Francesco II d'Este (6 March 1660 – 6 September 1694) was
Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1662 to 1694.
Biography
He was born in
Modena to
Alfonso IV d'Este, duke of Modena, and
Laura Martinozzi, niece of
Cardinal Mazarin. His sister,
Mary of Modena, married the future
James II of England
James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...
in 1673 and became queen of England in 1685. Their child, and therefore Francesco's nephew, was
James, the Old Pretender who struggled to regain the throne of England during the
1715 Jacobite rebellion.
He became duke at the age of two. His mother, pious and rigorous, served as his regent until 1674, filling state offices with clerics under the advice of her Jesuit confessor Father Garimberti. When she left to accompany the princess to England, Francesco assumed control at the age of fourteen. His character changed dramatically in the free and easy company of his cousin, ''principe'' Cesare Ignazio d'Este, and after her return the dowager duchess withdrew from court.
Francesco's foreign policy was affected by the requirements of
Louis XIV, his sister's patron after 1688, but he resisted French attempts to interfere in the duchies. A Franco Modenese alliance was proposed with Francesco and a princess of the
House of Lorraine,
Béatrice Hiéronyme, the eldest daughter of
François Marie, Prince of Lillebonne. The marriage never materialised and instead, he married
Margherita Maria Farnese.
The couple had no children and when Francesco died heirless in 1694 after just two years of marriage, he was succeeded by his half-uncle Cardinal
Rinaldo d'Este, who renounced his ecclesiastical career and cardinalate for this purpose.
He learned the violin as a boy and the court orchestra was revived for him when he was eleven; one of the musicians employed there was
Giovanni Maria Bononcini. Francesco was a lavish and discerning patron of music, and the composer
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...
dedicated his Op. 3 trio
sonata
In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...
s (Rome, 1689) to him. His library has remained substantially complete in the Biblioteca Estense, Modena.
Bibliography
*Crowther, Victor. "A Case-Study in the Power of the Purse: The Management of the Ducal 'Cappella' in Modena in the Reign of Francesco II d'Este", ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'', 115.2 (1990), pp. 207–219.
*Cont, Alessandro. "'Sono nato principe libero, tale voglio conservarmi': Francesco II d’Este (1660-1694)", ''Memorie Scientifiche, Giuridiche, Letterarie'', Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti di Modena, ser. 8, 12 (2009), 2
pp. 407–459
Ancestry
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Francesco 2
1660 births
1694 deaths
Hereditary princes of Modena
Francesco 2
Francesco 2
Francesco 2
17th-century Italian nobility
Italian Roman Catholics