,
were descended from a family whose remote ancestor was one Albert. The
names Adalbert and Albert assume in Italian the form Oberto, from which
we have the diminutives Obizzo and Azzo. In the tenth century there
appears a Marquis Oberto who was first a retainer of King Berengar and
later of Otto the Great. It is not known from what domain he and his
immediate successors derived their title of marquis; they were, however,
powerful lords in Lombardy as well as in Tuscany. One of Oberto's
ancestors, Alberto Azzo II, who is originally mentioned as Marchio de
Longobardia, governed the territory from Mantua to the Adriatic and the
region about the Po, where he owned Este and Rovigo. He married
Kunigunde, sister of Count Guelf III of Swabia, and in this way the
famous German family of Guelf became connected with the Oberti and drawn
into Italian politics. When Alberto Azzo died in the year 1096--more
than a hundred years old--he left two sons, Guelf and Folco, who were
the founders of the house of Este in Italy and the Guelf house of
Braunschweig in Germany, for Guelf inherited the property of his
maternal grandfather, Guelf III, in whom the male line of the house
became extinct in the year 1055. He went to Germany, where he became
Duke of Bavaria and founded the Guelf line.

Folco inherited his father's Italian possessions, and in the great
struggle of the German emperor with the papacy, the Margraves of Este
were aggressive and determined soldiers. At first they were simply
members of the Guelf faction, but subsequently they became its leaders,
and thus were able to establish their power in Ferrara.

The origin of the city is lost in the mists of antiquity. By the gift of
Pipin and Charles it passed to the Church. It was also included in the
deed of Matilda. In the war between the Pope and the Emperor, occasioned
by this gift of Matilda, Ferrara succeeded in regaining its independence
as a republic.

The Este first appeared there about the end of the twelfth century.
Folco's grandson, Azzo V, married Marchesella Adelardi, who was the heir
of the leader of the Guelfs in that city, where Salinguerra was the head
of the Ghibellines. From that time the Margraves of Este possessed great
influence in Ferrara. They were likewise leaders of the Guelf party in
the north of Italy.

In the year 1208 Azzo VI succeeded in driving Salinguerra out of
Ferrara, and the city having wearied of the long feud made the victor
its hereditary