Alfonso II d'Este

Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October 1597) was Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the House of Este.

Alfonso II d'Este
Alfonso II d'Este by Girolamo da Carpi
Duke of Ferrara
Reign	3 October 1559 – 27 October 1597
Predecessor	Ercole II
Successor	Lost to the Papal States (1597)
Duke of Modena and Reggio
Reign	3 October 1559 – 27 October 1597
Predecessor	Ercole II
Successor	Cesare
Duke of Chartres
Tenure	12 June 1574 – 27 October 1597
Predecessor	Renée
Successor	Gaston
Born	22 November 1533
Died	27 October 1597(1597-10-27) (aged 63) Ferrara
Spouse	Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici ​ ​ (m. 1558; died 1561)​ Barbara of Austria ​ ​ (m. 1565; died 1572)​ Margherita Gonzaga ​ ​ (m. 1579)​
House	Este
Father	Ercole II d'Este
Mother	Renée of France
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Biography

Alfonso was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany and was the fifth and last Duke of Ferrara.^[1]

As a young man, Alfonso fought in the service of Henry II of France against the Habsburgs. Soon after his accession, he was forced by Pope Pius IV to send his mother back to France due to her increasingly Calvinist beliefs.^[2] The 1570 Ferrara earthquake occurred during his reign. In 1583, he allied with Emperor Rudolf II in the war against the Turks in Hungary.

Throughout the 1550s, Alfonso had an interest in Castrato singing voices. Given his childless marriages, this additional fact has prompted some historians to speculate that the Duke was homosexual.^{[citation needed]}

Marriages

Alfonso married three times:

• On 3 July 1558, he married his first wife Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici (14 February 1545 – 21 April 1561), a daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Eleonora di Toledo. She died two years afterwards, at just 16. Poisoning at the hand of the Duke has been suspected; however, pulmonary tuberculosis is the more widely accepted cause of death.^[3]
• On 5 December 1565, he married his second wife Barbara of Austria (30 April 1539 – 19 September 1572), eighth daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary.
• On 24 February 1579, he married his third wife Margherita Gonzaga (27 May 1564 – 6 January 1618). She was the eldest daughter of William I, Duke of Mantua and Eleonora of Austria. Margherita was the niece of his second wife Barbara.

He had no known children, legitimate or otherwise.

• 
  Lucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici
• 
  Barbara of Austria
• 
  Margherita Gonzaga

Succession

The legitimate line of the House of Este 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 as Duke of Este, 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. As a result of Alfonso's death Cesare d'Este and his family were "obliged to leave the city" and the power of the government was there after turned over to the cardinal legate.^[4]

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. Besides being fluent in Italian he was also proficient in Latin and French.^[5] 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.

Ancestors

Ancestors of Alfonso II d'Este

16. Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara 8. Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 17. Ricciarda of Saluzzo 4. Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 18. Ferdinand I of Naples 9. Eleanor of Naples 19. Isabella of Clermont 2. Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 20. Jofré Llançol i Escrivà 10. Pope Alexander VI 21. Isabel de Borja 5. Lucrezia Borgia 22. Giacommo Cattanei 11. Vannozza dei Cattanei 23. Mencia Pinctoris 1. Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara 24. Louis I de Valois, Duke of Orléans 12. Charles I de Valois, Duke of Orléans 25. Valentina Visconti 6. Louis XII of France 26. Adolph I, Duke of Cleves 13. Marie of Cleves 27. Mary of Burgundy 3. Renée of France 28. Richard of Brittany 14. Francis II, Duke of Brittany 29. Marguerite d'Orléans 7. Anne, Duchess of Brittany 30. Gaston IV, Count of Foix 15. Margaret of Foix 31. Eleanor of Navarre

In literature

Alfonso II is the duke upon whom Robert Browning based his poem My Last Duchess, and is a major character in the Maggie O'Farrell novel The Marriage Portrait.^[6]

References

1. Este, Alfonso, II, D' (1533 - 1597). (2006). In J. Hale (Ed.), Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian renaissance , the. London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson. Retrieved from https://learn.sfcc.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/thir/este_alfonso_ii_d_1533_1597/0 Archived 2020-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
2. Bartlett, Kenneth (2019). The Renaissance in Italy: A History. Hacektt Publishing Company. p. 165.
3. Murphy, Caroline P. Murder of a Medici Princess. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. p. 70. ISBN 978-0-19-531439-7
4. Hale, J.R; Thames; Hudson. "learn.sfcc.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/thir/este_alfonso_ii_d_1533_1597/0". Credo Reference. SFCC. Archived from the original on 1 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
5. Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian renaissance , the (J. Hale ed.). London, United Kingdom: Thames & Hudson.
6. published by Tinder, see The Times Saturday Review September 3 2022, page 19, review by Claire Allfree

External links

• Illustrious people (in English)

Alfonso II d'Este House of Este Born: 22 November 1533 Died: 27 October 1597
Regnal titles
Preceded by Ercole II	Duke of Modena and Reggio 1559–1597	Succeeded by Cesare
Preceded by Ercole II	Duke of Ferrara 1559–1597	Succeeded by The Papal States
Preceded by Renée de France	Duke of Chartres 1574–1597	Succeeded by 1 - Crown lands of France 2 - Gaston, Duke of Orléans, (1626)