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Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara
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Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara
Eleanor of Naples (Leonora or Eleonora of Aragon; 22 June 1450 – 11 October 1493) was Duchess of Ferrara by marriage to Ercole I d'Este. She was the first duchess of Ferrara, and mother of many famous Renaissance figures. She was a well known political figure, and served as regent of Ferrara during the absence of her spouse.
Born 22 June 1450, Eleanor was the daughter King Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.
Born into wealth, she was the first daughter, and second child, born into her family of six brothers and sisters.
Not much is known of her childhood or early life growing up as the first princess of Naples but she was betrothed to Sforza Maria Sforza, duke of Bari, son of Francesco Sforza I at the age of five. In 1465 she was married by proxy to Sforza Maria but because of his father's death and his brother Galeazzo's succession and subsequent refusal to honour the marriage settlements, the marriage was never consummated.
Her father, after trying to break the marriage contract so that Eleanor could marry someone else, only succeeded in doing so after reaching an agreement where Eleanor's niece Isabella would marry Galeazzo's son and heir.
Eleanor would go on to marry Ercole d’Este (26 October 1431 – 15 June 1505) in July 1473, her supposed second husband. It is claimed that this marriage was met with much celebration. Ercole was said to be, “…an unscrupulous and devious ruler.” He came to be Duke of Ferrara in 1471, taking the title upon the death of his half-brother, Borso, and would rule until his death in 1503.
When she was passed through Rome in June 1473, on her way to marry Ercole d’Este, duke of Ferrara, she was received grandly (she would go on to marry him a month later). Two nephews of Rodrigo Borgia, who was a cardinals at the time, were there to greet her. They wanted to make a good and lasting impression on the Neapolitan Princess. She wrote to her father that she was given a lavish apartment, stating that even her chamber pot was made of gilded silver. In her correspondence with her father, she spoke of the banquet thrown for her, organized by Pietro Riario nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, which lasted six hours, and it was an endless succession of food, accompanied by music, dancing and poetry. “The treasures of the Church, is being put to such uses,” she wrote in astonishment in her letter. This has been suspected to be a political power play by the Borgias, and by their Riario and della Rovere political rivals, in attempt of gaining favor with royalty and gaining more political power.
Despite her husband's ill temper, Eleanor was said to have been an active and dedicated spouse. She ruled in her husband's stead when he was absent. He was absent in 1482–1484, when he fought a war with the Republic of Venice. Due to growing up in the Aragonese court of Naples, she brought with her much political knowledge and advice, and was said to show an extreme amount of common sense. Eleanor undertook the modernisation of the Castello Estense in Ferrara, transforming its Torre Marchesana in new lodgings and first constructed the terrace garden now known as the Garden of Oranges.
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Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara
Eleanor of Naples (Leonora or Eleonora of Aragon; 22 June 1450 – 11 October 1493) was Duchess of Ferrara by marriage to Ercole I d'Este. She was the first duchess of Ferrara, and mother of many famous Renaissance figures. She was a well known political figure, and served as regent of Ferrara during the absence of her spouse.
Born 22 June 1450, Eleanor was the daughter King Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.
Born into wealth, she was the first daughter, and second child, born into her family of six brothers and sisters.
Not much is known of her childhood or early life growing up as the first princess of Naples but she was betrothed to Sforza Maria Sforza, duke of Bari, son of Francesco Sforza I at the age of five. In 1465 she was married by proxy to Sforza Maria but because of his father's death and his brother Galeazzo's succession and subsequent refusal to honour the marriage settlements, the marriage was never consummated.
Her father, after trying to break the marriage contract so that Eleanor could marry someone else, only succeeded in doing so after reaching an agreement where Eleanor's niece Isabella would marry Galeazzo's son and heir.
Eleanor would go on to marry Ercole d’Este (26 October 1431 – 15 June 1505) in July 1473, her supposed second husband. It is claimed that this marriage was met with much celebration. Ercole was said to be, “…an unscrupulous and devious ruler.” He came to be Duke of Ferrara in 1471, taking the title upon the death of his half-brother, Borso, and would rule until his death in 1503.
When she was passed through Rome in June 1473, on her way to marry Ercole d’Este, duke of Ferrara, she was received grandly (she would go on to marry him a month later). Two nephews of Rodrigo Borgia, who was a cardinals at the time, were there to greet her. They wanted to make a good and lasting impression on the Neapolitan Princess. She wrote to her father that she was given a lavish apartment, stating that even her chamber pot was made of gilded silver. In her correspondence with her father, she spoke of the banquet thrown for her, organized by Pietro Riario nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, which lasted six hours, and it was an endless succession of food, accompanied by music, dancing and poetry. “The treasures of the Church, is being put to such uses,” she wrote in astonishment in her letter. This has been suspected to be a political power play by the Borgias, and by their Riario and della Rovere political rivals, in attempt of gaining favor with royalty and gaining more political power.
Despite her husband's ill temper, Eleanor was said to have been an active and dedicated spouse. She ruled in her husband's stead when he was absent. He was absent in 1482–1484, when he fought a war with the Republic of Venice. Due to growing up in the Aragonese court of Naples, she brought with her much political knowledge and advice, and was said to show an extreme amount of common sense. Eleanor undertook the modernisation of the Castello Estense in Ferrara, transforming its Torre Marchesana in new lodgings and first constructed the terrace garden now known as the Garden of Oranges.
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