Podesta. This is the first example of a free republic
voluntarily submitting to a lord. In this way the Este established the
first tyranny on the ruins of a commune. The brave Salinguerra, one of
the greatest captains of Italy in the time of the Hohenstaufen,
repeatedly drove Azzo VI and his successor, Azzo VII, from Ferrara, but
he himself was finally defeated in 1240 and cast into prison, where he
died. Thenceforth the Este ruled Ferrara.

About the time of the removal of the papacy to Avignon they were
expelled from the city by the Church, but they returned on the
invitation of the citizens who had risen against the papal legate. John
XXII issued a diploma of investiture by the terms of which they were to
hold Ferrara as a fief of the Church on payment of an annual tribute of
ten thousand gold ducats. The Este now set themselves up as tyrants in
Ferrara, and in spite of numerous wars maintained the dynasty for a
great many years. This dominion was not, like that in many other Italian
States, due to a lucky stroke on the part of an upstart, but it was
ancient, hereditary, and firmly established.

It was due to a succession of remarkable princes, beginning with
Aldobrandino, Lord of Ferrara, Modena, Rovigo, and Comacchio, that
Ferrara succeeded in winning the important position she held at the
beginning of the sixteenth century. Aldobrandino was followed by his
brothers, Niccolo, from 1361 to 1388, and Alberto until 1393. After that
his son Niccolo III, a powerful and bellicose man, ruled until the year
1441. As his legitimate children Ercole and Sigismondo were minors, he
was succeeded by his natural son Lionello. This prince not only
continued the work begun by his father, but also beautified Ferrara. In
the year 1444 the great Alfonso of Naples gave him his daughter Maria as
wife, and the Este thus entered into close relations with the royal
house of Aragon. Lionello was intelligent and liberal, a patron of all
the arts and sciences, a "prince of immortal name." In the year 1450 he
was succeeded by his brother Borso, illegitimate like himself, as an
effort was being made to displace the legitimate sons of Niccolo II.

Borso was one of the most magnificent princes of his age. Frederick II,
when he stopped in Ferrara on his return from his coronation in Rome,
made him Duke of Modena and Reggio, and Count of Rovigo and Comacchio,
all of which territories belonged to the empire. The Este thereupon
adopted for their a