Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara
| Niccolò III d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara | |
|---|---|
Niccolò III d'Este, attributed to Amadio da Milano
|
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| Spouse(s) |
Gigliola da Carrara Parisina Malatesta Ricciarda of Saluzzo |
| Noble family | House of Este |
| Father | Alberto d'Este |
| Mother | Isotta Albaresani |
| Born |
9 November 1383 Ferrara |
| Died | 26 December 1441 (aged 58) |
Niccolò III d'Este (9 November 1383 – 26 December 1441) was Marquess of Ferrara from 1393 until his death. He was also a condottiero.
Born in Ferrara, the son of Alberto d'Este and Isotta Albaresani, he inherited the rule of the city in 1393 when only 10 years old. As a minor he was guided by a Regency Council supported by the Republics of Venice, Florence and Bologna.
In 1395 the troops of the Regency Council were attacked at the Battle of Portomaggiore by Niccolò's relative Azzo X d'Este, a descendant of Obizzo II d'Este, who contested Niccolò's right to rule in Ferrara due to his illegitimate birth, even though Niccolò had been legitimated by his father. However, Azzo's mercenary forces were defeated in the battle and Azzo himself taken prisoner and subsequently imprisoned by Astorre I Manfredi, commander of the Regency Council forces, thus removing the threat to Niccolò's rule.
In 1397 Niccolò married Gigliola da Carrara, daughter of Francesco II da Carrara, lord of Padua.
In 1403 he joined the league formed against the Duke of Milan, being appointed Captain General of the Papal Army by Pope Boniface IX. In 1405 he ceded the ancestral family lands near Este to Venice.
In 1410 the fighting master Fiore dei Liberi dedicated his treatise, the Fior di Battaglia, to him. This manuscript is a large part of the foundation of modern attempts to rebuild the Western martial arts. In 1413 he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In 1418 he remarried to Parisina Malatesta, daughter of Andrea Malatesta. Two years later, fearing the ambitions of Filippo Maria Visconti, he ceded to him the possession of Parma.
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