Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara

Ercole II d' Este ( born April 4, 1508 Ferrara, † October 3, 1559 ibid ) was the eldest son of Alfonso I., Duke of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, and Lucrezia Borgia. He succeeded his father on October 31, 1534 by Duke.

He married on June 28, 1528 Renée de France ( 1510-1575 ), a daughter of King Louis XII. of France and Anne de Bretagne. His wife was a supporter of the Reformation and opened the court of Ferrara for religiously persecuted intellectuals from Central Europe, especially France. Thus came 1535 the French poet Clément Marot to Ferrara, in 1536 John Calvin.

Renee's sympathy for Protestantism led to a break with Ercole, whose Duchy of Ferrara in his part, de jure belonged to the Papal States and had naturally drive a cautious policy towards the Pope. 1554 he left his wife because of the Palazzo Estense ( Pareschi ) under house arrest. Further steps in his prokatholischen partisanship were 1556 treaty of alliance with France, and in 1558 a peace treaty with Spain.

Ercole II and Renée had five children:

  • Duke (Modena and Reggio )
  • Duke (Ferrara)
  • Este ( noble )
  • Italian
  • Born in 1508
  • Died in 1559
  • Man
Duchy of Modena and Reggio Louis XII of France Protestant Reformation Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino Urbino Cardinal (Catholicism) Integrated Authority File
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