Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara

Alfonso II d'Este (November 22, 1533 - october 27 1597) was duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the house of Este.

Biography

He was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany.

As a young man, he fought in the service of Henry II of France, fighting against the Habsburgs. Soon after his accession to the throne, he was forced by Pope Pius IV to send back his mother to France, due to her Calvinist creed.

In 1583 he allied with Emperor Maximilian II in the war against the Turks in Hungary.

Ancestors

Marriages

He married three times:
*On July 3, 1558, Alfonso married his first wife Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici, a daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. She died three years afterwards, and poisoning is suspected.
*On December 5, 1565, Alfonso married his second wife Barbara of Austria (April 30, 1539 - September 19, 1572), eighth daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
*On February 24, 1579, Alfonso married his third wife Margherita Gonzaga (May 27, 1564 - January 6, 1618). She was the eldest daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua and Eleonora of Austria. Eleonora was an older sister of his second wife Barbara.

He had no known children, legitimate or otherwise.

uccession

The legitimate line ended in 1597 with him. Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor recognized as heir his cousin Cesare d'Este, member of a cadet branch, who continued to rule in the imperial duchies and carried on the family name. The succession, however, was recognized only by the Emperor but not by the Popes. In 1598 Ferrara was therefore incorporated into the Papal States by Pope Clement VIII, on grounds of doubtful legitimacy.

Patron of the arts and sciences

Alfonso II raised the glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of Torquato Tasso, Giovanni Battista Guarini, and Cesare Cremonini -- favouring the arts and sciences, as the princes of his house had always done. Luzzasco Luzzaschi served as his court organist.

In addition, he was the sponsor of the "Concerto delle donne", a type of group which was to be copied all over Italy. He also restored the Castello Estense, damaged by an earthquake in 1570.

His expenses, however, went at damage of the public treasure.

Trivia

Some specialists claim that Alfonso II is the duke upon whom Robert Browning based his poem "My Last Duchess".

External links

* [http://www.wga.hu/database/glossary/illustri/este_a2.html Illustrious people] en icon