General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Count Of Lucca
Oberto I (d. Oct. 15, 975), marquis of eastern Liguria and count of Luni, powerful feudal lord of 10th-century Italy under King Berengar II and the Holy Roman emperor Otto I. His descendants, the Obertenghi, founded several famous Italian feudal clans.
Oberto was of a family that apparently arrived in Italy in the 9th century with Charlemagne, perhaps from Bavaria. Oberto acquired Genoa and Luni (east of Genoa) in 951, when Berengar seized Liguria and gave the eastern section to Oberto. Nine years later Oberto, dissatisfied with Berengar's rule, went to Germany with the bishop of Como and the archbishop of Milan to ask Otto to intervene in Italy. After Otto's conquest and coronation as Holy Roman emperor (962), he made Oberto count palatine, second only to himself in Italy. Four great families, the Este, Malaspina, Pallavicini, and Massa Parodi, are believed to have descended from Oberto's sons. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97]
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HOUSE OF ESTE, princely family of Lombard origin that played a great part in the history of medieval and Renaissance Italy. It first came to the front in the wars between the Guelfs and Ghibellines during the 13th century. As leaders of the Guelfs, Estensi princes received at different times Ferrara, Modena, Reggio, and other fiefs and territories. Members of the family ruled in Ferrara from the 13th through 16th century and in Modena and Reggio from the later Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century.
Origins.
The Estensi were a branch of the great 10th-century dynasty of the Obertenghi, which held power and wealth in Lunigiana, Genoa, and Milan and which also gave rise to the feudal houses of the Malaspina, the Pallavicini, and the margraves of Massa and Parodi. Subsequently, after various vicissitudes, the members of the Obertenghi dynasty removed to the lands of the Venetians, where they had estates at Este, Monselice, Rovigo, and Friuli. The Estensi took their name from the township and castle of Este, 17 miles (27 kilometres) southwest of Padua, and the true founder of the family was the margrave Alberto Azzo II (died 1097). From his son Welf IV, duke of Bavaria, there began a related branch that gave origin to the dukes of Bavaria, Brunswick, and Lüneburg, as well as the electors of Hanover. Another son, Ugo, tried without success to establish in France, while a third son, Folco I (died c. 1136), became second in line in the House of Este. Neither he nor his successor, Obizzo I (died 1193), however, achieved any great distinction, beyond the offices and titles that fell naturally to the upper feudal families; but it was during the lifetime of Obizzo I that the Estensi first acquired political importance in Ferrara, through the marriage of his son (Azzo V, who predeceased him) to the heiress of one of the two great and rival families of Ferrara. Obizzo was succeeded by his grandson, Azzo VI, who acquired considerable authority in the city, though his premature death in 1212 left the family temporarily weakened. Not until 1240 did a descendant, Azzo VII, return to power in the city, in alliance with the Guelf league formed by Pope Gregory IX. This marked the true beginning of Este rule in Ferrara.
Lords of Ferrara.
In 1264 Azzo's heir, Obizzo II (1264-93), was created perpetual lord by the people of Ferrara under the pressure of Guelf strength. The Pope, lawful lord of the Ferrarese territory, at first did not oppose this action but afterward began to contest the Estensi government. Obizzo II's power was growing, however, and he had himself chosen lord of Modena in 1288 and of Reggio in 1289. In the 14th century the house of Este went through difficult, stormy periods, not only because of its controversies with the papacy but also because of domestic dissensions, sometimes very hazardous. The house succeeded, nevertheless, in strengthening its position, and, under Nicolò II (reigned 1361-88), called the Lame, there was built the famous Este Ca