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E-book The Path of Pleasantness : Ippolito II d'Este Between Ferrara, France and Rome
Ippolito II d’Este was born in 1509 into a Ferrara ruled by his father, Duke Al-fonso I d’Este. His mother was Lucrezia Borgia, the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, who had orchestrated the marriage in the hope of tying his lineage to an established Italian family. The Este had been ruling over Ferrara, Modena and Reggio since the thirteen century and had increasingly extended their territorial power ever since, ac-quiring the title of dukes in the fifteenth century. Like all small Italian states, the Duchy of Ferrara had its local rivalries and historical alliances. Most notably, the Este had had a relationship of consistent enmity with both the Sforza of Milan and the Medici in Florence, whilst they had historically maintained a more positive rela-tionship with Venice.2 The biggest threat to the duchy, however, came from its fragmented nature: the first Este duke, Borso d’Este, had received confirmation over his fiefs of Modena and Reggio from the emperor in 1452, whilst obtaining the title of Duke of Ferrara from the pope in 1471. As a consequence, the long Estense rule had often been troubled by external political events. Such a delicate diplomatic position and the need to counterbalance different stakes over their state led the Este to develop a close relationship with France, which also fostered cultural exchange. In the fifteenth century, Ferrara would benefit from a ‘large-scale importation of manuscripts of French poetry, chronicles, and other writings’3. An anonymous diarist noted that ‘the Ferrarese almost all universally ad-here to and are partisans of the king of France, and many are dressed and shod and hatted in the French manner, above all the courtiers’.4 From the end of the fifteenth century, however, the nearly continuous warfare between France and Empire that to re through Italy forced the Este dukes to pursue a defensive foreign policy that aimed, above all, to protect their state. Ippolito’s father, Alfonso, found himself in a difficult position on more than one occasion, struggling to fend off papal claims overthe duchy and having to navigate through fleeting and unstable political alliances. Between 1510 and 1523, he lost Modena, Reggio and several other territories to Jul-ius II first and then to Leo X, also losing the backing of the French after Francis I was captured and imprisoned by the emperor in Pavia, in 1525. In the following years, Alfonso reconquered the lost cities. His hold, however, remained weak and the danger of losing them again to the pope led the duke to keep swinging allegiance between the emperor and the king of France. Even after the recovery of its territo-ries, the hostility of the popes remained a crucial factor in the political life of the duchy and one that extended well beyond Alfonso’s reign.5 It is in this context that young Ippolito started his career in the clergy. As Al-fonso and Lucrezia’s second-born son, there were never any doubts that he would follow in his uncle’s steps and join the clergy. It was common practice for Italian ruling families to destine their cadet sons to the Curia, as the Church offered excel-lent career prospects and a religious vocation was not a prerequisite. At the age of ten, Ippolito received the archbishopric of Milan from his uncle, Ippolito I, who had held it since 1498.6 His education, though, remained focused on those typical courtly activities that were deemed fit for any young prince: just like his elder brother Ercole, Ippolito learned to ride horses, to hunt and to dance. The Este court attracted many famous names of the Italian Renaissance, and the duke’s children could bene-fit from first-rank teaching in Latin literature, grammar and philosophy, but also in music and theatre.7Unfortunately, the relentless hostility that marked the relationship between Fer-rara and the popes weighed against Ippolito’s chances to ascend the ecclesiastical hierarchy as quickly as his uncle, who had become a cardinal when he was only fourteen-years old. When Alfonso, in 1527, joined the League of Cognac alongside King Francis I and Pope Clement VII, he was promised the hand of French princess Renée for his eldest son, Ercole, and the red hat for Ippolito. When the hostilities ended, Francis kept his promise, but Clement did not. Ercole’s wedding to Renée, in 1528, strengthened the duchy’s relationship with the Valois.8 It also marked the be-ginning of Ippolito’s relationship with the French monarchy, as King Francis I au-thorised the young archbishop to hold ecclesiastical benefices in France. Ippolito had much to expect from Francis I’s friendship, especially because the tension be-tween Ferrara and Rome over the possession of Modena and Reggio was escalating quickly and Ippolito’s promotion to cardinal had to be put on hold. In the end, only a last -minute plea to Charles V, on his way to be crowned in Bologna in 1530, al-lowed Alfonso to save the integrity of the duchy and to have his rights over Modena and Reggio officially recognised. Ippolito’s red hat, though, was delayed to better times.
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