Francesco I d'Este

Francesco I d'Este (September 6 1610 - October 14 1658) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1644 until his death.

Biography

The eldest son of Alfonso III d'Este, he became Duke of Modena and Reggio after his father's abdication in 1629.

Firstly, he had to face the pestilence of 1630-1631 which killed 70% of Modena's inhabitants. In 1631 he was married to Maria Caterina (1615-1646), daughter of Ranuccio I Farnese in 1631. After the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War, he sided with Spain and invaded the Duchy of Parma. When he travelled to Spain to be paid for his move, he did not receive anything, and could only acquire Correggio by a payment of 230,000 florins.

Later followed the War of Castro, in which Francesco allied with Venice, Parma and Florence against Pope Urban VIII, aiming to reconquer Ferrara. The war ended on March 31 1644 without any gain for the Modenese. As again no help had come from Spain, Francesco allied with France through the intercession of Cardinal Mazarin. When he however failed to conquer Cremona, and as the situation of the Thirty Years' War seemed to be favourable for Spain, the Duke sought for an agreement with the latter; later he returned to France, by marrying his son and heir Alfonso with Laura Martinozzi, Mazarin's niece.

After a successful resistance of a Spanish invasion from their territories in Milan, he fought alongside France and Savoy, conquering Alessandria and Valenza in 1656-1657 with the help of his son. In 1658 he conquered Mortara but, struck by malaria, died in Santhià soon later.

After Maria's death in 1646, he remarried with her sister Vittoria (died 1649). His last marriage was with Lucrezia Barberini (1630-1669), daughter of Taddeo Barberini. He had a total of eleven children, two of them, Alfonso and Rinaldo, were later Dukes of Modena.

Although a skillful military commander, Francesco was however renowned for his good character and religious ideals. He enriched Modena with the construction of the Ducal Palace, the large Teatro della Spelta, the Villa delle Pentetorri, a port on an enlarged Naviglio channel and the restoration of the Cittadella.

Ancestors