Ercole I d'Este, possibly by Dosso Dossi (Galleria Estense, Modena)

Ercole I d'Este (October 26, 1431 – June 15, 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este. He was nicknamed North Wind and the Diamond. [1] Image File history File links Ercole_I_d'Este. ... Image File history File links Ercole_I_d'Este. ... Circe and her Lovers in a Landscape, 1514 - 1516. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1431 was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. ... is the 166th day of the year (167th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1505 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of Dukes of Modena. ... This article is about the year 1471, not the BT caller ID service accessible by dialling 1-4-7-1. ... 1505 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ercole I dEste was one of the most important patrons of arts in the Italian Renaissance. ...

Biography

Ercole was born at Ferrara to Nicolò III and Ricciarda da Saluzzo. His maternal grandparents were Thomas III of Saluzzo and Marguerite of Roussy. Ferrara is a city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, capital city of the province of Ferrara. ... Niccolò III dEste. ... Thomas III of Saluzzo (Italian: Tommaso III di Saluzzo; 1356 - 1416) was margrave of Saluzzo from 1396 until his death. ...

He was educated at the Neapolitan court of Alfonso, king of Aragon and Naples, from 1445 to 1460; there he studied military arts, chivalry, and acquired the appreciation for architecture all'antica and the fine arts, which would result in his becoming one of the most significant art patrons of the Renaissance.^[1] Location of the city of Naples (red dot) within Italy. ... Alfons V of Aragon (also Alfons I of Naples) (1396 – June 27, 1458), surnamed the Magnanimous, was the King of Aragon and Naples and count of Barcelona from 1416 to 1458. ... Events Discovery of Senegal and Cape Verde by Dinas Diaz Births March 1 - Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (died 1510) March 16 - Johann Geiler von Kaisersberg, Swiss-born preacher (died 1510) Albert Brudzewski, Polish astronomer (died 1497) Nicolas Chuquet, French mathematician Deaths June 5 - Leonel Power, English composer June 11 - Henry... Events The first Portuguese navigators reach the coast of modern Sierra Leone. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ...

In 1471 he became Duke on the death of his half-brother Borso, who had designated him as his heir,^[2] and he married Eleonora d'Aragona, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples, in 1473. The Este alliance with Naples was to prove a powerful one. Ercole and Eleonora had six children: This article is about the year 1471, not the BT caller ID service accessible by dialling 1-4-7-1. ... Leonora of Naples or Eleonora of Aragon (June 22, 1450 - October 11, 1493) was the first Duchess of Ferrara. ... Ferdinand I (1423 - January 25, 1494), also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. ... Events Ottoman sultan Mehmed II defeats the White Sheep Turkmens lead by Uzun Hasan at Otlukbeli Axayacatl, Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan invades the territory of neighboring Aztec city of Tlatelolco. ...

• Alfonso (who would later marry the infamous Lucrezia Borgia)
• Isabella (who would later prove to be one of the most powerful women of the Renaissance)
• Beatrice
• Ferrante (who was thrown in prison by his brother Alfonso in 1506, where he died 34 years later)
• Ippolito (cardinal, army commander and patron of the arts)
• Sigismondo

Ercole had two illegitimate children Portrait of Alfonso dEste by an unknown artist Alfonso dEste (1486–1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the War of the League of Cambrai. ... Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneziano, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia. ... Isabella dEste painted by Titian. ... The Renaissance (French for rebirth, or Rinascimento in Italian), was a cultural movement in Italy (and in Europe in general) that began in the late Middle Ages, and spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century. ... Beatrice dEste (1475-1497), duchess of Milan, one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the Italian Renaissance, was the daughter of Ercole I. dEste and younger sister of Isabella dEste. ... Ippolito (I) dEste (March 20, 1479 - September 3, 1520) was a Roman Catholic cardinal. ...

• Lucrezia
• Giulio (who was also thrown in prison by his brother Alfonso in 1506, where he remained for 53 years.
  After his release, he was ridiculed in the streets of Ferrara for his outdated clothes)

In 1482-1484 he fought a war with the Republic of Venice, which was allied with Ercole's nemesis, the Della Rovere Pope Sixtus IV, occasioned by the salt monopoly, the War of Ferrara. Ercole was able to end the war by ceding the Polesine at the Peace of Bagnolo, and Ferrara escaped the fate of destruction or absorption into the papal dominions, but the war was a humiliation for Ercole, who lay sick and immobilized while the besieging army destroyed Este properties in the surrounding neighborhoods.
After this, he remained neutral in the Italian War of 1494-1498, and tried for the rest of his rule to improve relations with the Papal states. He succeeded in marrying his son Alfonso to Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander VI, a marriage that brought notable territorial donations. Borders of the Republic of Venice in 1796 Capital Venice Language(s) Venetian, Latin Religion Roman Catholic Government Republic Doge  - 1789–97 Ludovico Manin History  - Established 697  - Treaty of Zara June 27, 1358  - Treaty of Leoben April 17, 1797 * Traditionally, the establishment of the Republic is dated to 697. ... Sixtus IV (July 21, 1414 – August 12, 1484), born Francesco della Rovere, was Pope from 1471 to 1484. ... The War of Ferrara ending with the Peace of Bagnolo, was fought in 1482-1484 between Ercole I dEste, duke of Ferrara, and the Papal forces mustered by Ercoles personal nemesis, Pope Sixtus IV and his Venetian allies. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... With the Treaty of Bagnolo, signed August 7, 1484, the War of Ferrara (1482–1484) between Ercole dEste I and the papal forces mustered by Ercoles personal nemesis, Pope Sixtus IV and his Venetian allies, came to a conclusion. ... Combatants France Papal States, Republic of Venice, Naples, Duchy of Milan, Holy Roman Empire Commanders Charles VIII Francesco II The First Italian War (1494–95), sometimes referred to as the Italian War of 1494 or Charles VIIIs Italian War, was the opening phase of the Italian Wars. ... Coat of arms Map of the Papal States; the reddish area was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, the rest (grey) in 1870. ... Portrait of a Woman by Bartolomeo Veneziano, traditionally assumed to be Lucrezia Borgia. ... Alexander VI, né Rodrigo Borgia (January 1, 1431 - August 18, 1503) pope (1492-1503), is the most memorable of the secular popes of the Renaissance. ...

His subsequent career as a patron may be seen to some extent as compensation for the early military setback: significantly, Ercole was the only Italian ruler who characterized himself as divus on his coinage, like a Roman emperor (Manca 1989:525, 529).

The scale and consistency of Ercole's patronage of the arts was in part a political and cultural statement. He hosted theatrical representations with elaborate scenery and musical intermezzi, some of the first purely secular theatre in Europe since Antiquity^[3] and was successful in setting up a musical establishment which was for a few years the finest in Europe, overshadowing the Vatican chapel itself.^[4] For the next century Ferrara was to retain the character of a center of avant-garde music with a decidedly secular emphasis. 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. A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... In music, the Dutch School refers, somewhat imprecisely, to the style of polyphonic vocal music composition in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. ... Alexander Agricola (1445 or 1446 – August 1506) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. ... Jacob Obrecht Jacob Obrecht (November 22, 1458 – late July, 1505) was a Dutch composer of the Renaissance. ... Heinrich Isaac (also Henricus, Arrigo dUgo, and Arrigo il Tedesco) (around 1450 – March 26, 1517) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. ... Adrian Willaert (c. ... Josquin Des Prez Josquin Des Prez (diminutive of Joseph; latinized Josquinus Pratensis) (c. ... Missa Hercules dux Ferrariae is a mass composed by Josquin Des Prez dedicated to Ercole dEste I, Duke of Ferrara, in which the cantus firmus is derived from the musical letters in the Dukes name, a technique called sogetto cavato. ...

Grosh issued under Ercole I d'Este.

Ercole is equally famous as a patron of the arts, as much an expression of his conscious magnificence as his cultivated aloofness, grave and stern as befitted the new ducal rank of Ferrara (Manca 1989:524ff). He made the poet Boiardo his minister, and also brought the young Ludovico Ariosto into his household. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Ë: The term Grosz may also refer to George Grosz. ... Matteo Maria Boiardo (c. ... Statue of the poet in Reggio Emilia. ...

Under Ercole Ferrara became one of the leading cities of Europe; it underwent substantial growth in the Ercolean Addition, approximately doubling in size, under Ercole's direct guidance, producing the first planned and executed urbanistic project of the Renaissance. To enclose it, he extended the city's walls, hiring architect Biagio Rossetti for the work.^[5] Many of Ferrara's most famous buildings date from his reign. Urban, city, or town planning, deals with design of the built environment from the municipal and metropolitan perspective. ... Biagio Rossetti, (circa 1447 - 1516), was an Italian architect and urbanist from Ferrara. ...

Ercole was an admirer of church reformer Girolamo Savonarola, who was also from Ferrara, and sought his advice on both spiritual and political matters. Approximately a dozen letters between the two survive from the 1490s. Ercole attempted to have Savonarola freed by the Florentine church authorities, but was unsuccessful; the reformist monk was burned at the stake in 1498.^[6] Girolamo Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo, c. ...

In 1503 or 1504, Ercole asked his newly-hired composer Josquin des Prez to write musical testament for him, structured on Savonarola's prison meditation Infelix ego. The result was the Miserere, probably first performed for Holy Week in 1504, with the tenor part possibly sung by the Duke himself.^[7]. Josquin des Prez Josquin Des Prez (French rendering of Dutch Josken, diminutive of Joseph; latinized Josquinus Pratensis, alternatively Jodocus Pratensis) (c. ... Girolamo Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo, c. ... The Miserere, by Josquin des Prez, is a motet setting of Psalm 51 (Psalm 50 in the Septuagint numbering) for five voices. ...

Ercole died in 1505, and his son Alfonso became Duke. 1505 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Portrait of Alfonso dEste by an unknown artist Alfonso dEste (1486–1534) was Duke of Ferrara during the War of the League of Cambrai. ...

See also

• List of Dukes of Ferrara and of Modena

List of the Lords and Dukes of Ferrara and Modena In 1452 the Italian family of Este, Lords of Ferrara, were created Dukes of Modena and Reggio, becoming Dukes of Ferrara also in 1471. ...

References

• Chiappini, Luciano (2001). Gli Estensi. Mille anni di storia. 
• Gardner, Edmund G. (1904). Dukes and Poets in Ferrara: a Study in the Poetry, Religion and Politics of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. 
• Gundersheimer, Werner L. (1973). Ferrara, the Style of a Renaissance Despotism. 
• Lockwood, Lewis (1984). Music in Renaissance Ferrara, 1400-1505: The Creation of a Musical Center in the Italian Renaissance. 
• Macey, Patrick (1998). Bonfire Songs: Savonarola's Musical Legacy. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816669-9. 
• Rosenberg, Charles M. (1997). The Este Monuments and Urban Development in Renaissance Ferrara. 
• Tuohy, Thomas (1996). Herculean Ferrara: Ercole d'Este, 1471-1505, and the Invention of a Ducal Capital. 

Footnotes

External links

• Ercole's career as a condottiero