Alfonsino d'Este (11 November 1560 – 4 September 1578,

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

) was a Ferrarese nobleman,

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

Montecchio Emilia Montecchio Emilia ( Reggiano: or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about west of Reggio Emilia. Montecchio Emilia borders the follow ...

Early life and ancestry

He was the second son of Alfonso d'Este, marquess of Montecchio, from the

Montecchio Montecchio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Terni in the Italian region Umbria, located about 50 km south of Perugia and about 30 km northwest of Terni. Montecchio borders the following municipalities: Avigliano Umbro ...

side-branch of the

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

, and of his first wife, Giulia Della Rovere.

Personal life

Always in ill health, he married his cousin

Marfisa d'Este Marfisa d'Este (c.1554 in Ferrara – 16 October 1608 in Ferrara) was a Ferrarese noblewoman. She was the illegitimate daughter of Francesco d'Este and Maria Folch de Cardona. She and her sister Bradamante (born 1559) were legitimised by bot ...

(illegitimate daughter of Francesco d'Este and five years Alfonsino's senior) on 5 May 1578 - her father had died in February that year and the will had stated Alfonsino would only come into his inheritance if he married a member of the Este family.

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

wrote his "Già il notturno sereno" (poem, book II, from October 1565 to 11 March 1579).Letteratura italiana. Torquato Tasso, le Rime.
/ref> in honour of the wedding. Alfonsino, however, died on 4 September 1578 in Ferrara, just under four months after the wedding, but Marfisa continued to take part in the court festivities despite also being in mourning. On 3 January 1580 she remarried to Alderano Cybo-Malaspina, Duke of Ferentillo, hereditary Prince of Massa and Carrara and had further issue, the House of Cybo.

Early life and ancestry

Personal life

References

Further reading