Polesella

A strategic centre in the Polesine region situated along the River Po, not far from Rovigo, on the border of the states of Ferrara and Venice. Venice and Ferrara had already contested each other the Polesine in the 15^th century. In 1482, during the war for salt, Polesella had been the theatre of military conflict that had taken place along the Po: the Venetians had won and the city and the whole of the territory of Rovigo had gone over to the so called Serenissima, i.e. Venice. On 30 November 1509 Ludovico Ariosto took part, in attendance to Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, in the first Battle of Polesella against the Venetians. That day the Venetians, in conflict against the Estenses as part of the war provoked by the League of Cambrai, were forced to leave their ships and retreat upon two bastions along the shores of the Po, at Polesella, where they were beaten. There are references to this battle in Orlando furioso XXXVI, 5, vv. 5-8: "quel dì, Signor, che la famiglia inanti / vostra mandaste là dove ritratti / dai legni lor con importuni auspici / s’erano in luogo forte gli inimici".  On that occasion the Venetian fleet had gone up the Po so as to put the Estenses under pressure, by then alone in the face of the Serenissima’s army: the troops from Ferrara, led by Cardinal Ippolito, set up their artillery along the Po, waiting for the river to flood. When the rising level of the river brought the Venetian ships within range of Ferrara’s cannons, the cardinal ordered his men to open fire, destroying the enemy fleet. To the second Battle of Polesella are dedicated the verses from Orlando furioso XL, 2,  vv. 1-4: ‘Ebbe lungo spettacolo il fedele / vostro popul la notte e ‘l dì che stette, / come in teatro, l’inimiche vele / mirando in Po tra ferro e fuoco astrette".