ES'TE, one of the oldest and most illustrious families of Italy, Which, according to the historian Muratori, owed its origin to those petty princes who governed Tuscany in the times of the Carlovingians, and who were in all probability of the race of the Longo bards. The first whose figure is more than a mere shadow is Adalbert, who died about 917 A.D. The grandson or grand-nephew of Adalbert, named Oberto, was one of the Italian nobles who offered the crown of Italy to Otho of Saxony. He is afterwards styled Comes sacri palatii, and appears to have been one of the greatest personages in the realm; he married a daughter of Otho's, and died about 972 A.D. In later times, the family of E. received from the emperors several districts and counties, to be held as fiefs of the empire. The family divided, at an early period, into two branches, the German and Italian. The former was founded by Welf or Guelfo IV., who received the investiture of the duchy of Bavaria from the emperor Henry IV. in 1070. The houses of Bruns wick and Hanover, and consequently the sovereigns of Great Britain, also called Este Guelfs, are deScended from this person. In the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, the his tory of the E. family, as heads of the Guelf party, is interwoven with the destinies of the other ruling families and small republics of northern Italy. During this period, they first gained possession of Ferrara and the march of Ancona (1208 A.D.), and afterwards of Modena and Reggio (1288-89), and were widely celebrated as the patrons of art and literature. One of the most illustrious was Azzo VII., who encouraged Provencal trou badours to settle at his court at Ferrara, and also founded schools in that city. Alfonso I. (d. 1534) was equally distinguished as a soldier and a statesman, and was celebrated by all the poets of his time, particularly by Ariosto. His second wife was the notorious Lucrezia Borgia. His quarrel with the popes Julius II., Leo X., and Clement VII., was unfortunate, as an interdict was laid upon him for his adherence to the leave of Cambray, and his papal fiefs declared to be forfeited. After the siege of Rome, in 1527, the duke was restored to his former possessions by Charles V. His successor,
Ercole or Hercules II., who married Renate, daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany, attached himself to Charles V. He and his brother, a dignitary of the Catholic church, were also liberal patrons of 'arts and sciences; the latter erected the magnificent villa d'Este at Tivoli. The next prince, Alfonso II. (d. 159'7), would have been noways inferior to the preceding but for his immoderate love of splendor, his inordinate ambition, and the cruelty lie displayed toward the poet Tasso, whose eccen tricities, however, it must be confessed, were enough to try the patience of any reason able mortal. Alfonso IV. who flourished in the latter half of the 17th c., was very fond of the fine arts, and founded the Este gallery of paintings. Rinaldo (d. 1737), by his marriage with the daughter of the duke of Brunswick-Lunenburg, united the German and Italian houses, separated since 1070.. The male line of the house of E. became extinct on the death of Ercole III. in 1803, his possessions having been previously seized by the French invaders, and annexed to the Cisalpine republic. His only (laughter married the archduke Ferdinand, third son of Francis, emperor of Austria. Their eldest son, ,Francis.IV.,_ by the treaty was restored,to the territories which had belonged to his maternal ancestors, comprising the duchy of Modena; and, on his mother's death, obtained the duchies of Massa and Carrara. He was succeeded by his son, Francis V., 21st Jan., 1846. The connection which the family of E., like others of the small Italian principalities, had formed with Austria, gave it, of course, pro-Austrian sympathies, the result of which has been fatal to its popularity and dynas tic existence. In 1860, the-sentiment of Italian unity and independence, which for the previous 15 or 20 years had been steadily fostered by the policy of Sardinia, triumphed in a universal explosion of national feeling, which united the peninsula (with the excep tion of Rome and Venice) under the authority of Victor Emmanuel. Venice was added to the kingdom of Italy in 1866, and Rome became the capital in 1870,