Ferrante d'Este

Ferrante d'Este (19 September 1477, Castel Capuano, Naples - February 1540, Ferrara) was a Ferrarese nobleman and condottiero. He was the son of Ercole I d'Este and Eleonora d'Aragona - he was named after his mother's father Ferdinand I of Naples. His brothers were Alfonso I d'Este, cardinal Ippolito d'Este and Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga

He was born in Naples, where his mother had gone into seclusion. He was christened on 7 October 1477 with Giuliano della Rovere as his godfather and raised at the Aragonese court in Naples. In 1493 his father invited him to join the court of Charles VIII of France. When Charles invaded Italy, Ferrante decided not to follow the French army to Naples but remained in Rome, spending his regular allowance from his father dissolutely. Ercole accidentally allowed a letter reproaching Ferrante for his behaviour and ordering him not to lose Charles' favour to get through to the French army. Ferrante obeyed and fought at Charles' side at the battle of Fornovo before returning to Italy in 1497.

In 1498 he gained a condotta from the Venetian Republic for the war in Pisa. Ferrante, Marco da Martinengo, Gurlino Tombesi and Filippo Albanese defended Pisa against the Florentine army. At the war's end in spring 1499 he returned to Ferrara and was dismissed by Venice. In 1499 he and his brother Alfonso went ot Milan to meet Charles VIII's successor Louis XII of France after his conquest of Lombardy. With his huge debts to the French court, Ferrante was unable to gain Louis' favour. In 1502 the duke of Ferrara ordered him to take possession of Cento and Pieve, where pope Alexander VI had transferred to the house of Este.

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