took their Husbands upon their backs declaring as they past through the Camp that these were the only Jewels they desired to secure from Conrard and his Army this generous act of the Princess and her Ladies did so surprize and please the Emperour that he would see his word made good and thereupon not only pardon'd but was reconciled to Gwelfo giving him back some part of his Brothers inheritance Gwelfo afterwards accompanied Conrard in his expedition to the Holy Land which the treachery of the Greeks rendered insuccessfull at his return he made ready an Army to go into Italy to receive the Imperial Crown and designed to carry Gwelfo with him of whose company he seem'd to be very fond because he durst not leave him behind but his journey being put off by his sickness he lived not to receive that honour and though he left a Son yet his Nephew Frederick Barbarossa succeeded him Frederick's first work was to cement all the breaches of Germany which he did with so much equity and discretion that he gave satisfaction to all parties His Mother was of the House of Bavaria and this made him willing to restore that Dutchy to the Son of Henry and to his Uncle Gwelfo he gave all that the Emperours had recovered of Matildis Estate which I confess was a doing right in some measure to the house of Esté but not to that part of it that had suffered most by her This brings us back to Italy which we shall now find the chief Scene of Affairs and Rinaldus of Esté of age to be the chief Actor for whose sake we must give a more particular account of things as they then stood when Frederick came thither The long absence of an Emperour had brought Affairs into great disorder especially in Lombardy where every City form'd it self into a sort of Republick and dissensions naturally arising betwixt them there was no person that had either Authority to determine their differences or power to see his determinations received The City of Milan affected the Dominion over all the rest had already made some submit and was every day encroaching upon others with an insupportable insolence Many complaints were brought to the Emperour from most of the neighbour Cities declaring that they must submit to the Queen of Lombardy for so Milan stiled her self unless they had his protection The Emperour promised to make what hast he could towards them and to put an end to all their quarrels When he came to the Lago di Garda near Verona he received the complements of the Italian Princes amongst others were Boniface Fulco Opizo and Albertus of Esté his Kinsmen by his Mother who had all conferred on them special marks of his favour But we find nothing of Rinaldus the Chief of the Family who it is thought absented himself being highly disgusted that Matildis Estate should be setled by Frederick upon the German Line The Emperour having rebuked those of Milan and Tortona for their late carriage and required them to make reparation for the injuries done their neighbours went towards Rome and being Anno Christi 1155 Crowned Emperour by Adrian the fourth he returned into Germany Fresh troubles in Italy called him soon back but as his presence converted all their Rebellion into Humility and Duty so his being reconciled upon too easie terms to Milan and Brescia the authors of discord encouraged them to renew their practices when he was gone and for Adrian if we honour him for his Countrey as being of our neighbour-nation of England we must condemn him for his malice against this great Emperour in fomenting their Rebellion When Frederick came to Italy the third time Milan and Brescia had several other Towns joyn'd to them and stood out a long siege yet before he left them they were made to accept of what conditions he pleased to impose which yet were much more gentle than they especially Milan did deserve after having twice abused his clemency About this time Adrian the fourth dying the Election of two Popes Alexander the third and Victor the fourth occasioned a new Schism more dangerous than any of the former both writ to the Emperour then besieging Crema to confirm their Election but he out of pure zeal for the peace of the Church refusing to declare for either called a Council at Pavia where they were summoned to appear to have their Cause heard and determined by their Brethren the Bishops Victor came thither at the day appointed but Alexander continued at Rome whereupon the Council offended at his contempt and judging his not appearance to flow from a diffidence in his Cause gave it in favour of Victor whom the Emperour did then confirm and sent Letters to the Kings of France England and Spain to give an account of what was there concluded Alexander was excommunicated by Victor at Pavia Frederick and Victor by Alexander at Rome and the parties being now irreconcilable Alexander sent a Legat to those of Milan to declare them absolved from the Oaths they had lately sworn and not obliged to make good the Articles which necessity had extorted from them Milan and the Confederate Cities took Arms immediately and resolving to carry on a formed War against the Emperour invited Rinaldus Marquess of Esté to be their General who thinking himself injured and neglected by Frederick did too readily undertake the Patronage of so unjust a Cause The Emperour judging his Army too weak to deal with so many gave order for New Levies in Germany which were finished and sent with great expedition to Italy the Kings likewise of Bohemia Denmark and Norway came in person to his assistance with their choicest troops so that when all his forces were united he had no less than seventy thousand Foot and forty thousand Horse the Confederates likewise had made great preparations Rinaldus of Esté their General brought six thousand Foot and four thousand Horse Brescia Bergamo Piacenza Verona Vicenza Padoua and Bologna sent the numbers agreed on the general review was made at Milan where according to most of the Italian Writers they were fifty thousand men well armed the very first night the Emperour sate down before Milan Rinaldus ordered a sally at four several gates which put the Imperial Army into such confusion that the enemy was like to have dispossest them of their Camp Rinaldus perceiving the Confederate Army to dwindle away insensibly partly by Famine and partly by Sickness occasion'd by their being shut up so close in the hottest season of the year called a Council of War where it was resolved That all should be in readiness next morning to bring the business to an issue the whole Army being accordingly assembled in the great Market place Rinaldus led them out into the Imperial Camp a little before noon where falling in upon the Danes and Norvegians that were secure and unfit for action by reason of the great heat he did so great execution that no perswasion could make them continue
to the great honour of the Family of Esté from which they are sprung Two years before died Rinaldus the most popular Prince and the greatest General of the Italian Nation Anno Christi 1175 in that time Whereever he appeared his reputation brought an Army together and he had been successfull in all his undertakings but the badness of the Cause he all along espoused did much lessen the glory of his actions The latter part of his life affords nothing remarkable besides the taking Rovigo because the Emperour knowing his restless spirit would never part with his Son by whose confinement he was sure to bind Rinaldus to his good behaviour When the Emperour had the news of Rinaldus's death he call'd to him Azo shew'd him how much his Father had been his Enemy how ill Henry of Bavaria had requited his favours and how both being his near Kinsmen had been consequently most of all persons obliged to promote his service and honour Yet that the former had been a great Instrument in the Rebellion of Milan the latter of his unseasonable accommodation with the Pope but that the world might see he had no design to destroy their Family nor to revenge the Fathers guilt upon the Son from whom better returns might be expected he freely dismist him that he might go and enjoy what Rinaldus had left adding thereunto the Government of Milan granted formerly by Otho the Great to his Ancestor Hugo Azo's unexpected advancement gave great joy to those who wish'd well to his House but he died before he could express his sense of the Emperours Generosity and left this as a debt upon his Cousin Opizo who succeeded him Opizo's rise did beget great emulation in the breasts of two powerfull Neighbours and the most dangerous Enemies the Family of Esté ever dealt with Salinguerra Taurellus of Ferrara and Actiolinus of Onara who had married Rinaldus's Daughter the former was a man of extraordinary parts the latter a stout Captain and both of them were enflam'd with ambition which Opizo's greatness seem'd to check Salinguerra possest the people of Ferrara with an Opinion that the Marquess of Esté design'd their ruine whereupon they came to acts of hostility with his Subjects without further examining the business Actiolinus raising a Title by his Wife to Anno Christi 1184 Rovigo seized upon it agreeing with Salinguerra to joyn Forces in case the Marquess prov'd too hard for either the difference with Ferrara was soon made up when it appeared that Salinguerra had created this misunderstanding only to compass his own ends And as ill grounded jealousie when dissolved makes sometimes way for the most lasting friendship so the Marquess and those of Ferrara were hereby provoked to mutual offices of kindness and confidence the Marquess to confute Salinguerra's calumnies did effectually intercede with Henry the sixth in behalf of Ferrara to retrieve some priviledges which that Cities undutifull carriage to his Father had lost And this friendly act did so affect them that they never ceased till the Marquess sent his Son Azo to live among them And from that instant we may date the house of Esté's taking sure footing in Ferrara which afterwards proved so happy under its influence Actiolinus was more obstinate refusing to restore Rovigo till Henry the sixth interposed his Authority Actiolinus afterwards to secure the Emperours favour and to strengthen his party against the Marquess declared himself Head of the Gibellin Faction which obliged Opizo to take upon him the protection of the Guelphs These German Factions began in Italy during Frederick's War with Alexander the third and were by the sowers of Sedition improved to that degree under Frederick the second that they divided the whole Nation they put all the Families at variance with one another and the Cities into Civil Wars within themselves and if any were indifferent in their judgment for their own security they were forced to declare themselves of either Party Sometimes one Brother would be a Gibellin that is for the Emperour and the other a Guelph for the Pope and thereupon forgetting all the tyes of Nature would mortally hate and persecute one another robberies assassinations and all sorts of violence and revenge were allow'd against those of the contrary Faction and the breach being once made was too like to continue seeing the wayes of uniting them were cut off no man could expect reparation by Justice which lay dead and the Families of one Faction could hardly be perswaded to match with those of the other Their publick meetings did for the most part end in quarrels and in the streets they used to point at one another as Traytors or Renegadoes Nor was the long duration less strange than the violence of these Factions for though the flame did not always burn with equal fury being sometimes stifled several years and then breaking out again yet it lasted almost four hundred years from Frederick Barbarossa's time till the Reign of Charles the fifth before it was quite extinct Upon strict enquiry I find the better sort can still tell which Families were Guelphs and which Gibellins in several places but they have now laid aside all rancour or malice upon this score Actiolinus was now grown a very nneasie Neighbour with an Army of Padouans he went towards Vicenza and Verona pillaging and burning all where he came the People of Verona did in this strait cast their eyes upon Azo Opizo's Son who with such as follow'd him from Ferrara and Esté fought Actiolin near Bachilio and took five hundred of his Party prisoners It is probable Azo was chiefly employ'd in this service because Opizo did then lie ill and died a few dayes after This early proof of Azo the sevenths valour seem'd to presage great happiness under his Government Anno Christi 1193 which made them receive him at Esté upon his return with extraordinary expressions of joy and there he continued some time till his friends at Ferrara troubled to lose the only person that could curb Salinguerra found a charm to bring him back His Wife the Count of Savoy's Daughter by whom he had several Children was lately dead they therefore proposed to him a match with a Lady of their City who for riches and interest exceeded all that liv'd in those parts her Uncle was the Chief Magistrate and the much richest Nobleman of Ferrara who besides what he had there was also Hereditary Governour of the Mark of Ancona to all which having no Issue his Niece was to succeed This was too advantageous a proffer for Azo to neglect and Salinguerra's endeavouring to hinder it did bring it on the sooner they were married privately and afterwards received by the Magistrates and People of Ferrara at their coming thither with all the formalities of Princes Salinguerra highly enraged went to the Emperour who was then in Sicily with heavy Articles against Azo first that he design'd to make himself absolute Master of all the Cities near him as he
strengthen his interest and keep her from any other match which might prove in the end fatal to him and his Family But Adeleidis in her heart hated Berengarius as the Author of her husbands death and rejected Albertus upon his Fathers score Berengarius resolving to gain by threats her who was proof against all allurements confin'd her first to Pavia then to a more narrow prison whence there was no hopes of deliverance but by consenting to a marriage with Albertus Hugo who knew nothing to be more natural to Berengarius than cruelty being sensible of the Queens danger whom he judg'd not likely to yield generously ventur'd all to rescue her and oblige Otho King of Germany for whom Adeleidis was designed before her imprisonment Having therefore got without suspicion into the Castle where she was kept in the midst of a Lake by the help of a Priest of whose fidelity and courage he had formerly experience the Queen was let down out of a Window and convey'd away in a Boat which lay ready for that purpose into the next Wood where she continued several days with Hugo the Priest furnishing them with such entertainment as he could procure from the neighbouring Villages Notice being given to Otho of the Queens escape his Army presently advanced towards Italy and this put all in such a consternation that Hugo and the Queen got without any further danger into the Castle of Cannossa where Azo expected them Otho having received his Queen Anno Christi 952 from the hands of Hugo her Deliverer marched on towards Berengarius whose tyranny had now render'd him so odious that being deserted by all his friends he delivered himself up Prisoner with his Son Albertus and Otho without much trouble possess'd himself of the Imperial Crown which has ever since continued in the German Nation No reward seeming too great for the person to whom he ow'd his Queen Hugo was made Governour of all that Country which is now known by the name of the Dutchy of Milan the Dutchy of Montferrat Piemont and the territory of Genoua and Berengarius was carried Prisoner into Germany CHAP. IV. The most remarkable actions of the Counts of Esté from Otho the Great to Henry the third AFter a short confinement Berengarius had leave to return into Italy with the title of King but much limited in his Authority which he was too apt to abuse scarce was he well setled when forgetfull of the Emperours clemency and his own engagements being enraged at those who had helped to humble him he behaved himself more cruelly than ever Hugo whose splendid way of living did eclipse him was the chief object of his wrath but too powerfull for him to meddle with After Hugo's death he took occasion to fall out with his Brother Azo about their Mother Giscla's inheritance and their difference ended in Azo's being turned out of all he had and forced to fly for his life into Germany with his Anno Christi 960 Son whence neither of them ever returned With them must the family of Esté have perished had not the hopefull Issue of Sigifred Prince of Parma supported it Sigifred himself was dead but his eldest Son Azo entering upon his Cousins desperate fortune in spite of the Tyrant maintained his right and confirmed his younger brothers in theirs at Parma and Luca. The loud cryes of Berengarius's oppression and the complaints of such as every day fled from Italy reaching the Emperours ears brought his Son Lodolphus with an Army from Germany against the Tyrant Lodolphus being suddenly kill'd Azo the third happening to be then in the Camp was chosen General in the Princes room In this station he had not continued many dayes when engaging the enemy he obtained a signal victory and reduced several places to the Emperours obedience Where-ever he came the people crouded to welcome him as the deliverer of his Countrey Piacenza and Regio desiring to live under his protection presented him with their keys many Cities being weary of their late sufferings were making hast to free themselves from the yoke of Berengarius who on the other hand was using all diligence to raise forces and to put a stop to Azo's success But Otho 's appearing the second time with a strong Army after some few skirmishes rather than fights took Berengarius prisoner and sent him into Germany there to endure perpetual imprisonment for the miseries he had brought upon his Native Countrey Otho's occasions requiring his speedy return into Germany he resolved to put the Government of Italy into sure hands and none having deserved so well of him nor being so able to do him service as Azo he committed all to his trust with the title of Vicar of Italy This unlimited Power Anno Christi 970 Azo discreetly employ'd for the establishment of the Emperours Authority yet not without giving satisfaction to those he govern'd by which he added greatly to the former lustre of his family Azo left several Sons the eldest was Albertus the second Otho's chief Favorite whom some of the Italian writers call Albertatius the second was Thedaldus whom the City of Ferrara mindfull of its former happiness under a Prince of the house of Esté chose in the place of Almaricus lately dead After the death of his Father and Uncle he had likewise Regio Parma and Luca by which he laid the foundation of that Power and Riches which his Grand-child the Countess Matildis so famous in the Histories of those times did foully mis-imploy in setting up the Papal Authority against that of the Emperours as we shall relate hereafter The vast possessions fallen to Albertus by his Fathers death might have invited him home had he not been deeply engaged at the Emperours Court. From the time of Charles the Great the Family of Esté had been dignified with the title of Counts which Otho changed into that of Marquess and thinking he could never too well requite Hugo's kindness in rescuing Adeleidis from the hands of Berengarius he gave his Daughter by Adeleidis named Alda in marriage to Albertus with ten Castles in Lombardy and the City of Friburgh in Germany Upon the death of Otho the Great dissensions arose about the Succession for his Brother Henry of Bavaria trusting in his Interest with the neighbour Princes endeavoured to wrest the Imperial Crown from his Nephew Otho the second But Albertus being zealous for the young Prince engaged so many in his behalf as made good the Justice of his Cause against the Usurper This did beget him the irreconcileable hatred of Henry which he little valued while he was so fast united to the Emperour Harald King of Denmark was one of those that declared for Henry and brought an Army to the Fields to over-aw those who should offer to oppose him but Albertus with the Emperours Forces gave him such a blow that all his threats ended in a peace with Otho upon very unequal terms Things thus setled at home Otho the second went
any wayes have consisted with his safety that he desired not to know who had been his Enemies lest he were thereby tempted to bear them a grudge and that he would not have such think he knew them lest it might occasion a jealousie of his being less tender of them than of the rest of his Subjects Sixtus the fourth who succeeded Paul designing to exalt his Nephews at any rate and hoping if he could make sure of Iulian and Laurence of Medici Florence might easily be seized upon procured the one to be murdered at Church before the very Altar and the other to be desperately wounded and as they thought killed But the blackness of the action put the whole City into such a fury that none of the Conspirators no not the Arch-bishop of Pisa escaped being hanged from the Palace windows only the Popes Nephew against whom the Evidence was not so clear they shut up in prison The Pope grieved for the disappointment as likewise for the Arch-bishops ignominious death and the imprisonment of his Nephew made ready the arms of the Church and those of the King of Naples against the Florentins but they who were not to be threaten'd neither by his Excommunication nor the Kings Troops out of their Liberty and the Justice of their Cause had assistance from Venice and Milan with the Duke of Ferrara for their General The War was carried on but faintly in the Popes behalf by the Duke of Calabria and a Peace at length was concluded betwixt Ferdinand King of Naples and Florence the Pope having lost his honour without reaping any advantage by this Anno Christi 1479 wicked enterprize Some disputes arising about the Confines of Rovigo neither the Duke of Ferrara's proffering to refer the matter in contest to any two Princes nor Ferdinand King of Naples and Iohn Galeazo Duke of Milan's endeavouring an accommodation by their Ambassadors could keep the Venetians from a War with him the Pope they were sure of because he hated the Duke since the war of Florence but Galeazo and Ferdinand declared for him and Frederick Duke of Vrbin esteemed the greatest Captain of Italy after the death of Francis of Milan undertook the Conduct of his Army The Venetians at first went on furiously because their Forces were much more numerous than the Dukes and the Pope denyed passage to the Troops of Naples but Matthias King of Hungary who had married the Dutchess of Ferrara's Sister and Ferdinand of Spain her Cousin never gave over soliciting till the Pope broke with the Venetians and then the Duke of Calabria having leave with his Army to march towards Lombardy things went better with the Duke and after several Campaignes both parties being almost tired acts of hostility came insensibly to cease a more dangerous war for Italy then breaking out Galeazo's Son of the same name being now Duke of Milan and married Anno Christi 1489 to the Duke of Calabria's Daughter his Uncle Lewis Forza kept all the Power in his hands much to the grief of the young Dutchess who was more impatient than her Husband so that she never rested till she engaged her Father to write to Lewis to resign the Government to his Nephew that was then of age threatning that in case he refused he would see reason done to his Son-in-Law Lewis that he might find employment elsewhere for Alphonsus invited Charles the eighth to the Conquest of Naples to which he could make a specious Title and the King being young stout and ambitious to say no worse was easily engaged What Lewis did all thought to be by the advice of the Duke of Ferrara whose Daughter Beatrix he had married for the Duke though he appeared not much in it yet went with Lewis to meet the King of Alexandria This Expedition is so exactly set down by Guiccardin one of the best of the Modern Writers that it will save all who come after him the pains of enlarging upon it but in short there are few instances of a Kingdom Conquered in less time or with less resistance wherever Charles came the Gates were opened and the Magistrates ready to salute him King and at Naples he was welcomed as Emperour of the East whether this were to gratifie a vanity they observed in the French as Alexander the sixth had done before at Rome or if Charles and his Officers really gave out that he designed to pass unto Greece against the Turk I shall not determine but too true it is that this empty Title given him at Naples cost many thousand Christians in and about Constantinople their lives for Bajazet the Father of Selym seemed jealous of some such design and of their being privy to it The Kings great success frighted the Princes of Italy into a Confederacy to cut him and his Army off in his return and no person was so forward in this as Lewis Forza who had brought him in but the Duke of Ferrara tho' he had only complemented the King stood more upon his Honour and could by no perswasions be brought to the field against him The Confederate Army trusting in its number which was four to one stopped the King near the River Taro where he bravely fought his passage and got safe into the Duke of Savoy's Territories The Duke of Orleans afterwards Lewis the twelfth kept Novara whither the Confederate Army marched to be revenged on him for the Kings escape but there was no getting the place till by the Duke of Ferrara's mediation honourable Articles were granted the French First that in lieu of Novara Forza should pay the Duke of Orleans a considerable summ of money Secondly that neither he nor the Venetians should assist the house of Arragon in Naples and in case the Venetians did that then Forza should be obliged to make war upon them and for the performance of these Articles the Castle of Genoua was consigned into the Mediators hands who sent Francis Raugoni one of the chief Gentlemen of Modena to take possession of it and to continue his Government there After the death of Charles the 8 th Lewis the twelfth being mindfull of Forza's treachery and encouraged by the Venetians invaded Milan and notwithstanding the endeavours of Maximilian the Emperour and the great diversion given the Venetians by the Turks whom Forza had stirred up against them Forza lost Anno Christi 1500 Milan and was carried prisoner to France there to end his dayes in a melancholy dungeon The Duke of Ferrara not knowing how to meddle betwixt the King that was his Friend and Forza to whom he was so nearly related had observed in this War a perfect neutrality but when the French Troops marched again to the Conquest of Naples none was more forward than the Duke to assist them The Great Gonsalvo Ferdinand of Castiles General being then in Sicily they fatally advised Lewis to secure his friendship by allowing him a share which being agreed to the division of the Kingdom betwixt them cost more time