Alfonso III d'Este

Alfonso III d'Este
Duke of Modena and Reggio
Reign	11 December 1628 – 24 July 1629
Predecessor	Cesare d'Este
Successor	Francesco I d'Este
Born	(1591-10-22)22 October 1591 Ferrara, Duchy of Ferrara
Died	24 May 1644(1644-05-24) (aged 52) Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
Spouse	Isabella of Savoy ​ ​ (m. 1608; died 1626)​
Issue	Margherita, Duchess of Guastalla Francesco, Duke of Modena Anna Beatrice, Duchess of Mirandola Cardinal Obizzo Cardinal Rinaldo
House	Este
Father	Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena
Mother	Virginia de' Medici
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Alfonso III d'Este (22 October 1591 – 24 May 1644) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1628 to 1629. He was the husband of Princess Isabella of Savoy, daughter of Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy and his wife Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain.

Biography

Born in Ferrara, he was the first son of Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena and Virginia de' Medici. In 1613 he took part in the war against Lucca and had a primary role in the assassination of count Ercole Pepoli, who was disputing the duchy with Cesare, at Ferrara (1617).

In 1608 he was married to Isabella of Savoy, daughter of Charles Emmanuel I of Savoy. Profoundly in love with her, when she died in 1626 he started to think to take religious vows. When his father died in 1628, Alfonso became Duke of Modena and Reggio. However, in July 1629 he announced his abdication from the Castle of Sassuolo. On September 8 of the same year he entered the Capuchin friars at Merano under the name of fra' Giambattista da Modena.

He was distinguished as a preacher and helper of dying people during the pestilence which struck the Duchy in 1630–1631. In the following year he returned to Modena, but his discourses against the costumes of the court made him unwelcome, so he retired to a convent in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, built by his son, Duke Francesco I, where he died in 1644.

Issue

• Cesare d'Este (1609–1613), died in infancy;
• Francesco Ι d'Este (1610–1658), future Duke of Modena; married Maria Farnese, Vittoria Farnese and Lucrezia Barberini, all had issue;
• Obizzo d'Este (1611–1644), Bishop of Modena;
• Caterina d'Este (1613–1628), nun;
• Cesare d'Este (1614–1677), died unmarried;
• Alessandro d'Este (1615), died in infancy;
• Carlo Alessandro d'Este (1616–1679), died unmarried;;
• Rinaldo d'Este (1618–1672) Cardinal;
• Margherita d'Este (1619–1692), married Ferrante III Gonzaga, Duke of Guastalla;
• Beatrice d'Este (1620), died in infancy;
• Beatrice d'Este (1622–1623), died in infancy;
• Filiberto d'Este (1623–1645);
• Bonifazio d'Este (1624), died in infancy;
• Anna Beatrice d'Este (1626–1690), married Alessandro II Pico della Mirandola and had issue; Isabella died giving birth to her.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Alfonso III d'Este

16. Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Modena 8. Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Modena 17. Princess Eleanor of Naples 4. Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio 9. Laura Dianti 2. Cesare d'Este, Duke of Modena 20. Giovanni della Rovere 10. Francesco Maria della Rovere, Duke of Urbino 21. Giovanna da Montefeltro 5. Giulia della Rovere 22. Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua 11. Eleonor Gonzaga 23. Isabella d'Este 1. Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena 24. Giovanni de' Medici 12. Giovanni de' Medici 25. Caterina Sforza 6. Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany 26. Jacopo Salviati 13. Maria Salviati 27. Lucrezia de' Medici 3. Virginia de' Medici 14. Antonio Martelli 7. Camilla Martelli 15. Fiammetta Soderini

External links

• Media related to Alfonso III d'Este, Duke of Modena at Wikimedia Commons