Ferrante d'Este (19 September 1477,

Castel Capuano Castel Capuano is a castle in Naples, southern Italy. It takes its name from the fact that it was at that point in the city walls where the road led out to the city of Capua. The castle is at the southwest end of via dei Tribunali, and until re ...

, Naples – February 1540, Ferrara) was a Ferrarese nobleman and condottiero. He was the son of

Ercole I d'Este Ercole I d'Este KG (English: ''Hercules I''; 26 October 1431 – 25 January 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the House of Este. He was nicknamed ''North Wind'' and ''The Diamond''. Biography Ercole was born i ...

and Eleonora d'Aragona - he was named after his mother's father Ferdinand I of Naples. His five siblings were

Alfonso I d'Este Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the time of the War of the League of Cambrai. Biography He was the son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and Eleanor of Naples and became duke on Ercole's death i ...

, cardinal

Ippolito d'Este Ippolito (I) d'Este ( hu, Estei Hippolit; 20 March 1479 – 3 September 1520) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom. He was a member of the ducal House of Este of Ferrara, and was usually referred to as the C ...

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

, wife of

Francesco II Gonzaga Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 August 1466 – ) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death. Biography Francesco was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga. Francesco had a career as a condottiero act ...

Beatrice d'Este Beatrice d'Este (29 June 1475 – 3 January 1497), was Duchess of Bari and Milan by marriage to Ludovico Sforza (known as "il Moro"). She was one of the most important personalities of the time and, despite her short life, she was a major playe ...

, and Sigismondo d'Este. His two illegitimate half-siblings were Giulio and Lucrezia d'Este.

Life

At Charles VIII's court

He was born in Naples, where his mother had gone into seclusion. He was christened on 7 October 1477 with

Giuliano della Rovere Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or the ...

as his godfather and raised at the Aragonese court in Naples. In 1493 his father invited him to join the court of

Charles VIII of France Charles VIII, called the Affable (french: l'Affable; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13.Paul Murray Kendall, ''Louis XI: The Universal Spider'' (Ne ...

. When Charles invaded Italy, Ferrante decided not to follow the French army to Naples but remained in Rome, spending his regular allowance from his father dissolutely.Sarah Bradford. ''Lucrezia Borgia''. Milano, Mondadori, 2005. Ercole accidentally allowed a letter reproaching Ferrante for his behaviour and ordering him not to lose Charles' favour to get through to the French army. Ferrante obeyed and fought at Charles' side at the battle of Fornovo before returning to Italy in 1497. All the sources of the time agree in describing him as a beautiful young man of good intelligence, and he was even compared to

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

Return to Ferrara

In 1498 he gained a

condotta ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europ ...

from the

Venetian Republic The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

for the war in Pisa. Ferrante, Marco da Martinengo, Gurlino Tombesi and Filippo Albanese defended Pisa against the Florentine army. At the war's end in spring 1499 he returned to Ferrara and was dismissed by Venice. In 1499 he and his brother Alfonso went to Milan to meet Charles VIII's successor Louis XII of France after his conquest of

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

. With his huge debts to the French court, Ferrante was unable to gain Louis' favour. In 1502 the duke of Ferrara ordered him to take possession of

Cento The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tur ...

and

Pieve In the Middle Ages, a pieve (, ; la, plebe, link=no; plural ''pievi'') was a rural church with a baptistery, upon which other churches without baptisteries depended. The Italian word ''pieve'' is descended from Latin ''plebs'' which, after t ...

, where

pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

had transferred to 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 ...

. The Este brothers argued over a musician named don Rainaldo. He was in the service of

Giulio d'Este Giulio d'Este (13 July 1478 – 24 March 1561) was the illegitimate son of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. He is known for the conflicts he had with his half brother, Ippolito d'Este, which culminated in a failed conspiracy. Biography In t ...

, Ercole I's illegitimate son, but cardinal Ippolito d'Este wanted him for his own chapel. At the end of 1504 Ippolito came to Ferrara during his father's illness and carried off Rainaldo, locking him in the Rocca del Gesso, a fortress belonging to Giovanni Boiardo, count of

Scandiano Scandiano ( Reggiano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, in the northeast part of the country of Italy, near the city of Reggio nell'Emilia and the Secchia river. It had a population of 25,663 as of 31 December 2016. History The c ...

. In May 1505 Giulio discovered where Rainaldo was and sent Ferrante with armed men to snatch him back. Ippolito and Alfonso complained at this to the duke and got Ferrante exiled to

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

and Giulio to

Brescello Brescello (; in the local dialect, in the Reggio Emilia dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Reggio Emilia. ...

. Lucrezia,

and her husband

all managed to convince Alfonso to pardon his brothers.

Conspiracy

In 1506 Ferrante, his half-brother Giulio and other nobles opposed to Ippolito and Alfonso conspired to assassinate him and put Ferrante in his place. However, its planning was poor and their assassins failed to kill Alfonso at night with their poisoned daggers as they had hoped. Ippolito's spies brought the plan to light and told Alfonso. He set up an inquest and Giulio, Ferrante and three other men were found guilty and condemned to death. Giulio fled to

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 ...

but Francesco Gonzaga handed him over to Alfonso. Ferrante was led to the ducal castello a couple of months before the trial. Giulio and Ferrante were both pardoned but stripped of their lands (which were given to Alfonso's favourites) and imprisoned in the torre dei Leoni. Ferrante spent the rest of his life in prison, dying aged 63, after 34 years' imprisonment and with no visits from any family members. Giulio was released by Alfonso II d'Este aged 80, after 53 years' imprisonment.

References

Bibliography

*Sarah Bradford, ''Lucrezia Borgia'', Milano, Mondadori, 2005. *Sergio Mantovani, ''"Ad honore del signore vostro patre et satisfactione nostra". Ferrante d'Este condottiero di Venezia'', Ferrara-Modena, 2005. * {{Authority control Ferrante 1477 births 1540 deaths 15th-century condottieri 16th-century condottieri 16th-century Neapolitan people