Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena

Ercole III Rinaldo d'Este (november 22, 1727 - october 14, 1803) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1780 to 1796. He was a member of the House of Este.

Biography

He was born in Modena, the son of Duke Francesco III and Charlotte Aglae, daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans. In 1741 he married Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina, by which he annexed the Duchy of Massa and Carrara to the Este territories.

Generally appreciated by his subjects (he sometimes spoke in Modenese dialect with them), and continued the reform begun by his father. He built the two bridges at Rubiera and St. Ambrogio at Modena on the Via Emilia, and built new roads connecting to the neighbouring states. In 1785 he founded the Atesine Academy of Fine Arts: during his reign arts and culture flourished, and among his protegées were Lazzaro Spallanzani, Giambattista Venturi, Girolamo Tiraboschi, Lodovico Ricci and others.

The French invasion forced him to flee to Venice on May 7, 1796, carrying with him a conspicuous personal asset. Later French soldiers captured him at Venice, robbing 200,000 "zecchini" from his house. After this episode he moved to Treviso, where he died in 1803. The peaces of Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) and Lunéville had assigned him territories in Breisgau in exchange of the lost Duchy, but he never took possession of them.

His only legitimate daughter Maria Beatrice Ricciarda married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Their son Francesco IV regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1814.

Ancestry

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1= 1. Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena
2= 2. Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena
3= 3. Charlotte Aglaé of Orléans
4= 4. Rinaldo III d'Este, Duke of Modena
5= 5. Duchess Charlotte Felicitas of Brunswick-Lüneburg
6= 6. Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
7= 7. Françoise-Marie de Bourbon
8= 8. Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena
9= 9. Lucrezia Barberini
10= 10. John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
11= 11. Benedicta-Henrietta of Simmern
12= 12. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans
13= 13. Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess Palatine
14= 14. Louis XIV of France
15= 15. Françoise-Athénaïs, Marchioness of Montespan
16= 16. Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena
17= 17. Isabella of Savoy
18= 18. Taddeo Barberini, Prince of Palestrina
19= 19. Anna Colonna
20= 20. George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
21= 21. Anne Eleonore of Hesse-Darmstadt
22= 22. Edward, Count Palatine of Simmern
23= 23. Anna Gonzaga
24= 24. Louis XIII of France
25= 25. Anne of Austria
26= 26. Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine
27= 27. Charlotte of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
28= 28. Louis XIII of France (= 24)
29= 29. Anne of Austria (= 25)
30= 30. Gabriel de Rochechouart, Duke of Mortemart
31= 31. Diane de Grandseigne