Niccolò II d'Este (1338 – 26 March 1388) was lord of Ferrara,

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

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

from 1361 until his death. He was the son of Obizzo III, who had ruled in Ferrara from 1317 to 1352 and the noblewoman Lippa degli Ariosti. After inheriting his lands from Aldobrandino III, he allied with

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

and

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

against

Bernabò Visconti Bernabò or Barnabò Visconti (1323 – 19 December 1385) was an Italian soldier and statesman who was Lord of Milan. Along with his brothers Matteo and Galeazzo II, he inherited the lordship of Milan from his uncle Giovanni. Later in 1355, he ...

and, after a meeting at Viterbo, he managed to obtain also the support of Pope

Urban V Pope Urban V (; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death, in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the only Avignon pope ...

(1367). During Niccolò's reign, Ferrara started to gain a reputation as an art city. He commissioned to Bartolino da Novara the construction of the

Castello Estense The ' ('House of Este, Este castle') or ' ('St. Michael's castle') is a moated medieval castle in the center of Ferrara, northern Italy. It consists of a large block with four corner towers. History On 3 May 1385, the Ferrarese people, driven ...

after a popular revolt in 1385.

Marriage

On May 19, 1362 he was married to Verde della Scala (d. 1394) daughter of

Mastino II della Scala Mastino II della Scala (1308 – 3 June 1351) was lord of Verona. He was a member of the famous Scaliger family of Northern Italy. He was the son of Alboino I della Scala and Beatrice da Correggio. At the death of Cangrande I, he and his broth ...

and sister of Beatrice della Scala, therefore he was a brother-in-law of the powerful Bernabó Visconti. They had one daughter; * Taddea d´Este (1365 – 23 November 1404) who married Francesco II da Carrara, the last lord of

and had issue.

References

* * * Antonio Menniti Ippolito, Este, Niccolò II d’, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, XLIII, Roma 1993, pp. 393–396 1338 births 1388 deaths Niccolo 2 Niccolo 2 14th-century Italian nobility {{Italy-noble-stub