Ugo d'Este, also known as Hugh Aldobrandino (1405 – May 21, 1425 in Ferrara), was the son of

Niccolò III d'Este 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 lover

Stella de' Tolomei Stella de’ Tolomei (died 1419), was an Italian courtier and royal mistress. She was the official royal mistress of Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara for many years and the mother of several of his acknowledged illegitimate children. ;Iss ...

Early life

Although he was illegitimate, he was destined to succeed his father as Nicholò's eldest son. His father never married his mother; but in 1418 married

Parisina Malatesta Laura Malatesta (140421 May 1425), better known as Parisina Malatesta, was an Italian marchioness. She was the daughter of Andrea Malatesta, lord of Cesena, and his second wife, Lucrezia Ordelaffi. She had an affair with her illegitimate stepson, ...

, nearly twenty years his junior. Ugo was at first treated coldly by his young stepmother, who was almost his own age.

Fatal relationship

In 1424, during a trip with his stepmother, they developed a sexual relationship that went on even when the two returned to Ferrara. Other sources report a different beginning to the affair: to escape the plague of 1423, they took refuge in the castello di Fossadalbero and there in the small castle their relationship was born. A maid reported the affair to Nicholò, who spied on the lovers and had them imprisoned in the castle where they were sentenced to death by decapitation. The tragic story has inspired several writers and musicians. The Renaissance Italian author

Matteo Bandello Matteo Bandello ( 1480 – 1562) was an Italian writer, soldier, monk, and, later, a Bishop mostly known for his novellas. His collection of 214 novellas made him the most popular short-story writer of his day. Biography Matteo Bandello wa ...

wrote on it the novel 44 of the 1st part of his ''Novelle'' (Lucca, Busdrago, 1554); on this text the Spanish playwright

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio ( , ; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist. He was one of the key figures in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. His reputation in the world of Spanish literatu ...

took inspiration to compose his most famous tragedy, ''El castigo sin venganza'' ( Punishment Without Revenge, first published 1631); Edward Gibbon told this story in his '' Miscellaneous Works'', and

George Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the ...

wrote the poem ''

Parisina ''Parisina'' is a 586-line poem written by Lord Byron. It was probably written between 1812 and 1815, and published on 13 February 1816. It is based on a story related by Edward Gibbon in his '' Miscellaneous Works'' (1796) about Niccolò III d ...

'' in 1816. A libretto by

Felice Romani Giuseppe Felice Romani (31 January 178828 January 1865) was an Italian poet and scholar of literature and mythology who wrote many librettos for the opera composers Donizetti and Bellini. Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist bet ...

after the English poem was set to music by

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the ''bel canto'' opera style dur ...

in 1833 as ''

''.

Pietro Mascagni Pietro Mascagni (7 December 1863 – 2 August 1945) was an Italian composer primarily known for his operas. His 1890 masterpiece ''Cavalleria rusticana'' caused one of the greatest sensations in opera history and single-handedly ushered in the ' ...

composed a tragic opera ''

'' based on the lyric tragedy written by Gabriele D'Annunzio in 1912 as another adaptation of Byron's poem. There is also a lesser-known opera by Tomás Giribaldi (1878) and a tragedy by

Antonio Somma Antonio Somma (28 August 1809, Udine – 8 August 1864, Venice) was an Italian playwright who is most well known for writing the libretto of an opera which ultimately became Giuseppe Verdi's ''Un ballo in maschera'' in 1859. While a student, his ...

. After Hugh's death, his younger brother Leonello, also a son of Stella, succeeded his father. Another younger brother,

Borso Borso or Borsò is an Italian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara (1413-1471), Italian duke, first Duke of Modena, commissioned the Borso d'Este Bible * János Borsó (b. 1953), retired H ...

, also later became ruler of Ferrara.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugo Deste 1405 births 1425 deaths House of Este Nobility from Ferrara