrying a man of mature years who had recently decapitated his wife and his natural son, accused of incestuous relations. She would have been half the age of her husband. The Diario Ferrarese describes her inaccurately as the daughter of Alvixe, late marquess of Saluzzo, probably a muddled reference to her brother Lodovico (1406-75), but the marraige was almost certainly arranged through her half-brother Valeriano (1374-1443), who acted as regent for Lodovico, Rizzarda's father. Tomaso III was the author of a chivalric romance, Le Chevalier Errant, which he wrote whilst imprisoned in France. . . Rizzarda's marriage coincided with the granting by King Charles VII of France of the use of the fleurs de lys in the d'Este coat of arms, and coming from an essentially French background she would not have felt too displaced within the predominantly francophile cultural atmosphere of the Ferrarese court. . . ." (: 5-7)
His lovers were:
1) Isabella Arduino.
His lovers were:
1) Isabella Arduino.
Lady-in-waiting to his wife
Natural offspring:
a. Giulio d'Este (1478-1561)
" . . . Ercole also had an illegitimate son, Giulio (1478-1561), by one of his wife's Neapolitan ladies-in-waiting, Isabella Arduino. . . ." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 134)
a. Giulio d'Este (1478-1561)
Personal & family background.
"This Isabella, the daughter of Niccolo d'Arduino, married a certain Jacomo Mainente of Ferrara. Three months after their marriage this child Giulio was born, whom the Duke acknowledged and brought up as his son." (Dukes & Poets in Ferrara: 151)
"Leonora was not present at these festivities, and did not witness the betrothal of her baby boy. She had gone to Naples in May, to visit her father, and there in September, 1477, she gave birth to a second son, Ferdinando or Ferrando, as his father always calls him in his letters. The Cardinal of San Pietro in Vincoli, Giuliano della Rovere, who was then at Naples, stood sponsor. In her absence, Ercole had relations with one of the ladies of her household, Isabella Arduino, who in March 1478, bore him a son, Giulio. This adulterous intrigue stands quite alone in Ercole's life,and we have no trace, not even the faintest suggestion, of any subsequent act of infidelity towards his wife. Leonora returned to Ferrara in November, leaving Ferrando and Beatrice at her father's Court in charge of her sister-in-law, the Duchess of Calabria. In March, 1479, the third son of Etcole and Leonora---afterwards to be famous as Ippolit---was born. The names of these three---Ferrando, Ippolito, and Giulio---were destined to be linked horribly together in after years, and with that of Alfonso." (Dukes & Poets in Ferrara: 151)
"Arriving in Ferrara at the young age of twenty-three, she accepted Lucrezia, an illegitimate daughter of Ercole, as her own, and later bore the indignity of her husband's infidelity with one of her ladies, Isabella Arduino, a liaison that resulted in the birth of Giulio d'Este in 1481. . . . " (Herculean Ferra: Ercole d'Este (1471-1505) and the Invention of a Ducal Capital:16)
" . . . Ercole also had an illegitimate son, Giulio (1478-1561), by one of his wife's Neapolitan ladies-in-waiting, Isabella Arduino. . . ." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 134)
"Isabella was accompanied by Giulio, the handsomest of the Este brothers, and Ercole's illegitimate son, born in 1478 from a relationship with one of his wife's (married) ladies, Isabella Arduino. . . ." (Lucrezia Borgia: Life, Love and Death in Renaissance Italy)
2) Lodovica Condulmero.
Natural offspring:
a. Lucrezia d'Este (c1477-?) mar Annibale II Bentivoglio
"Duke Ercole I was determined and successful in at last instituting primogeniture as the official Este form of inheritance. Even so, the Este, like a majority of other Renaissance princes, continued to keep mistresses who gave birth to bastards. Despite producing an abundance of legitimate children with his wife, the Neapolitan princess Eleonora d'Aragona. Ercole also had two illegitimate offspring. He had a daughter, Lucrezia, with his mistress, Lodovica Coldomieri. Lucrezia wa betrothed at the age of six or seven to Annibale Bentivoglio, the ruler of Bologna, and they were married in 1487. Lodovica must have been of a noble status in order for her daughter to have made such a prestigious match. . . ." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 133)
" . . . He also legitimated two children, Lucrezia, born before his marriage, the daughter of Ludovica Condolmiei. . . ." (Boiardo & Ross: 607)
"Duke Ercole I was determined and successful in at last instituting primogeniture as the official Este form of inheritance. Even so, the Este, like a majority of other Renaissance princes, continued to keep mistresses who gave birth to bastards. Despite producing an abundance of legitimate children with his wife, the Neapolitan princess Eleonora d'Aragona. Ercole also had two illegitimate offspring. He had a daughter, Lucrezia, with his mistress, Lodovica Coldomieri. Lucrezia wa betrothed at the age of six or seven to Annibale Bentivoglio, the ruler of Bologna, and they were married in 1487. Lodovica must have been of a noble status in order for her daughter to have made such a prestigious match. . . ." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 133)
" . . . He also legitimated two children, Lucrezia, born before his marriage, the daughter of Ludovica Condolmiei. . . ." (Boiardo & Ross: 607)
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| Alfonso I of Ferrara @Wikipedia |
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| Anna Maria Sforza @Wikipedia |
1. Anna Maria Sforza (1476-1497), mar 1491
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| Lucrezia Borgia Duchess of Ferrara @Wikipedia |
2. Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519), mar 1502
"In February 1502, Lucrezia Borgia's wedding cavalcade arrived in Ferrara. As the twice-married, illegitimate daughter of the licentious Pope Alexander VI, and sister of the vicious Cesare Borgia, she was under intense scrutiny. Lucrezia managed to distance herself from these powerful but suspect relatives to become the revered duchess of Ferrara, ruling alongside her husband, Alfonso I d'Este, from 1505 until her death in 1519 at the age of 39. She proved to be an excellent wife and a good mother to their five children. Lucrezia not only possessed the necessary social graces to charm both her Ferrarese citizens and foreign dignitaries, she was devout, extremely intelligent, and had a natural talent for administration. This last quality was essential, since condottiere princes like Alfonso were often away for long periods." (Wives, Widows, Mistresses, and Early Nuns in Early Modern Italy)
3. Laura Dianti (1480-1573), mar 1519
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| Laura Dianti @Wikipedia |
"Ercole's son and heir, Alfonso I (1476-1534) was married twice, to Anna Sforza (1473-1497( and then to Lucrezia Borgia (1476-1534), but he, like so many of his ancestors lived a libertine lifestyle, frequenting the prostitutes of Ferrara. He had a preference for women who could be bedded with little preliminary effort. At the age of twenty-one, so the story goes, Alfonso strode out naked onto the streets of Ferrara in full daylight with a sword in his hand. He may have done so in order to win a bet or just as an act of bravado. In fact, Alfonso, as well as his brothers Ferrante and Sigismondo, all suffered from the sexually transmitted scourge of that time: syphilis." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 134)
His lover was:
Laura Dianti (1480-1573).
Lover in 1519
His lover was:
Laura Dianti (1480-1573).
Lover in 1519
Natural offspring:
a. Alfonso d'Este (1527-1587), Marchese di Montecchio, mar a.1. Giulia della Rovere & a.2. Violante Signa
b. Alfonsino d'Este (1530-1547), Marchese di Castelnuovo.
"Years after the death of his second wife, in 1526, Alfonso I took the daughter of a Ferrarese artisan, Laura, as his official mistress. Bestor theorizes that Alfonso must have granted her use of the name Eustochia during the initiation of their relationship. Later historians, trying to construct a more respectable family origin for Laura, gave her the surname Dianto but she never used this name during Alfonso's or her own lifetime. Laura was well provided by her princely lover. He built her a fine residence at the end of the Via Alberto Lollio, which was dubbed the 'little palace.' Though there is documentary evidence that numerous portraits of Laura were commissioned by Alfonso, few of them survive, and the identities of their sitters are questionable. It has been suggested that Titian's portrait of Laura with an Ethiopian page boy (Portrait of Laura de' Dianti [ca 1523]) in fact depicts the duke's previous wife, Lucrezia. It has also been theorized that another portrait done by Titian, which is now located in the Louvre, showing a young woman at ther toilet attended by a man holding two mirrors (Woman with a Mirror), actually portrays both Laura and Alfonso together, but the execution of the work (ca. 1514) may have long predated the initiation of their relationship. Upon her death Laura was honorably interred in the church of the nuns of St. Augustine on June 28, 1573, accompanied by her lover's legitimate grandsons, Alfonso II and Cardinal Luigi, as well as by her eldest son by the Duke of Ferrara." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 134)
"After Lucrezia's death, Alfonso took a beautiful young Ferrarese woman of the people, Laura Eustochia Dianti, for mistress, whom Faustini calls a 'wench of most lofty spirit,' as indeed she appears in her portrait by Titian, where she is seen wearing a turban, with her left hand resting upon the shoulder of a negro page. Alfonso built for Laura a small palace that still stands in the Borgo degli Angeli; but, in spite of the assertions of Ferrarese historians to the contrary, it is quite certain that he never married her. She bore him two sons, Alfonso and Alfonsino. Although ousted by the Pope from the succession of Ferrara, it was Laura's descendants, and not Lucrezia's, who were destined to sit upon the ducal seat of Modena and Reggio for two centuries, and who gave a Queen of England." (The King of Court Poets: 144)
" . . . In his last years Alfonso may also have married his mistress, Laura Dianti, by whom he had an illegitimate son named Alfonsino." (Contemporaries of Erasmus: 444)
"Years after the death of his second wife, in 1526, Alfonso I took the daughter of a Ferrarese artisan, Laura, as his official mistress. Bestor theorizes that Alfonso must have granted her use of the name Eustochia during the initiation of their relationship. Later historians, trying to construct a more respectable family origin for Laura, gave her the surname Dianto but she never used this name during Alfonso's or her own lifetime. Laura was well provided by her princely lover. He built her a fine residence at the end of the Via Alberto Lollio, which was dubbed the 'little palace.' Though there is documentary evidence that numerous portraits of Laura were commissioned by Alfonso, few of them survive, and the identities of their sitters are questionable. It has been suggested that Titian's portrait of Laura with an Ethiopian page boy (Portrait of Laura de' Dianti [ca 1523]) in fact depicts the duke's previous wife, Lucrezia. It has also been theorized that another portrait done by Titian, which is now located in the Louvre, showing a young woman at ther toilet attended by a man holding two mirrors (Woman with a Mirror), actually portrays both Laura and Alfonso together, but the execution of the work (ca. 1514) may have long predated the initiation of their relationship. Upon her death Laura was honorably interred in the church of the nuns of St. Augustine on June 28, 1573, accompanied by her lover's legitimate grandsons, Alfonso II and Cardinal Luigi, as well as by her eldest son by the Duke of Ferrara." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 134)
"After Lucrezia's death, Alfonso took a beautiful young Ferrarese woman of the people, Laura Eustochia Dianti, for mistress, whom Faustini calls a 'wench of most lofty spirit,' as indeed she appears in her portrait by Titian, where she is seen wearing a turban, with her left hand resting upon the shoulder of a negro page. Alfonso built for Laura a small palace that still stands in the Borgo degli Angeli; but, in spite of the assertions of Ferrarese historians to the contrary, it is quite certain that he never married her. She bore him two sons, Alfonso and Alfonsino. Although ousted by the Pope from the succession of Ferrara, it was Laura's descendants, and not Lucrezia's, who were destined to sit upon the ducal seat of Modena and Reggio for two centuries, and who gave a Queen of England." (The King of Court Poets: 144)
" . . . In his last years Alfonso may also have married his mistress, Laura Dianti, by whom he had an illegitimate son named Alfonsino." (Contemporaries of Erasmus: 444)
Mistress or Legal Wife?.
" . . . He never married again, but a beautiful bourgeoisie, Laura Eustochia Dianti, became his mistress. She bore him two sons, Alfonso and Alfonsino. The duke died October 31, 1534, at the age of fifty-eight. . . . " (Three Books About the Borgias: 362)
"Laura I suspect to be Laura Danti (sic), afterwards Laura Eustochia, first the mistress then the third wife of Alfonso I, Duke of Ferrara. Her marriage has been indisputably proved by Muratori; yet, on the plea that this lady was never lawfully wedded to Alfonso, the Popes robbed the House of Este of Ferrara." (The Orlando Furioso, Vol 8: 508)
" . . . For that one would have to look at Titian's c.1523 portrait of Laura Dianti. Dianti was the mistress of Isabella's brother, Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, and both the duke and his lover used black court servants. . . ." (Black Africans in Renaissance Europe: 154)
"Historians are not agreed as to whether Laura Dianti, whose likeness Titian painted, was the wife of the mistress of Alfonso of Este; yet a record exists which seems to prove that Tomaso and Agostino Mosti, both well known writers at Ferrara, confessed to have been present at the Duke's marriage. In her lifetime Laura was known as 'the most illustrious Signora Laura Eustachio Estense;' and when she died and was buried in Sant' Agostino of Ferrara, Alfonso the Second and Cardinal Luigi of Este accompanied her son Don Alfonso to the funeral. Vasari tells us if was 'a stupendous portrait' that Titian painted of the Signora Laura 'who was afterwards the Duke's wife.'. . . ." (The Life and Times of Titian, Vol. 1: 267)
Natural offspring with Laura Dianti.
"Alfonso and Laura had two illegitimate sons: Alfonsino (1530-1547), the Marquis of Castelnuovo, who only lived to be seventeen, and Alfonso (1527-1587), the Marquis of Montecchio, who made two good marriages into powerful Italian families with Giulia della Rovere and Violante Signa. Duke Alfonso, like Sigismondo with Isotta, supposedly secretly married Laura. Two illustrious Ferrarese writers, Tomaso and Agostino Mosti, both claimed to have been present at the union. Laura and Alfonso's marriage would have legitimized the offspring but Alfonso waited until the last year of his life to make an honest woman of his mistress. Instead of having their children transformed in 'iusti et veri filli' (lawful and true offspring) by marrying Laura earlier in their relationship, Alfonso instead had Cardinal Innocenzo Cybo legitimize them by decree on April 17, 1532. This act though had no weight in respect to the Este succession to the duchy of Ferrara. Even after they were legitimized by their parent's marriage, Alfonso's illegitimately-born sons still suffered from legal deficiencies in relation to the Este inheritance. Most jurists viewed illegitimately-born offspring who were legitimized by marriage as legitimate only by fiction of law prior to that point. While in Roman and canon law they were considered legitimate in relation to legitimacy requirements, the situation was blurred in respect to rules of inheritance and feudal contracts. In his will Alfonso continued to uphold the line of succession through primogeniture but stipulated that if all three of his legitimately-born sons' (Ercole II, Ippolito II, and Francesco) legitimately-born descendants should become extinct, his illegitimately-born sons' descendants should succeed to the dukedom of Ferrara." (Ladies, Concubines and Pseudo-wives: 135)
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Ercole II d'Este of Ferrara |
(1508-1559)
Duke of Ferrara,Modena & Reggio
1534-1559.
Son of: Alfonso I d'Este & Lucrezia Borgia.
Husband of: Renee de France, Duchesse de Chartres, mar 1528.
His lover was:
Diana Trotti.
Natural offspring:
1. Cesare detto Trotti
2. Lucrezia d'Este.
2) Maria di Noyant.
His wife's maid of honour
Wife of
" . . . in 1537 the scandal broke out of his passion for Maria di Noyant, French maid of Renata's and wife of Alfonso Calcagnini Conte di Fusignano." (consandolo)
His wife's maid of honour
Wife of
" . . . in 1537 the scandal broke out of his passion for Maria di Noyant, French maid of Renata's and wife of Alfonso Calcagnini Conte di Fusignano." (consandolo)
Francesco III d'Este
(1698-1780)
Duca di Modena
Husband of:
1. Charlotte Aglae d'Orleans, Mademoiselle de Valois, mar 1720
2. Teresa Castelbarco (d.1768)
3. Maria Renata Elisabeth Katharina, Contessa di Harrach zu Rohrau (1721-1788), mar 1763.
His lover was:
Unnamed de Mouton.
Natural offspring:
1. Francesco Maria, Baron Tesde, Bishop of Reggio
2.Federico Tesde, Conte di San Romano
His lover was:
Unnamed mistress.
Other Este Members.
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| Ugo d'Este of Ferrara @Wikipedia |
(1405-1425)
Daughter of: Andrea Malatesta, Signore di Cesena & Lucrezia Ordelaffi.
Wife of: Niccolo III d'Este, Marchese di Ferrara. mar 1414
"Niccolo ordered Ugo to accompany Parisina on a journey to Ravenna in 1424. A short time after the journey the black death appeared at Ferrara and Niccolo did send his young wife together with Ugo to a villa in Fossaldabero..., the stay endured from late summer till early autumn. In the silent hours at this unobserved occasion a deep and forbidden love affair arose between Ugo and Parisina - the case couldn't stay in secrecy and in May 1425 Niccolo reacted very severe(ly). In a few days he settled the outcome by beheading both, wife and son and also some others, who were guilty in the case. . . Ugo was then 19, Parisina 20 years old. . . . " (Tarot & Its History)
Wife of: Niccolo III d'Este, Marchese di Ferrara. mar 1414
"Niccolo ordered Ugo to accompany Parisina on a journey to Ravenna in 1424. A short time after the journey the black death appeared at Ferrara and Niccolo did send his young wife together with Ugo to a villa in Fossaldabero..., the stay endured from late summer till early autumn. In the silent hours at this unobserved occasion a deep and forbidden love affair arose between Ugo and Parisina - the case couldn't stay in secrecy and in May 1425 Niccolo reacted very severe(ly). In a few days he settled the outcome by beheading both, wife and son and also some others, who were guilty in the case. . . Ugo was then 19, Parisina 20 years old. . . . " (Tarot & Its History)
(1527-1587)
Italian nobleman.
Husband of:
1. Giulia della Rovere, mar 1549
2. Violante Signa, mar 1584.
His lover was:
Unnamed mistress.
(1433-1507)
Italian aristocrat
Signore di San Martino, Campogalliano, Rodeglia, Castellarano & San Cassiano.
Governor of Reggio 1463 Emilia
Governor & Lieutenant in Ferrara
Captain-General of Ferrarese Army.
Son of: Niccolo III d'Este & Ricciarda di Saluzzo.
"Sigismondo d'Este, Ercole's full brother, legitimate son of the same mother, Rizzarda da Saluzzo, heads the list of provigionati in 1476 with a monthly stipend of 2,375 pounds (28,000 pounds per annum). Born in 1433, he was slightly younger than Ercole, but they had grown up together in Naples and remained close. Sigismondo demonstrated particular devotion towards his brother when he was recovering from a leg wound inflicted at the Battle of Molinella in 1467, and Ercole relied on Sigismondo more than anyone excepet his wife, whom incidentally he was deputed to escort from Naples to their wedding in 1473. Sigismondo protected the Duchess and her children in the Castel Vecchio when Nicolo di Leonello led his attempted coup in 1476, and he was Ercole's lieutenant in the Tuscan campaigns of 1479. After the death of the duchess in 1493, Sigismondo was charged with the care of the state in the duke's absence, latterly in conjunction with the duke's heir, Don Alfonso. Sigismondo may not have married, but he had several children. His daughter Bianca married Alberigo da San Severino, from the Kingdom of Naples; Diana married Uguccione, son of Ambrogio Contrari; and his son Ercole married Angela Sforza, a granddaughter of duke Galeazzo Maria. In 1501 Sigismondo was invested by Duke Ercole with territories in the Modenese and Reggiano, and he was created count of S. Martino in Rio, this originating a separate branch of the d'Este family. It was for Sigismondo and his heirs that the most imposing palace in Ferrara after the Palazzo Ducale, the Palazzo de Diamanti, was built." (Herculean Ferrara: 41)
His lover was:
1. Pizzocara.
Natural offspring:
a. Ercole d'Este (d.1517), Marchese di San Martino married Angiola Sforza
"Sigismondo d'Este, Ercole's full brother, legitimate son of the same mother, Rizzarda da Saluzzo, heads the list of provigionati in 1476 with a monthly stipend of 2,375 pounds (28,000 pounds per annum). Born in 1433, he was slightly younger than Ercole, but they had grown up together in Naples and remained close. Sigismondo demonstrated particular devotion towards his brother when he was recovering from a leg wound inflicted at the Battle of Molinella in 1467, and Ercole relied on Sigismondo more than anyone excepet his wife, whom incidentally he was deputed to escort from Naples to their wedding in 1473. Sigismondo protected the Duchess and her children in the Castel Vecchio when Nicolo di Leonello led his attempted coup in 1476, and he was Ercole's lieutenant in the Tuscan campaigns of 1479. After the death of the duchess in 1493, Sigismondo was charged with the care of the state in the duke's absence, latterly in conjunction with the duke's heir, Don Alfonso. Sigismondo may not have married, but he had several children. His daughter Bianca married Alberigo da San Severino, from the Kingdom of Naples; Diana married Uguccione, son of Ambrogio Contrari; and his son Ercole married Angela Sforza, a granddaughter of duke Galeazzo Maria. In 1501 Sigismondo was invested by Duke Ercole with territories in the Modenese and Reggiano, and he was created count of S. Martino in Rio, this originating a separate branch of the d'Este family. It was for Sigismondo and his heirs that the most imposing palace in Ferrara after the Palazzo Ducale, the Palazzo de Diamanti, was built." (Herculean Ferrara: 41)
His lover was:
1. Pizzocara.
Natural offspring:
a. Ercole d'Este (d.1517), Marchese di San Martino married Angiola Sforza
b. Lucrezia d'Este married Alberigo Malaspina, Marchese di Massa
c. Bianca d'Este married Amerigo Sanseverino, Conte di Capaccio
d. Diana d'Este (d.1555) married Uguccione Contrari, Conte di Vignola.
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