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Borso d'Este, attributed to Vicino da Ferrara, Pinacoteca of the Castello Sforzesco">Sforza Castle
The Sforza Castle ( ; ) is a medieval fortification located in Milan, northern Italy. It was built in the 15th century by Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, on the remnants of a 14th-century fortification. Later renovated and enlarged, in the 1 ...
in Milan, Italy.
Borso d'Este (1413 – 20 August 1471) was the first duke of Ferrara and duke of Modena, Modena, which he ruled from 1450 until his death. He was a member of the House of Este.
Biography
He was an illegitimate son of
Niccolò III d'Este, Marquess of
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 ...
,
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
Reggio, and his mistress
Stella de' Tolomei. Borso succeeded his brother
Leonello d'Este in the marquisate on 1 October 1450.
left, 220px, A page of Borso d'Este's Bible.
On 18 May 1452 he received confirmation over his fiefs, as Duke, by Emperor
Frederick III.
On 12 April 1471, in
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...
, he was also appointed as Duke of Ferrara by
Pope Paul II
Pope Paul II (; ; 23 February 1417 – 26 July 1471), born Pietro Barbo, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 30 August 1464 to his death in 1471. When his maternal uncle became Pope Eugene IV, Barbo switched fr ...
.
Borso followed an expansionist policy for his state, and one of ennobling for his family. He was generally allied with the
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice, officially the Most Serene Republic of Venice and traditionally known as La Serenissima, was a sovereign state and Maritime republics, maritime republic with its capital in Venice. Founded, according to tradition, in 697 ...
, and enemy both to
Francesco I Sforza
Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) Duke of Milan, duke from 1450 until his death.
In the 1420s, he participated in the ...
and the
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ; ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first consolidated power in the Republic of Florence under Cosimo de' Medici and his grandson Lorenzo "the Magnificent" during the first half of the 15th ...
family. These rivalries led to the indecisive
Battle of Molinella. He was in general appreciated by his subjects. One cause of grievance was his project to build a mountain from scratch in 1471 – a folly he was later forced to abandon.
Borso's court was the center of the so-called
Ferrarese school of painting, whose members include
Francesco del Cossa
Francesco del Cossa (c. 1430 – c. 1477) was an Italian Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara (Painting), School of Ferrara, who after 1470 worked in Bologna. Cossa is best known for his frescoes, especially his collaboration with Cosimo ...
,
Ercole dei Roberti and
Cosimo Tura. Their most important commission during Borso's rule were the frescoes in the
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 ...
and the
Borso D'Este Bible
The Bible of Borso d'Este is a two-volume manuscript. The illuminated miniatures, work of Taddeo Crivelli and others, were executed between 1455 and 1461. The work is held in the Biblioteca Estense, Biblioteca Estense di Modena (Ms. Lat. 422–4 ...
. He also protected numerous musicians, including Pietrobono del Chitarrino, Niccolò Todesco e Blasio Montolino.
A man of little education (unlike his brother Leonello), he had a pragmatic view of the arts as a powerful propaganda tool to promote his political ambitions by projecting an image of personal
magnificence.
[ ] He liked to portray himself as an ideal ruler, as for example in the frescoes in Palazzo Schifanoia.[ His traditional image as a magnanimous patron of arts, as later proclaimed in ]Ludovico Ariosto
Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...
's poem ''Orlando Furioso
''Orlando furioso'' (; ''The Frenzy of Orlando'') is an Italian epic poem by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form ...
'', is also an idealized representation.[ While spending extravagantly on culture and spectacle to promote his political image, he was far from generous with the artists he patronized, whom he did not consider worthy of any special consideration.][ A notorious example of this attitude was his miserly treatment of Cossa, who consequently abandoned Ferrara for Bologna.][ ] His personal Bible (commissioned in 1455) is one of the most magnificent illuminated manuscript
An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
s of Renaissance Italy and a fabulously costly work of art; however, its principal illuminator, Taddeo Crivelli, appears to have pawned parts of other manuscripts he was working on to alleviate financial instability.[ ][ ]
Borso never married and left no heirs. His successor was his half-brother Ercole I d'Este
Ercole I d'Este (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 in 143 ...
.
Notes and references
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Borso
1413 births
1471 deaths
Borso
Margraves of Ferrara
Borso
Borso
Borso
15th-century Italian nobility