The life of Alfonso III d’Este represents a singular page in the history of the House of Este. His life is strongly conditioned by his personal relationship with religion and power, which led him, through various phases, to a radical change of life: from the intransigence and arrogance of a young prince, to the far-sightedness of the role of Duke, for a very limited period, until he embraced the charitable work of the Capuchin friars to which he dedicated himself until his death.
The life
Alfonso III was the last Este duke to be born in Ferrara, on 22 October 1591, to Cesare d’Este and Virginia de’ Medici, daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I. His childhood as a noble prince had passed peacefully until the Devolution of Ferrara when he was involved in the departure of the Este family from their capital. Little Alfonso, only seven years old, was in fact requested as a hostage during the negotiations for the cession of the Ferrara territory to the Papacy, and then detained until the complete transfer of the court to Modena. Even though his ‘imprisonment’ was brief, it left a deep mark on him, especially for the fact that he would never again see his city and the palaces in which he had grown up, while he would be able to re-embrace his parents in Modena, a city unknown to him, now the new capital of the Duchy. These facts may have influenced his sensibilities and aptitudes, which were already evident even then: after the move, in fact, Alfonso continued his education under the guidance of skilful tutors, showing a particular inclination towards the study of classical subjects and religion.
His father, Duke Cesare, knew well how important marriage bonds were pawns to be moved carefully on the chessboard of political alliances, which is why he chose for his son a union with the Duchy of Savoia. At first it was thought that the bride could be Carlo Emanuele of Savoia’ s eldest daughter, Margherita, but negotiations failed. On 13 March 1608 in Turin, Alfonso married Isabella of Savoia, on the same day as his sister Margherita married the Prince of Mantua, Francesco Gonzaga. Alfonso and Isabella’s marriage was rich in affection and the couple had fourteen children. The year after the wedding their first son, Cesare, was born, who unfortunately died prematurely, while the heir to the throne, the future Francesco I, was born on 5 September 1610. It was not only the family that kept young Alfonso busy: a few years after the Devolution, the Lucchese, believing they could take advantage of the Este’s period of fragile power, launched a series of incursions into the Este territories in Garfagnana, which they had long wanted to regain possession of. To contain this danger, in 1613 Alfonso was sent together with his brother Luigi to face the enemies; the battle was won by the Este family, who thus succeeded in retaining their territories.
Alfonso’s dark side
A few years after his marriage, the prince began to show a strong craving for power that made him intolerant of rules. Believing himself now able to make his own decisions freely and autonomously, Alfonso distanced himself from his mentor Ludovico Ronchi, showing himself restless but resolute in dealing with the affairs of the Duchy, even going so far as to criticise his father’s choices. In these troubled years, lived close to questionable company, even his religious practice was sidelined: the calls to duty went unheeded while pride drove him to identify new enemies on whom he could unleash his uncontrollable anger.
The episode that marked Alfonso’s moral downfall was an affair with the Pepoli family. At that time, the noble Contrari family extinguished without heirs and, according to the Pepoli family, some of their property in the Ferrarese territory should have passed to Earl Ercole Pepoli, whose mother was a Contrari. Alfonso was not of the same opinion and convinced his father not to grant those properties to Ercole Pepoli. The dispute continued in increasingly harsh tones, without the two parties finding any possibility of agreement. Alfonso, now blinded by anger, considered the cruellest solution, and one evening in December 1617, the irreparable happened: Count Pepoli was killed by three assassins as he was leaving a party and, although without evidence, Alfonso was considered the instigator. The Pepoli family swore revenge on him, waited for the right moment and two years later made several attempts on Alfonso’s life: once he was surrounded while hunting near their estates, but managed to escape; another missed opportunity was in Modena among the city crowd during a celebration. However, the attempted murders of Duke Cesare’s eldest son could not go unpunished, so in 1621 the court condemned Filippo, Cornelio and Ugo Pepoli, as well as Tommaso degli Obizzi and some thirty other accomplices for these episodes. However, the members of the city’s most important families were never found by the courts, so to placate the future Duke’s thirst for revenge, only three minor accomplices were sentenced to death.
This was the blackest page of Alfonso’s life, the dark culmination of a specific period, between the ages of twenty and thirty-five, in which he had been oppressed by pride and presumption, crushed by bad acquaintances and blinded by rage. Change, however, was just around the corner and would be overwhelming.
The reconversion
After the birth of her daughter Anna Beatrice, Isabella, Alfonso’s much-loved wife, well liked by Duke Cesare and the people, suffered a very high fever that soon proved to be a symptom of a serious illness. Information about her critical health condition quickly spread throughout the Duchy and the community joined in prayer. On his deathbed, Isabella, who nurtured a strong religious sentiment, urged her husband to abandon his hatred of his enemies and to re-embrace the Christian faith. At that moment, at his wife’s bedside, Alfonso felt the need to have not only a trusted friend at his side, but also his own spiritual father, Father Giovanni Albinelli da Sestola. The Capuchin gathered around the couple and Alfonso, encouraged by his wife’s words full of love and faith, was ready to confess and forgive. In the depth of grief, Alfonso was able to re-embrace the Christian faith he had long set aside, allowing Isabella to pass away peacefully, on 22 August 1626, knowing that her last act of love was to have brought her husband closer to God. Her last wish was to be accompanied in her burial by the Capuchin order and to wear their habit.
The entire city of Modena, such was its affection for the noblewoman, mourned Isabella’s untimely death, but it was above all Alfonso who was destroyed by despair. And it was at that precise moment that the idea of embarking on conventual life took shape in his mind, but, following the spiritual advice of some religious men, he was convinced to reflect and wait prudently for some time. The wait was linked to his status as prince and soon-to-be duke: his father Cesare was now very old and needed his son’s help in governing; while Francesco, Alfonso’s eldest son, was still too young to bear the responsibility of administering the state alone.
The brief interlude as Duke
Cesare d’Este went down in history as the Duke of Devolution, forced to abandon Ferrara and turn Modena into the new capital, where he died on 11 December 1628 after thirty years of rule. Prince Alfonso was convalescing in Sassuolo and was notified of his father’s disappearance during the night. The following morning he returned to Modena and immediately began the formalities imposed by the succession: embassies, public and private audiences, the organisation and celebration of the funeral.
From that moment on, it took the new Duke just over six months to put his affairs of state in order and create a favourable environment for his abdication in favour of his son. Thus, on 21 June 1629, Alfonso III made his decision to enter the Order of the Capuchin Friars official, informing his spiritual referents, including Father Giovanni da Sestola. In order to carry out certain decisions confidentially, he immediately retired to Sassuolo, leaving the complex management of the Duchy in the hands of the young Prince Francesco.
For some time the Duke had been engaged in private correspondence with the Capuchin Curia and the Holy See to express his positions and wishes. Following this epistolary communication, the Capuchin provincial minister was invited to Sassuolo to investigate the curious and unusual situation, thus bringing Alfonso’s spiritual vocation to a conclusion. Father Feliciano da Piacenza was surprised by the Duke’s determination, but did not fail to illustrate the hardships and poverty imposed by conventual life, such as wearing only a habit and sandals or sleeping on a straw mattress in a small, cold cell. None of these ‘sacrifices’ affected the Duke’s iron will to wear religious clothes.
The official letter from Pope Urban VIII, born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, arrived in Sassuolo on 24 July 1629, accepting Alfonso III’s request to enter the Capuchin Order. The missive granted him certain privileges, including the possibility of autonomously choosing the convent where he would reside in Germany and being able to reach it with horses and carriages, the profession of vows without the obligation of a canonical novitiate and the choice of Father Giovanni da Sestola as his permanent confessor. Moreover, Urban VIII himself was personally affected by the affair and used these words to describe Alfonso: ‘Here is a Duke who, with contempt for greatness, teaches us moderation in the sublime degree to which God has placed us’.
Having resolved the religious issues, all that was missing was the act of abdication. So it was that in the presence of the ducal chancellor he had his will drawn up: he left large sums of money to charity, to help the indigent, the young girls housed in the ‘Casa delle Preservate’ that he had established, and finally the notary took note of the duke’s will and stipulated the donation of the Duchy to his son Francesco. Alfonso chose to inform the subjects of the Duchy through two separate letters addressed to the cities of Modena and Reggio, in which he explained his gesture and the strength of his religious sentiment.
The new life: Father Giambattista of Modena
A few days after the arrival of the Pope’s letter, having settled political matters, Alfonso left for the friary in Merano, finding refreshment along the way in other Capuchin friaries. Arriving at his destination at the end of August, he began to pray and prepare himself for the ceremony planned for 8 September, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, during which he would be able to take off his precious noble robes and put on the rough Capuchin habit, finally entering the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor with the name Father Giambattista da Modena. Thanks to his personal propensity for dialectic and prayer, and to the studies he undertook as a prince, he was promoted to the priesthood by the end of that same year and destined for preaching, to the practice of which he was particularly suited.
The plague of 1630 led Father Giambattista to return to his territories to help the sick, but the journey had an epilogue quite different from his expectations: having arrived at the gates of Modena after a very long walk and many difficulties, he was denied permission to enter the Duchy by his son. Francesco I had left the city because of the plague, taking refuge in a residence in the countryside of Reggio and for this reason he feared his father’s charisma, who would enter a capital city effectively abandoned by the Duke. Upon learning of this decision, the Father General of the Order ordered him to return to Tyrol and Father Giambattista obeyed. On the way, however, he stopped for a long time in Trieste and Gorizia, where he also founded a monastery for the Poor Clares, and it was only in June 1631 that he took the road again to Innsbruck, Austria.
The return to Italy
After a few years spent between Innsbruck and Vienna, Father Giambattista was called back to Italy and in October 1632 he entered Modena in incognito to take refuge in the Capuchin monastery. The news immediately made the rounds of the city and the following morning his children, grandchildren and brothers were all happy to embrace him again, followed also by some nobles and courtiers who had come to greet the former Duke. Alfonso’s appearance was quite different from what they remembered: having forgotten his royal robes, jewels, fearsome character and intransigence, they found themselves before a monk dressed in a worn-out habit and sandals, and his eyes offered a new look, full of compassion and benevolence.
29 January 1633 is a date that all Modenese historiographers would remember forever, when Father Giambattista made his first sermon from the pulpit of a crowded cathedral, in which he exhorted everyone to almsgiving and charity. His commitment to the needy of the city of Modena was praiseworthy: the requests for help he collected were addressed to his son Francesco, who provided for many indigent people, and were sometimes also forwarded to other rulers, nobles and cardinals. Among his apostolic missions, however, there was one that involved him most: his commitment to the conversion of underworld women, for whom he reopened the ‘Casa del Soccorso’, where they could find support and a safe place.
Father Giambattista also preached often in Reggio, where he first arrived in June 1633 and where he used to stay for a few weeks, working on charitable missions. The large following of the faithful also continued in the towns of Guastalla, Finale, Scandiano and Nonantola until he reached Garfagnana. In the quiet of the mountains and immersed in nature, Father Giambattista found peace and serenity: this is why he chose Castelnuovo di Garfagnana as the place to build his convent, the same place where he would spend the last years of his life. Construction began in October 1635, and the following year that of the church. After four years, during the summer of 1639, Father Giambattista decided to move into the monastery, although the work was not yet finished. Here, the former Duke found the spiritual peace he was looking for, continuing in the preaching of the word of Christ and in the missions for the needy. He left the monastery only on a few occasions, to travel to Modena and Reggio, but as he grew older, the long distances on foot and the adversities of the Apennines became increasingly difficult to sustain, and the journeys were reduced until they were completely exhausted.
In May 1644 he was assailed by fever and his health condition immediately appeared serious. He barely made it in time to say goodbye to Father Giovanni da Sestola, his friend and spiritual guide who had stood by him all his life, then on 24 May he died in the convent surrounded by the love and prayers of his confreres.
In accordance with his wishes, he was buried in the crypt of the Capuchin Church in Castelnuovo. During the first half of the 19th century, however, the friar’s remains underwent several relocations: the first, around 1806, when, following the French invasion, it was feared that the burial could be violated; later, on the orders of Francis IV, they were placed in the Church of St. Peter in Castelnuovo. It was only in 1823 that the remains returned to the place chosen by Alfonso where they can still be found today, under the altar of the Immaculate Conception in the Capuchin Church.
Two portraits compared: the Prince and the Friar
When Alfonso returned to Modena in 1632, at first family and courtiers found it hard to recognise him, surprised by the transformation of his appearance. They remembered him in marvellous clothes embellished with silk and velvet fabrics, wearing expensive jewellery, with thick hair down to his shoulders, busy between hunting expeditions and moments of idleness, spent between music and literature. His image mirrored the one portrayed by Sante Peranda around 1613-1614, in which the young prince appears haughty, dressed in splendid gold-embroidered robes and an important ruff. There are other attributes in the painting that recall his nobility and power, such as the sword on which his hand rests, the feathered helmet placed on the table and the presence of the hunting dog that is meant to allude to his passion for hunting. The scene appears bright and carefree, the back wall opens onto a window that allows a glimpse of lush vegetation and a probable hunting scene. The work is a fine example of an early 17th century princely portrait, the purpose of which was to make the royalty and power of the person depicted easily recognisable.
The painting executed by Matteo Loves just over twenty years later gives us a completely different image: Alfonso is depicted wearing a Franciscan habit and with his hair cut into a clerical habit, while holding a crucifix pointing at it with his right hand. Surrounding him are many objects, emblems of power and earthly pleasures, left by Alfonso in favour of religious faith, an act symbolically depicted in the gesture of trampling on the staff of power, placed on the ground next to the crown. Also lying scattered on the ground or piled up behind Father Giambattista are two groups of objects: on the left are those alluding to power and combat, such as the cuirass, the banner that reveals the mouth of a cannon and the head of a warhorse. On the opposite side are piled up the things that identify the pleasures and idleness of the court including a violin, a harpsichord, musical scores and books, an armillary sphere and in the foreground a sleeping dog to represent the forgotten passion for hunting. This multitude of objects from earthly life is contrasted with religious objects, symbols of a spiritual existence, placed neatly on the wooden table against the wall, a sacred text, a skull and an hourglass, recalling the memento mori. Above these is painted a leaflet bearing the inscription ‘Aetatis suae anno XXXXIV Religionis VI anno Do. 1635 Octo’. Christian symbolism is again present in the upper left-hand part of the canvas, between the reddish clouds filling the sky fly a dove, emblem of purity, and a pelican, Christological symbol linked to self-sacrifice in favour of others.
The two paintings show the interior change and spiritual walk that Alfonso III d’Este underwent, from elegant and intransigent prince to devout and destitute Capuchin friar.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
“Annali dell’ordine de’ frati minori cappuccini” (Annals of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin) composed by Father Marcellino da Mascon, and translated into the vernacular by P.F. Antonio Olgiati da Como preacher of the same order” Tomo primo, parte terza – in Trento M DCC VIII
“Ricordo intorno a due quadri rappresentanti l’uno Alfonso III Duca di Modena e l’altro sua moglie Donna Isabella Infanta di Savoja i quali trovansi nella sacrestia della chiesa votiva in Modena con altri cenni analoghi del Conte Gio. Francesco Ferrari Moreni” Modena 1855
“Historical compendium of the city and province of Modena from the time of the Roman Republic to MDCCXCVI by Monsignor Giuseppe Baraldi” Modena Antonio and Angelo Cappelli 1846
Del cappuccino d’Este che fu nel secolo il ser.mo Alfonso 3 duca di Modana e nella religione serafica il Pre. Gio Battista apostolic preacher and of the ser.ma infanta d. Isabella of Savoy his beloved consort, birth, life, death and burial – Giovanni da Sestola – Per Bartolomeo Soliani 1646
Luciano Chiappini ‘Gli Estensi: mille anni di storia’ – Ferrara: Corbo, 2001
Treccani Biographical Dictionary of Italians
