Ercole d'Este I

Ercole d'Este I (1431 – 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este.

Related Topics:
1431 - 1505 - Ferrara - 1471 - Este

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His parents were Nicolò III and Ricciarda da Saluzzo. Ercole was educated at Naples, from 1445 to 1460; there he studied military arts, chivalry, and acquired the appreciation for the fine arts which would result in his becoming one of the most significant art patrons of the Renaissance. In 1471 he became Duke on the death of his half-brother Leonello, and he married Eleonora d'Aragona, daughter of the king of Naples, in 1474, and had three children by her: Alfonso (who would later marry the infamous Lucrezia Borgia), Isabella, and Beatrice. The alliance with Naples was to prove a powerful one.

Related Topics:
Nicolò III - Naples - 1445 - 1460 - Renaissance - 1471 - 1474 - Alfonso - Lucrezia Borgia - Isabella - Beatrice

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In the 1480s he fought a war over the salt monopoly with Venice, which was allied with Pope Sixtus IV. Ercole was able to end the war by ceding the Polesine at the Peace of Bagnolo, and Ferrara escaped either destruction or absorption into the papal dominions.

Related Topics:
Venice - Pope Sixtus IV - Polesine - Peace of Bagnolo

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Ercole is famous as a patron of the arts. He made the poet Matteo Boiardo was his minister, and also brought the young Ludovico Ariosto into his household. In music history Ercole was one of the Italian nobles most responsible for bringing the talented Franco-Flemish musicians from northern Europe into Italy. The most famous composers of Europe either worked for him, were commissioned by him, or dedicated music to him, including Alexander Agricola, Jacob Obrecht, Heinrich Isaac, Adrian Willaert, and Josquin Desprez, whose Missa Hercules Dux Ferrariae not only is dedicated to him, but is based on a theme drawn from the syllables of the Duke's name. While Ercole lost the war with the Pope and Venice, ceding the Polesine, he was successful in setting up a musical establishment which was for a few years the finest in Europe, overshadowing the Vatican chapel itself. For the next century Ferrara was to retain the character of a center of avant-garde music with a decidedly secular emphasis.

Related Topics:
Matteo Boiardo - Ludovico Ariosto - Franco-Flemish - Alexander Agricola - Jacob Obrecht - Heinrich Isaac - Adrian Willaert - Josquin Desprez - Venice - Polesine - Avant-garde

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Under Ercole Ferrara became one of the leading cities of Europe; it underwent substantial growth, approximately doubling in size. Many of Ferrara's most famous buildings date from his reign. He extended the city's walls, hiring architect Biagio Rossetti for the work.

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Ercole died in 1505, and his son Alfonso became Duke.

Related Topics:
1505 - Alfonso

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