Fulco I d’Este (c. 1070 – 15 December 1128)According t
C. Frison: ''Folco.'' In: ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''
he possibly still lived in 1134 was the ancestor of the Italian line of the House of Este.

Life

Fulco was a son of Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan and Garsende of Maine, the daughter of

Herbert I, Count of Maine Herbert I (died 13 April 1035), called Wakedog (from French ''Eveille-chien'', Latinized as ''Evigilans Canis''), was the count of Maine from 1017 until his death. He had a turbulent career with an early victory that may have contributed to his la ...

. After his father's death in 1097, Fulco inherited the family's Italian possessions, which lay mainly in

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, around

Mantua Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...

Padua Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

and

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, while his older half brother

Welf Welf is a Germanic first name that may refer to: *Welf (father of Judith), 9th century Frankish count, father-in-law of Louis the Pious *Welf I, d. bef. 876, count of Alpgau and Linzgau *Welf II, Count of Swabia, died 1030, supposed descendant of W ...

inherited the lands north of the Alps. However, Welf did not accept this division, and unsuccessfully attempted to take these lands from Fulco after their father's death in 1097. The powerful Bavarian line of the family, the

Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rivalr ...

, did not renounce these lands until the time of

Henry the Lion Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most powerful German p ...

in 1154. In 1070 Fulco's brother

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

was invited to become

Count of Maine This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine. The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain. Dukes of Maine (''duces Cenomannici'') * Charivius ( fl. 723) – appears as ''dux'' in a docu ...

, taking over the lands of their maternal grandfather, which had been under Norman or Angevin control since 1051, but had broken free. Fulco's family took their name from the town of Este in Veneto. Fulco made the family's first connections to the nobility of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' 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 stream ...

, which the Este came to rule a century later.

Family

Fulco had six children: * Azzo IV d'Este (died before 1145) * Bonifacio I d’Este (died 1163) * Fulco II d'Este (died before 1172) * Alberto (died after 1184) * Obizzo I d’Este (died December 25, 1193), grandfather of Azzo VI of Este * Beatrice (1075-1110) (possibly married in 1108 Alfonso VI of León and Castile).

References

External links

Foundations for Medieval Genealogy: ''Modena, Ferrara. Ch. 1: Marchesi d'Este''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulco 01 Of Este 1128 deaths Fulco 1 11th-century Italian nobility 12th-century Italian nobility Year of birth unknown