ALFONSO II D'ESTE, duke of FERRARA. — Born at Ferrara on 22 November 1533 to Ercole II and Renata of France, daughter of Luigi XII; died there on 27 October 1597.
Striving with all his energy to enlarge the Este state and dynasty, whose decline he was unable to prevent, he lent splendor to the final days of the duchy of Ferrara. From his three marriages—to Lucrezia de' Medici, daughter of Cosimo I (1560), Barbara of Austria, daughter
of the Emperor Ferdinando I (1565), and Margherita Gonzaga, daughter of Guglielmo, duke of Mantua (1579)—he had neither children nor political advantages. He took part in the civil wars of France and in the expedition of Massimiliano II against the Turks (1566). Torquato Tasso dedicated Gerusalemme Liberata to him for this expedition. He aspired, in competition with Emanuele Filiberto of Savoy, to the elective crown of Poland (1574–76) and to supremacy over the small Italian states, which was instead attained by Cosimo de' Medici when he was appointed grand duke. Hence arose a long and noisy dispute. His loyalty to France, his mother’s Huguenot sympathies, and his excessive taxation made him unpopular and suspect, although he conducted his government according to the anti-Machiavellian principles (loyalty and religion) expressed in Principe by G. B. Pigna, his secretary of state. Upon his death, Ferrara was devolved to the Holy See, which deemed the legitimate branch of the Este extinct. The heir he had chosen, his cousin Cesare, was only duke of Modena and Reggio.