Timeline

1073

Alberto Azzo II (996-1097) , lord of Monselice, Polesine, Montagnana, Calaone, Cerro and Este, moved his residence to the latter.

1264

Proclamation of Obizzo II as perpetual lord of Ferrara (of Modena in 1289 and Reggio in 1290)

1066

Battle of Hastings, William the Conqueror King of England

1250

Emperor Federico II of Svezia dies

1393

Nicolò III d’Este is Marquis of Ferrara

1441

Leonello comes to power as Marquis of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio

1450

Borso rises to power as Lord of Ferrara

1347-1352

Black Death spreads across Europe

1452

Elevation to the dignity of Duke of Modena and Reggio by appointment of Emperor Federico III

1452

Leonardo is born in Vinci – Leon Battista Alberti presents De re aedificatoria to Pope Niccolò V

1453

Fall of Constantinople and end of the Byzantine Empire

1455-1461

Commission and execution of the Borso Bible, among the most valuable manuscripts in Italy

1455

Gutenberg invents movable type printing

dopo il 1469

The decoration of the Salone dei Mesi at Schifanoia begins

1471

Elevation to the dignity of Duke over Ferrara by Pope Paolo II

1471

Ercole I comes to power

dal 1465

Andrea Mantegna painted the frescoes in the Bridal Chamber at the Doge’s Palace in Mantona (c. 1465-1474)

1482-1484

Salt war against Venice. Loss of the Polesine of Rovigo

1478

Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici in Florence

1492-1505

Herculean Addition. Urban development of Ferrara ordered by Ercole I and realised by Biagio Rossetti

1492

Christopher Columbus discovers America

1501

Alfonso marries Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alessandro VI

1498

Execution of Girolamo Savonarola in Florence

1505

Alfonso I comes to power

1504

Michelangelo sculpts the David and paints the Tondo Doni

1509

Reconquest of the Polesine territories of Rovigo and Battle of Polesella, victory over the Venetian fleet

1508

Constitution of the League of Cambrai to oppose Venice. (Ludovico Sforza, known as the Moor, dies)

1510

Loss of Modena and Reggio. The papal army occupies Modena and Mirandola under the command of Pope Giulio II

1512

Michelangelo Buonarrotti unveils the last part of the Sistine Chapel vault to Pope Giulio II

1517

Martin Luther published the 95 theses against indulgences, the start of the Protestant Reformation

1519

Ferdinand Magellan undertakes the first circumnavigation of the globe (1522)

1528

Ercule II married Renée of France, daughter of Luigi XII King of France

1527

Sack of Rome by the German Lansquenets

1534

Ercule II comes to power

1536

Calvin begins his preaching

dal 1546

Expansion of Modena northwards

1559

Alfonso II comes to power

1545

Pope Paolo III convenes the Council of Trent – Counter-Reformation

1570

Ferrara Earthquake

1597

Death of Alfonso II without male heirs. Claim to the territory of Ferrara by the Papal States. Cesare comes to power

1571

Battle of Lepanto. The Holy League fleet stops the expansion of the Ottoman Empire

1598

Devolution of Ferrara to the Papal States. Transfer of the court to Modena

1628

Alfonso III comes to power

1609

Galileo Galilei invents the telescope

1629

Abdication of the Duke in favour of his son Francis I to enter the Capuchin order

1638-1639

Diego Velasquez paints a portrait of Francesco I

1630

The plague, described by Manzoni in Promessi Sposi, spreads in northern Italy

ante 1651

Gian Lorenzo Bernini sculpts the bust of Francesco I

1658

Alfonso IV comes to power

1648

Peace of Westphalia puts an end to the Thirty Years’ War

1662

Laura Martinozzi assumed the regency of the Duchy in place of her son Francesco II (2 years)

1661

France, Louis XIV, the Sun King, takes the throne

1673

Maria Beatrice d’Este married James Stuart, Duke of York and future King of England

1688

The Glorious English Revolution

1695

When Francesco II dies without male heirs, his uncle Rinaldo I d’Este comes to power

1701-1714

War of the Spanish Succession

1733

War of Polish Succession

1737

Francesco III comes to power

1738

Peace of Vienna

1741

Thanks to the marriage agreement with Maria Teresa Cybo Malaspina, future heiress of the Duchy of Massa and Carrara, he obtaines an outlet on the Tyrrhenian Sea

1740

War of the Austrian Succession

1745

The Dresden Sale. About a hundred paintings are sold to the Elector of Saxony

1748

Treaty of Aachen

1780

Ercole Rinaldo III comes to power

1776

American Declaration of Independence

1789

Outbreak of the French Revolution (1789-1799)

1796

Exile of Ercole Rinaldo III from the Duchy of Este due to Napoleonic occupation

1796

Napoleonic Invasion Italian Campaign

1796

The Italian tricolour flag is born in Reggio

1797

Cisalpine Republic (1797-1802)

1804

Napoleone becomes Emperor of France and King of Italy

1814

Francesco IV of Austria-Este, first Duke of the Austro-Estense dynastic line, enters Modena

1814-1815

Congress of Vienna and Restoration

1846

Francesco V comes to power, last Este Duke

1848

First War of Independence (1848-1849)

1849

Peace in Milan

1859

Francesco V leaves forever the territories that belonged to the House of Este for almost 800 years

1859

Second War of Independence

1860

Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand

1863

Disbandment of the loyal ‘Brigata Estense’ at Cartigliano Veneto

1861

Vittorio Emanuele II becomes the first King of Italy

1866

Third War of Independence and the Treaty of Vienna