Francesco II d'Este (6 March 1660 – 6 September 1694) was

Duke of Modena and Reggio This is a list of rulers of the estates owned by the Este family, which main line of Marquesses (''Marchesi d'Este'') rose in 1039 with Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan. The name "Este" is related to the city where the family came from, Este. ...

from 1662 to 1694.

Biography

He was born in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Alfonso IV d'Este Alfonso IV d'Este (2 February 1634 – 16 July 1662) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1658 until his death. He was the father of Mary of Modena, consort of James II of England. Alfonso was born in Modena, the eldest son of Francesco I d'E ...

, duke of Modena, and

Laura Martinozzi Laura Martinozzi, Duchess of Modena and Reggio (22 April 1639 – 19 July 1687), niece of the Chief minister of France Jules Cardinal Mazarin and one of the '' Mazarinettes'', by marriage became Duchess consort of Modena and Reggio, and followin ...

, niece of

Cardinal Mazarin Jules Mazarin (born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino or Mazarini; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), from 1641 known as Cardinal Mazarin, was an Italian Catholic prelate, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Lou ...

. His sister,

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena (; ) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England, List of Scottish royal consorts, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James VII and II. A devout Catholic, Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was t ...

, married the future

James II of England James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II of England, Charles II, on 6 February 1 ...

in 1673 and became queen of England in 1685. Their child, and therefore Francesco's nephew, was James, the Old Pretender who struggled to regain the throne of England during the 1715 Jacobite rebellion. He became duke at the age of two. His mother, pious and rigorous, served as his regent until 1674, filling state offices with clerics under the advice of her Jesuit confessor Father Garimberti. When she left to accompany the princess to England, Francesco assumed control at the age of fourteen. His character changed dramatically in the free and easy company of his cousin, ''principe'' Cesare Ignazio d'Este, and after her return the dowager duchess withdrew from court. Francesco's foreign policy was affected by the requirements of

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

, his sister's patron after 1688, but he resisted French attempts to interfere in the duchies. A Franco Modenese alliance was proposed with Francesco and a princess of the

House of Lorraine The House of Lorraine () originated as a cadet branch of the House of Metz. It inherited the Duchy of Lorraine in 1473 after the death without a male heir of Nicholas I, Duke of Lorraine. By the marriage of Francis of Lorraine to Maria Ther ...

, Béatrice Hiéronyme, the eldest daughter of

François Marie, Prince of Lillebonne François Marie de Lorraine (4 Apr 1624 – 19 January 1694) was a French nobleman and member of the House of Lorraine. He was known as the ''prince de Lillebonne''. He was also the Duke of Joyeuse. Biography François Marie was born to Charles ...

. The marriage never materialised and instead, he married

Margherita Maria Farnese Margherita Maria Farnese (24 November 1664 – 17 June 1718) was an Italian noblewoman born into the House of Farnese. She was the Duchess of Modena and Reggio by marriage to her first cousin Francesco II d'Este, Duke of Modena. Her niece was ...

. The couple had no children and when Francesco died heirless in 1694 after just two years of marriage, he was succeeded by his half-uncle Cardinal

Rinaldo d'Este Rinaldo d'Este may refer to: * Rinaldo d'Este (1221-1251) (1221-1251), son of Azzo VII d'Este *Rinaldo d'Este (1618-1672) (1618–1672), cardinal between 1641 and 1672 *Rinaldo d'Este (1655–1737) Rinaldo d'Este (26 April 1655 – 26 Octob ...

, who renounced his ecclesiastical career and cardinalate for this purpose. He learned the violin as a boy and the court orchestra was revived for him when he was eleven; one of the musicians employed there was Giovanni Maria Bononcini. Francesco was a lavish and discerning patron of music, and the composer

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...

dedicated his Op. 3 trio

sonata In music a sonata (; pl. ''sonate'') literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cantare'', "to sing"), a piece ''sung''. The term evolved through the history of music, designating a variety of forms until th ...

s (Rome, 1689) to him. His library has remained substantially complete in the Biblioteca Estense, Modena.

Bibliography

*Crowther, Victor. "A Case-Study in the Power of the Purse: The Management of the Ducal 'Cappella' in Modena in the Reign of Francesco II d'Este", ''Journal of the Royal Musical Association'', 115.2 (1990), pp. 207–219. *Cont, Alessandro. "'Sono nato principe libero, tale voglio conservarmi': Francesco II d’Este (1660-1694)", ''Memorie Scientifiche, Giuridiche, Letterarie'', Accademia Nazionale di Scienze Lettere e Arti di Modena, ser. 8, 12 (2009), 2
pp. 407–459

Ancestry

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Este, Francesco 2 1660 births 1694 deaths Hereditary princes of Modena Francesco 2 Francesco 2 Francesco 2 17th-century Italian nobility Italian Roman Catholics