- Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara
Alfonso II d'Este (
November 22 ,1533 -october 27 1597 ) wasduke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the house ofEste .Biography
He was the elder son of
Ercole II d'Este andRenée de France , the daughter ofLouis XII of France andAnne of Brittany .As a young man, he fought in the service of
Henry II of France , fighting against theHabsburgs . Soon after his accession to the throne, he was forced byPope Pius IV to send back his mother to France, due to herCalvinist creed.In 1583 he allied with Emperor
Maximilian II in the war against the Turks inHungary .Ancestors
Marriages
He married three times:
*OnJuly 3 ,1558 , Alfonso married his first wifeLucrezia di Cosimo de' Medici , a daughter ofCosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany andEleonora di Toledo . She died three years afterwards, and poisoning is suspected.
*OnDecember 5 ,1565 , Alfonso married his second wifeBarbara of Austria (April 30 ,1539 -September 19 ,1572 ), eighth daughter ofFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor andAnna of Bohemia and Hungary .
*OnFebruary 24 ,1579 , Alfonso married his third wife Margherita Gonzaga (May 27 ,1564 -January 6 ,1618 ). She was the eldest daughter ofWilliam I, Duke of Mantua andEleonora 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 cousinCesare d'Este , member of acadet 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 thePapal States byPope 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 ofTorquato 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 theCastello 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
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