Alfonso d'Este (21 July 1476 – 31 October 1534) was Duke of Ferrara from 1505 to 1510, succeeding Ercole I d'Este, and from 1530 to 1534, preceding Ercole II d'Este. Alfonso distinguished himself as a general of France during the Italian Wars (notably during the War of the League of Cambrai), and he was also married to Lucrezia Borgia.
Biography[]
Alfonso in 1492.
Alfonso d'Este was born in Subiaco, Italy in 1476, the son of Ercole I d'Este. He had a brief love affair with Lucrezia Borgia in 1493 during her unhappy marriage to Giovanni Sforza, but he was forced to leave Rome after his father sided with France against the Papal States. In 1505, he succeeded his father as Duke of Ferrara, and he joined Pope Julius II's alliance against the Republic of Venice during the War of the League of Cambrai. However, he remained an ally of King Louis XII of France even after the Pope switched sides, and he was excommunicated in 1510; Ferrara was a part of the Papal States until 1530. d'Este fought as a general of France against the armies of Venice and the Papacy, capturing Bologna and playing a major role in the French victory at the Battle of Ravenna in 1512. In 1526-27, he took part in Emperor Charles V's expedition against Pope Clement VII, and he was granted Modena and Reggio by the Pope in 1530. He also married Lucrezia Borgia, although he was now more cautious around her, having been intimidated by the Borgia family's intrigues. d'Este died in 1534.