Niccolò II d'Este

This article is about the second. For others, see Niccolò d'Este.

Niccolò II d'Este (1338 – 26 March 1388) was lord of Ferrara, Modena and Parma from 1361 until his death.

Niccolò II d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara
Niccolò depicted in the Genealogia dei principi d'Este (1470s)
Born	1338
Died	26 March 1388(1388-03-26) (aged 49–50)
Nationality	Ferraran
Occupation(s)	Lord of Ferrara, Modena and Parma
Years active	1361–1388
Known for	Commissioned Castello Estense
Spouse	Verde della Scala

He was the son of Obizzo III, who had ruled in Ferrara from 1317 to 1352 and the noblewoman Lippa degli Ariosti. After inheriting his lands from Aldobrandino III, he allied with Padua, Verona and Mantua against Bernabò Visconti and, after a meeting at Viterbo, he managed to obtain also the support of Pope Urban V (1367).

During Niccolò's reign, Ferrara started to gain a reputation as an art city. He commissioned to Bartolino da Novara the construction of the Castello Estense after a popular revolt in 1385.

Marriage

On May 19 1362 he was married to Verde della Scala (d. 1394) daughter of Mastino II della Scala and sister of Beatrice della Scala, therefore he was a brother-in-law of the powerful Bernabó Visconti.

They had one daughter ;

• Taddea d´Este (1365 – 23 November 1404) who married Francesco II da Carrara, the last lord of Padua and had issue.

References

• Muratori, Ludovico Antonio (1717). Delle antichità Estensi. Modena.
• Pigna, G.B. (1570). Historia dei Principi d'Este. Ferrara.
• Antonio Menniti Ippolito, Este, Niccolò II d’, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, XLIII, Roma 1993, pp. 393–396