Obizzo III d'Este (14 July 1294 – 20 March 1352) was the

Marquess of Ferrara This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the House of Este, 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 1317 until his death. He was the son of Aldobrandino II d'Este and Alda Rangoni.

Life

Obizzo was lord of Ferrara with his brothers Rinaldo and

Niccolò Niccolò is an Italian male given name, derived from the Greek Nikolaos meaning "Victor of people" or "People's champion". There are several male variations of the name: Nicolò, Niccolò, Nicolas, and Nicola. The female equivalent is Nicole. The ...

, and his cousin Folco II, but in the end reigned as sole ruler. He managed to enlarge the family possessions with the conquests of

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 ...

(1336) 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, ...

(1344–1346). In May 1317, Obizzo married firstly Giacoma Pepoli (d. 1341), daughter of Romeo de' Peppoli from Bologna, with whom he had no children. There are also reports that he married Princess Elisabeth of

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, Angria, and

Westphalia Westphalia (; ; ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the region is almost identical with the h ...

, daughter of

Albert II, Duke of Saxony Albert II of Saxony (Wittenberg, Wittenberg upon Elbe, ca. 1250 – 25 August 1298, near Aken (Elbe), Aken) was a son of Duke Albert I, Duke of Saxony, Albert I of Saxony and his third wife Helen of Brunswick and Lunenburg, a daughter of Otto the ...

. In 1347, Obizzo married secondly Lippa Ariosti, known as ''la Bella,'' and his long-time mistress. The marriage took place shortly before Lippa's death on 27 November 1347 to legitimize their many children: * Beatrice (18 September 1332 – 1387), married in 1365 to Waldemar I, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst. * Alda (18 July 1333 – 1381), married in 1356 to Ludovico II Gonzaga. * Rinaldo (10 October 1334 – 20 July 1348), died young. * Aldobrandino III (14 September 1335 – 2/3 November 1361). * Alisia (18 March 1337 – 12 August 1402), married in 1349 to Guido III Novello da Polenta, Lord of

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

. * Niccolò II (17 May 1338 – 26 March 1388). * Azzo (14 March 1340 – 18 September 1349), died in infancy. * Folco (1342–1356), died young. * Costanza (25 July 1343 – 13 February 1391), married in 1363 to Malatesta IV Malatesta, Lord of Rimini. *

Alberto Alberto is the Romance languages, Romance version of the Latinized form (''Albertus'') of Germanic languages, Germanic ''Albert (given name), Albert''. It is used in Italian language, Italian, Portuguese language, Portuguese and Spanish language, ...

(1347 – 30 July 1393). In addition, Obizzo had another illegitimate son by an unknown mistress, Giovanni (1324–1389), later Governor of Frignano, who was also legitimized.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Obizzo 3 1294 births 1352 deaths Obizzo 3 Obizzo 3 14th-century Italian nobility