The princesses of the House of Este

Anna d’Este, the firstborn of Ercole II and Renée of France, moved to France on account of her two French marriages (first to the Duke of Guise and then to the Duke of Nemours). The two other Este princesses, however, Lucrezia (1535) and Leonora (1537), remained in Ferrara with their brother Alfonso II. Lucrezia was promised in marriage to the considerably younger Francesco Maria della Rovere, the future Duke of Urbino and a childhood friend of Tasso. After lengthy negotiations, the actual marriage took place in 1570. After a couple of near-marriages of prestige had fallen through, Leonora remained in Ferrara with her brother Cardinal Luigi d’Este. After Tasso’s arrival at the Court of Este, through a series of public occasions and the composition of his epic whose cantos were read in private sittings, he became very close to the two princesses, especially Leonora. At the time of the Rime of the Eterei, he described her as “his very special patron and protectress”. This bond of friendship and patronage probably facilitated Tasso’s transition from the Cardinal’s court to the service of Duke Alfonso. It also gave rise to the story, spread by Manso and successfully so, despite the lack of documentary evidence, of a supposed love affair between Tasso and Leonora, who was several years his senior, that allegedly led to his confinement at Sant’Anna. Tasso dedicated a number of poems to Leonora and Lucrezia during his years at Ferrara and during the early part of his time at Sant’Anna (in particular the canzone O figlie di Renata, Rime, 667), in the hope, which proved vain, that the princesses would be able to procure his release.