'Leonello d'Este', also spelled 'Lionello' (
1407 -
1450) was
marquis of
Ferrara and
Duke of
Modena and
Reggio Emilia from
1441 to 1450.
Biography
Leonello was one of the three illegitimate sons of
Niccolò d'Este III and Stella de' Tolomei. He received a military education under the
condottiero Braccio da Montone, and was taught in letters by the humanist
Guarino Veronese. In 1425, after the execution of his elder brother Ugo Aldobrandino, he remained the sole heir of Niccolò.
In
1435 he married to Margherita Gonzaga and was recknowned as legitimate son by
Pope Martin V. Margherita, who died in 1439, gave birth to a child, Niccolò in 1438 (died in 1476).
In 1441 he succedeed his father to his possession in northern Italy. In 1444 Leonello married to Mary of Aragon, illegitimate daughter of King
Alfonso V of Naples.
Leonello was responsible of the construction of the first hospital of
Ferrara. A skilled politician, he however distinguished chiefly as a man of culture.
Leon Battista Alberti wrote his ''
De Re Aedificatoria'' under Leonello's commission, and at the Ferrarese court worked artists such as
Pisanello,
Iacopo Bellini,
Andrea Mantegna,
Piero della Francesca and the Flemish
Rogier van der Weyden. During his rule the University of Ferrara gained an European prestige.
Leonello died in 1450, at age 43. He was succeeded by his father's illegitimate son,
Borso d'Este.
External links
★
Extended biography
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