Marfisa d'Este (c.1554 in

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 ...

– 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 Bradamante (occasionally spelled Bradamant) is a fictional knight heroine in two epic poems of the Renaissance: ''Orlando Innamorato'' by Matteo Maria Boiardo and ''Orlando Furioso'' by Ludovico Ariosto. Since the poems exerted a wide influence o ...

(born 1559) were legitimised by both

pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII (, , born Ugo Boncompagni; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for commissioning and being the namesake ...

and

Alfonso II d'Este Alfonso II d'Este (22 November 1533 – 27 October 1597) was Duke of Ferrara from 1559 to 1597. He was a member of the House of Este. Biography Alfonso was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of F ...

. She was also notable as a patron of the artsMusei Civici di Arte Antica di Ferrara - Palazzina Marfisa d'Este
/ref> and the protector of

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 ...

. On 5 May 1578 she married her cousin Alfonsino di Montecchio, son of Alfonso di Montecchio, who died just under four months after the wedding. She was also left a palace that year by her father, who began building it in 1559; it was called after her Palazzina Marfisa d'Este and was slowly abandoned after her death. She also inherited the San Silvestro building and

Palazzo Schifanoia Palazzo Schifanoia is a Renaissance palace in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna (Italy) built for the House of Este, Este family. The name "Schifanoia" is thought to originate from "schifare la noia" meaning literally to "escape from boredom" which descri ...

from him. On 30 January 1580, she married Alderano Cybo-Malaspina,

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 ...

of the Principality of Massa and Carrara. After the

Duchy of Ferrara The Duchy of Ferrara (; ; ) was a state in what is now northern Italy. It consisted of about 1,100 km2 south of the lower Po River, stretching to the valley of the lower Reno River, including the city of Ferrara. The territory that was part ...

's devolution to the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

in 1598, due to the absence of legitimate male heirs 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 ...

, Marfisa refused to join her family in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) 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 Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, and remained in Ferrara with her husband in the palace she inherited from her father.

Issue

Alderano and Marfisa had eight children:Cybo 2
/ref> *

Carlo Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...

(1581-1662), his father's heir. Married Brigida Spinola, with issue; * Francesco (1584-1616); * Odoardo (1585-1612), colonel in the Spanish army; * Cesare (1587-1588), died in infancy; * Vittoria (1588-1635), married Ercole Pepoli, count of Castiglione; * Ferdinando (1590-1623), canon of San Lorenzo in Genoa; * Alessandro (1594-1639), knight of the Order of Malta; * Alfonso (1596).

Note

{{Authority control House of Este Cybo-Malaspina family 1550s births 1608 deaths Italian patrons of the arts 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century Italian women Italian Renaissance people Renaissance women