Francesco I d'Este (6 September 1610 – 14 October 1658) was
Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1629 until his death. The eldest son of
Alfonso III d'Este, he became
reign
A reign is the period of a person's or dynasty's occupation of the office of monarch of a nation (e.g., King of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia, List of Belgian monarchs, Belgium, Co-princes of Andorra, Andorra), of a people (e.g., List of Frankish kin ...
ing duke after his father's abdication.
Biography
Born on 6 September 1610, Francesco was the son of
Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena and
Isabella of Savoy. After the outbreak of the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
he sided with
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
and invaded the
duchy of Parma, but upon visiting to Spain to claim his reward, he could only acquire
Correggio
Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter who was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, who was responsible for som ...
by a payment of 230,000
florins.
Later followed the
First War of Castro, in which Francesco's Modena joined Venice and Florence and sided with the
Dukes of Parma against
Barberini Pope Urban VIII
Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...
, aiming to reconquer
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 ...
. The war ended without any particular gain for the Modenese. As again no help had come from Spain, Francesco allied with
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
through the intercession of
Cardinal Mazarin. When he however failed to conquer
Cremona, and as the situation of the Thirty Years' War seemed to be favourable for Spain, the Duke sought for an agreement with the latter. He returned to the service of France by marrying his son and heir
Alfonso to
Laura Martinozzi, Mazarin's niece.
After successful resistance to a Spanish invasion from their territories in
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
, he fought alongside France and
Savoy
Savoy (; ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...
, conquering
Alessandria and
Valenza in 1656–1657 with the help of his son. In 1658 he conquered
Mortara but, struck by
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
, died in
Santhià soon later. After Maria's death in 1646, he married her sister Vittoria Farnese who died 1649.
His last marriage was to
Lucrezia Barberini (1628–1699), daughter of
Taddeo Barberini with whom his troops had fought during the First War of Castro. He had a total of eleven children; two of them, Alfonso and
Rinaldo, were later Dukes of Modena.
Although a skillful military commander, Francesco was renowned for his upright character and religious ideals. He enriched Modena with the construction of the
Ducal Palace of Modena, the large Teatro della Spelta, the Villa delle Pentetorri, a port on an enlarged Naviglio channel and the restoration of the Cittadella.
Francesco in Art
Francesco was immortalized by
Bernini in a sculpture made around 1650–1651 (
Este Gallery and Museum,
Modena). It culminates the master sculptor's revolution in portraiture. Much of the freedom and spontaneity of the bust of Cardinal
Scipione Borghese is kept, but it is united with a heroic pomp and grandiose movement that portray the ideals of the Baroque age as much as the man. This style of sculpting would later also be seen in the bust of
Louis XIV. According to
Howard Hibbard, Bernini's portrait bust of Francesco I and the Louis XIV bust "set the standard for monarchical portraiture up to the time of the French Revolution" (126-8).
Issue
:''Issue with
Maria Caterina Farnese:''
#Alfonso d'Este, Hereditary Prince of Modena (1632), died in infancy
#
Alfonso IV d'Este, Duke of Modena (2 February 1634 – 16 July 1662), married
Laura Martinozzi, parents of
Mary of Modena
#
Isabella d'Este (3 October 1635 – 21 August 1666) married
Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma, and had issue
#Eleonora d'Este (1639–1640), died in infancy
#Tedaldo d'Este' (1640–1643), died in infancy
#Almerigo d'Este (8 May 1641 – 14 November 1660), died young
#
Eleonora d'Este (2 January 1643 – 24 February 1722), a nun
#
Maria d'Este (8 December 1644 – 20 August 1684), married
Ranuccio II Farnese, Duke of Parma, and had issue
#Tedaldo d'Este (1646), died in infancy
:''Issue with
Vittoria Farnese:''
#Vittoria d'Este (24 August 1649 – 1656)
:''Issue with
Lucrezia Barberini:''
#
Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena (26 April 1655 – 26 October 1737), married
Duchess Charlotte Felicitas of Brunswick-Lüneburg and had issue
References
Sources
*
External links
*
*
* -- (the record of the festival celebrating Francesco's marriage to Lucrezia Barberini)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Francesco 1
1610 births
1658 deaths
Francesco 1
Francesco 1
Francesco 1
17th-century Italian nobility
Italian Roman Catholics
Knights of the Golden Fleece
Hereditary princes of Modena
Francesco 1