General Notes

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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 theHoly Roman emperor Otto I. His descendants, the Obertenghi, foundedseveral famous Italian feudal clans. Oberto was of a family thatapparently arrived in Italy in the 9th century with Charlemagne, perhapsfrom Bavaria. Oberto acquired Genoa and Luni (east of Genoa) in 951, whenBerengar seized Liguria and gave the eastern section to Oberto. Nineyears later Oberto, dissatisfied with Berengar's rule, went to Germanywith the bishop of Como and the archbishop of Milan to ask Otto tointervene in Italy. After Otto's conquest and coronation as Holy Romanemperor (962), he made Oberto count palatine, second only to himself inItaly. Four great families, the Este, Malaspina, Pallavicini, and MassaParodi, are believed to have descended from Oberto's sons. [EncyclopaediaBritannica CD '97]

HOUSE OF ESTE, princely family of Lombard origin that played a great partin the history of medieval and Renaissance Italy. It first came to thefront in the wars between the Guelfs and Ghibellines during the 13thcentury. As leaders of the Guelfs, Estensi princes received at differenttimes Ferrara, Modena, Reggio, and other fiefs and territories. Membersof the family ruled in Ferrara from the 13th through 16th century and inModena and Reggio from the later Middle Ages to the end of the 18thcentury. Origins. The Estensi were a branch of the great 10th-centurydynasty of the Obertenghi, which held power and wealth in Lunigiana,Genoa, and Milan and which also gave rise to the feudal houses of theMalaspina, the Pallavicini, and the margraves of Massa and Parodi.Subsequently, after various vicissitudes, the members of the Obertenghidynasty removed to the lands of the Venetians, where they had estates atEste, Monselice, Rovigo, and Friuli. The Estensi took their name from thetownship and castle of Este, 17 miles (27 kilometres) southwest of Padua,and the true founder of the family was the margrave Alberto Azzo II (died1097). From his son Welf IV, duke of Bavaria, there began a relatedbranch that gave origin to the dukes of Bavaria, Brunswick, and Lüneburg,as well as the electors of Hanover. Another son, Ugo, tried withoutsuccess 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 hissuccessor, Obizzo I (died 1193), however, achieved any great distinction,beyond the offices and titles that fell naturally to the upper feudalfamilies; but it was during the lifetime of Obizzo I that the Estensifirst acquired political importance in Ferrara, through the marriage ofhis son (Azzo V, who predeceased him) to the heiress of one of the twogreat and rival families of Ferrara. Obizzo was succeeded by hisgrandson, 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 markedthe true beginning of Este rule in Ferrara. Lords of Ferrara. In 1264Azzo's heir, Obizzo II (1264-93), was created perpetual lord by thepeople of Ferrara under the pressure of Guelf strength. The Pope, lawfullord of the Ferrarese territory, at first did not oppose this action butafterward began to contest the Estensi government. Obizzo II's power wasgrowing, however, and he had himself chosen lord of Modena in 1288 and ofReggio in 1289. In the 14th century the house of Este went throughdifficult, stormy periods, not only because of its controversies with thepapacy but also because of domestic dissensions, sometimes veryhazardous. The house succeeded, nevertheless, in strengthening itsposition, and, under Nicolò II (reigned 1361-88), called the Lame, therewas built the famous Este Castle, the work of the architect Bartolino daNovara, which became a symbol of the power of the city of Ferrara and asure defense against external dangers. To the brother and successor ofNicolò II, Alberto V (reigned 1388-93), is due the erection of theUniversity of Ferrara, destined for lasting fame; it was obtained by PopeBoniface IX as a concession in 1391. The reign of Nicolò III (1393-1441),son of Alberto, marked the strengthening of Estensi domination in Ferraraand the introduction of Estensi influence generally in Italian politics.After having defeated an attempt by the Paduans to achieve hegemony inFerrara, the Estensi duke became intermediary in the political andmilitary contests in the Italian states
and extended his dominions. Personally, Nicolò was known for hissensuality; a Ferrarese saying runs, 'On both sides of the River Po
they all are Nicolò's sons.' He had his son Ugo and his young secondwife, Parisina Malatesta, beheaded because they were found guilty ofadultery together. But he devoted himself to the exterior manifestationsof a religious faith--going on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre and toVienna's Saint Anthony and playing host to the ecumenical council in 1438that represented a fruitless attempt to bring together again the Westernand Eastern churches. (This council was afterward transferred toFlorence.) He even seems to have come close to obtaining the successionof an Estensi heir to the Milanese states, but he died suddenly, perhapspoisoned, on Dec. 26, 1441. Whereas Nicolò III raised the Estensi stateto a high position in Italian politics in spite of its territorial andfinancial limits, his bastard son and chosen successor, Leonello (reigned1441-50), gave Ferrara considerable distinction in the fields of art andculture. Leonello had been educated by the humanist Guarino Veronese,called to Ferrara by his father, and the period of his reign was one inwhich Ferrara represented a lively centre of culture and humanism, filledwith painters (Pisanello, Jacopo Bellini, Rogier van der Weyden, AndreaMantegna), architects (Leon Battista Alberti), and scholars (centring onGuarino Veronese). Dukes of Ferrara, Modena, and Reggio. Leonello'sbrother and successor, Borso (reigned 1450-71), notwithstanding somemilitary failures, not only maintained his state and increased itsaesthetic and cultural prestige but also received from the Holy Romanemperor Frederick III the title of Duke of Modena and Reggio (1452) andfrom Pope Paul II the title of Duke of Ferrara (1471). Ercole I. The longrule of Leonello's and Borso's half-brother Ercole I (1471-1505) markedone of the most important periods for the history of the house of Esteand of Ferrara. He succeeded in obtaining considerable political supportwith his marriage to Leonora, the daughter of the king of Naples. Thesewere troubled times, however. Ercole had to defeat the attempt of anephew, Nicolò, son of Leonello, to usurp the throne; and then he had toface the hostile coalition of Venice and Pope Sixtus IV, which broughtwar nearly to the walls of the city of Ferrara (1482-84). The subsequentPeace of Bagnolo, however, though not entirely satisfactory, did freeFerrara from immediate dangers. Ercole's crucial problem became one ofconsolidating his own political position by means of marriages that wouldbind him to the principal Italian powers: of his three daughters,Lucrezia was married to Annibale Bentivoglio (of Bologna), Isabella toFrancesco Gonzaga (of Mantua), and Beatrice to Ludovico Sforza (ofMilan). Ercole's eldest son, Alfonso, was married first to Anna Sforza(of Milan) and then to the famous Lucrezia Borgia, the daughter of PopeAlexander VI. In spite of these difficult affairs of state, Ercole wasable to continue his dynasty's patronage of the arts, taking the poetMatteo Boiardo as his minister, extending his favour to the poet LudovicoAriosto, espousing the theatre and musical arts, and enlarging andbeautifying Ferrara to such an extent as to make it one of the firstcities of Europe. Alfonso I. Ercole's son Alfonso I (reigned 1505-34),rough and rude when he was young, proved wise and sure of himself once hehad taken the reins of government. First he foiled a plot of astepbrother, Giulio, and another brother, Ferrante, against him andsentenced them to perpetual imprisonment. Then his attention wascompletely attracted by the war against Venice (1509), in which his skillin mechanics and artillery design was proved. He was victorious in thenaval battle of Polesella and won back the Polesine of Rovigo (which hadbeen lost by Ercole I). At the same time, however, papal ambitions ofterritorial expansion became threatening. By consistent adherence to theFrench interest in Italy, Alfonso came into collision with Pope Julius IIand was deprived of Modena (1510) and Reggio (1512) and wasexcommunicated. The Medici popes, Leo X and Clement VII, were bothdetermined on the destruction of the Estensi, but the first-mentionedpope was frustrated by death, the second by political weakness, andAlfonso was able to recover Reggio in 1523 and Modena in 1527. He died in1534. His succession was assured not only by his legitimate children butalso by the issue of his lover Laura Eustochia Dianti, from whom derivedthe future dukes of Modena and Reggio. Ercole II and Alfonso II Duringthe reign of Alfonso's son and successor Ercole II (1534-59), themilitary events proved less interesting (though the wars of 1557-58 weredifficult) than the personal ones. Ercole married Renée, daughter of KingLouis XII of France, and in Ferrara she came to embrace the Lutheranreligion, becoming its ardent defender and establishing at her courtameeting place for the most famous heretics and liberal thinkers of theday. Ercole, who was the pope's vicar in Ferrara, tried restraining her,even to the point of temporary imprisonment, but to no avail. Next torule was his first-born, Alfonso II (reigned 1559-97), the fifth and lastduke of Ferrara. He also tried, vainly, to be elected king of Poland andto organize a crusade against the Turks. More important for the dynasty,however; was the fact that, though Alfonso II had three marriages, he hadno children, and Pope Pius V in 1567 expressly forbade havingillegitimate children rule in ecclesiastical lands. Alfonso was sodisappointed and discouraged that he let the conditions of his statedecay. At his death he bequeathed the duchy to his cousin Cesare, butPope Clement VII refused to recognize the settlement, declaring Cesareillegitimate; in 1598 direct papal rule was established in Ferrara. Themain branch of the Este family had come to an end. Decline of power.Cesare kept Modena and Reggio, but with him the Estensi ceased to play soimportant a part in Italian politics, and the court was culturallyinferior to its brilliant predecessors. Among the several Modenese dukeswho followed in the 17th century, Francesco I (reigned 1629-58), who cameto the throne during the stormy period of the Thirty Years' War, wasperhaps the most important. His people were able to survive the famousplague of 1630. In the wars he was first allied to Spain, then to France,whose alliance he thought would best sustain his claims to Ferrara. Lateron, he attempted reconciliation with Spain, but ironically it was on thefield of battle, fighting the Spaniards, that he died of malaria. He wasa man with enormous aspirations, and, though inclined toward treachery inpolitics, he gave art his patronage, favouring men of letters andcollecting works of art (there is an extraordinary portrait of him byDiego Velázquez and a beautiful bust by Gian Lorenzo Bernini). Among hissuccessors, the one most deserving to be remembered is RinaldoI(1694-1737), whose marriage to Charlotte Felicitas of Brunswick-Lüneburgreunited the long-separated branches of the house of Este. Throughout hisreign he engaged in imperial politics. His son Francesco III (1737-80),known as a libertine, received the governorship of Lombardy from EmpressMaria Theresa of Austria. Ercole III (1780-96), gentle and affable,abandoned Modena in 1796 when the Revolutionary French army invaded it.After the Napoleonic Wars, Duke Francesco IV (1814-46), son of MariaBeatrice d'Este (the only surviving daughter of Ercole III) and ofArchduke Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine, son of Maria Theresa, came backto Modena. He founded the Austro-Este line in Modena, which, however,ended with his son Francesco V (1846-59) when Modena revolted in order tojoin Sardinia-Piedmont and then Italy. Childless, Francesco V selected ashis universal heir Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, whowas murdered at Sarajevo in 1914. Today, the rightful holder of thesurname and heraldic bearings of the Estensi is considered to be ArchdukeRobert, the second-born of Charles I of Austria and Zita ofBourbon-Parma. In 1953 he married the princess Margherita of Savoy-Aosta.

MALASPINA FAMILY, feudal family powerful in northern Italy in the MiddleAges. Descended from Marquis OBERTO I, who was created count palatine bythe Holy Roman emperor Otto I, the family at first controlled Tuscany,eastern Liguria, and the March of Lombardy. Early in the 11th century theEste, Pallavicino, and Massa-Corsica family branches separated from theMalaspina. The situation of Malaspina lands, in the mountainous regionsof the Apennines, controlling the great highways connecting the Ligurianand Tuscan ports with north Italian cities, made the Malaspina powerfuland helped them resist the encroachments of neighbouring cities. Repeatedpartition of their territory, first between two lines, the Spino Seccoand the Spino Fiorito, then among many smaller subdivisions, graduallyundermined their resistance to the pressure of the great communes. Inthe14th century, however, they remained a leading feudal house underFranceschino Malaspina, host to Dante in 1306 during his exile, and underSpinetta Malaspina (d. 1352), who succeeded in extending the familyterritories. But in the 15th and 16th centuries, most of the Malaspinadominions passed under Genoese and Florentine control. One branch of thefamily prospered, Spinetta Malaspina's great-grandnephew Antonio Alberigoacquiring Massa (1421) and Carrara (1428), east of Genoa, his dominionslater becoming the principate (1568) and the duchy (1633) of Massa.[Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97]