Military leader left legacy of fine architecture
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| Diego Valásquez's portrait of Francesco I |
Francesco I, Duke of Modena, who was to be immortalised in a
bust by the sculptor, Bernini, was born on this day in 1610 in Modena in
Emilia-Romagna.
He is remembered as a skilful military commander, who
enriched Modena with the building of the Ducal Palace.
Francesco was the eldest son of Alfonso III d’Este and
Isabella of Savoy and became Duke of Modena in 1629 after the death of his
mother had prompted his grieving father to abdicate in order to take religious
vows and become a Capuchin Friar in Merano.
During the next two years about 70 per cent of the
inhabitants of Modena were killed by the plague.
The Duke’s father, now known as Fra’ Giambattista da Modena,
tried to help the dying and went about preaching during the outbreak of plague,
before retiring to a convent built by Francesco for him in Castelnuovo in
Garfagnana.
After the outbreak of the Thirty Years War, Francesco sided
with Spain and invaded the Duchy of Parma, but when he went to Spain to claim
his reward he was able to acquire only Correggio, for a payment of 230,000
florins.
Francesco then sided with Venice, Florence and Parma against
Pope Urban VIII and tried unsuccessfully to conquer Ferrara.
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| Gian Lorenzo Bernini's 1651 bust of Francesco I d'Este |
Francesco had married Maria Caterina Farnese, but after she
died in 1646, he married her sister, Vittoria, who died in 1649.
Modena then became the ally of France, through the
intercession of Cardinal Mazarin, but Francesco later made an agreement with
Spain because they seemed to be on the winning side in the Thirty Years War.
He married off his son and heir, Alfonso, to Laura
Martinozzi, Mazarin’s niece.
Francesco’s third and final marriage was to Lucrezia
Barberini, the daughter of Taddeo Barberini, who his troops had at one stage
fought against during the Thirty Years War. He had 11 children in total and two
of them, Alfonso and Rinaldo, later became Dukes of Modena.
He fought alongside France and Savoy in 1656, conquering
Alessandria and Valenza. In 1658 he conquered Mortara, but he became ill with
malaria and died in Santhia in Vercelli in the Piedmont region.
Francesco I is remembered for his good character and
religious ideals and for improving and enriching Modena.
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| Balsamic vinegar is big business in Modena |
Travel tip:
Modena is a city on the south side of the Po Valley in the
Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It is known for its car industry, as Ferrari,
De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati have all been located there. The
city is also well known for producing balsamic vinegar. Operatic tenor Luciano
Pavarotti and soprano Mirella Freni were both born in Modena.
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| The Ducal Palace is a dominant feature of the Modena skyline |
Travel tip:
One of the main sights in Modena is the huge, baroque Ducal
Palace, which was begun by Francesco I on the site of a former castle in 1635.
His architect, Luigi Bartolomeo Avanzini, created a home for him that few
European princes could match at the time. The palace is now home to the Italian
national military academy. In the Galleria Estense, on the upper floor of the
Palazzo dei Musei in Modena, the one-metre high bust of Francesco I d’Este,
Duke of Modena, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, still seems to be commanding the city.