Ercole III d'Este (Ercole Rinaldo; 22 November 1727 – 14 October 1803) was

Duke of Modena and Reggio This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este. ...

from 1780 to 1796, and later of Breisgau (not resident). He was a member 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 ...

Biography

He was born 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 ...

, the son of Duke

Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena Francesco III d'Este (Francesco Maria; 2 July 1698 – 22 February 1780) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1737 until his death. Biography He was born in Modena, the son of Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena, and Duchess Charlotte of Brunswic ...

and

Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (22 October 1700 – 19 January 1761) was Duchess of Modena and Reggio by marriage to Francesco III d'Este. She was the third daughter of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and his wife, Françoise-Marie de Bourbon. Sh ...

, daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and

Regent of France A regent is a person selected to act as head of state (ruling or not) because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. The following is a list of regents throughout history. Regents in extant monarchies Those who held a regency b ...

. He was the couple's fourth child and had an older sister Maria Teresa and two brothers who died before his birth. In 1741, he married

Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina (29 June 1725 29 December 1790) was sovereign Duchess of Massa and Princess of Carrara from 1731 until her death in 1790. From 1780, she also formally held the title of Duchess consort of Modena and Reggio as the wi ...

, heir and, from 1780, sovereign of the

Duchy of Massa and Carrara The Duchy of Massa and Principality of Carrara () was a small state that controlled the towns of Massa and Carrara from 1473 until 1836.Many authors argue that the final year of the states of Massa and Carrara was 1829, when the throne was assume ...

: their relations turned out to be extremely unhappy and the Duchess lived for most of the time in Reggio, separated from her husband. When his parents succeeded as rulers of Modena, he was styled His Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince of Modena (1737–1780) and after 1780, His Royal Highness the Duke of Modena. Generally appreciated by his subjects (he sometimes spoke in Modenese dialect with them), Ercole continued the reform begun by his father. He built the two bridges at

Rubiera Rubiera ( Reggiano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located on the Via Emilia about northwest of Bologna and about southeast of Reggio Emilia. History The original name of ...

and St. Ambrogio at

on the

Via Emilia The Via Aemilia (, ) was a trunk Roman road in the north Italian plain, running from ''Ariminum'' (Rimini), on the Adriatic coast, to ''Placentia'' (Piacenza) on the River ''Padus'' ( Po). It was completed in 187 BC. The Via Aemilia connected a ...

, and built new roads connecting to the neighbouring states. In 1785 he founded the Atesine Academy of Fine Arts: during his reign arts and culture flourished, and among his protégées were

Lazzaro Spallanzani Lazzaro Spallanzani (; 12 January 1729 – 11 February 1799) was an Italian Catholic priest (for which he was nicknamed Abbé Spallanzani), biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to the experimental study of bodily function ...

, Giambattista Venturi,

Girolamo Tiraboschi Girolamo Tiraboschi (; 18 December 1731 – 9 June 1794) was an Italian literary critic, the first historian of Italian literature. Biography Born in Bergamo, he studied at the Jesuit college in Monza, entered the order, and was appointed in 17 ...

, Lodovico Ricci and others. After the death of his wife in 1790, he married morganatically in 1795 with his long-time mistress Chiara Marini (d. Treviso, 1800), whom he invested with title of Marchioness 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 cu ...

(only formally, without any authentic rule over this land).''ESTE (di MONTECCHIO) Duchi di Modena e Reggio'' in genmarenostrum.com
etrieved 24 February 2015 The French invasion forced him to flee to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

on 7 May 1796, carrying with him a conspicuous personal asset. Later French soldiers captured him at Venice, robbing 200,000 '' zecchini'' from his house. After this episode he moved to

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

, where he died in 1803. The peaces of

Treaty of Campo Formio The Treaty of Campo Formio (today Campoformido) was signed on 17 October 1797 (26 Vendémiaire VI) by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Philipp von Cobenzl as representatives of the French Republic and the Austrian monarchy, respectively. The trea ...

(1797) and

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German : ''Lünstadt'' ; Lorrain: ''Leneinvile'') is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Ve ...

had assigned him territories in

Breisgau The Breisgau () is an area in southwest Germany extending along the Rhine River and enveloping portions of the Black Forest. Part of the state of Baden-Württemberg, it centers on the city of Freiburg im Breisgau. The district of Breisgau-Hoch ...

in exchange of the lost duchy, but he never took possession of them. His only legitimate daughter Maria Beatrice married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Their son Francis IV regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1814.

Issue

# Maria Beatrice d'Este (7 April 1750 – 14 November 1829), married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and had issue. #Rinaldo Francesco d'Este (4 January 1753 – 5 May 1753), died in infancy. #Ercole Rinaldo (1770 – 16 February 1795), created Marquess of Scandiano in 1787, General in the Modena Army (''died illegitimate, before the marriage of their parents'').

Ancestry

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Ercole 3, Modena, Duke Of 1727 births 1803 deaths Hereditary princes of Modena Ercole 3 Ercole 3 Ercole 3 Ercole 3 18th-century Italian people Ercole 3 Generals of the Holy Roman Empire People of the War of the First Coalition Further Austria