Spanish at sea, where the skill of the Dutch
and the environment favored the rebels.
The Sea Beggars harassed Spanish coastal
forts and shipping. In the meantime, a par-
liament, known as the States-General, then
gathered at the town of Dordrecht and de-
clared war on the Spanish. The effort was
taken up by the Prince of Orange, while
Alba organized a powerful army to crush
this revolt. The Spanish laid siege to sev-
eral Dutch cities, eventually breaching
their defenses and committing atrocities
against their civilian populations. In 1573,
Alba resigned from Philip’s service and re-
turned to Spain. In 1580, he was appointed
as commander in Portugal, which he sub-
dued in Philip’s name and brought under
the Spanish crown. Spanish troops pillaged
the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, where
Alba died in 1582.
Ferrara.............................................
City of northern Italy that was an impor-
tant center of art patronage under the
d’Este family during the Renaissance. The
d’Este dynasty began in the thirteenth cen-
tury with the victory of Azzo VII, who was
named podesta of the city in 1242. The
d’Este court was renowned for its opu-
lence, and in 1402 with the opening of the
University of Ferrara the city became a
center of learning and scholarship. The
dynasty grew even more powerful when
Boros d’Este was granted the cities of Reg-
gio and Modena from Emperor Frederick
III in 1452, and was named Duke of Fer-
rara by the pope in 1471. Under Ercole I,
Ferrara began a long rivalry with the much
larger and wealthier city of Venice, and
became an important center of music, no-
tably with the presence of the Flemish
composer Josquin des Prez and several
Italian composers who pioneered new
styles of composition. Under later dukes
several of Italy’s most notable poets, in-
cluding Ludovico Ariosto and Torquato
Tasso, found a home with the d’Este fam-
ily, and scholarship flourished in the
city in the work of men such as Gio-
vanni Aurispa, who journeyed to eastern
Europe and returned with many ancient
manuscripts that were still unknown in
Italy.
Ercole’s daughter, Isabella d’Este,
reigned over a court that became a model
for the Renaissance princes and nobility
for its splendor, patronage, and courtly
manners. The best artists of Italy, includ-
ing Titian, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci,
and Andrea Mategna, visited her court or
lived within her palace as official painters.
Alfonso d’Este, who succeeded his father
in 1505, made Ferrara a pivotal city in the
Italian Wars that had been touched off by
an invasion of the French in the 1490s.
Caught between the more powerful states
of Venice, Milan, and the papacy, Alfonso
carried on the war with Venice and a cam-
paign against the ambitious popes, who
sought to extend their authority in north-
ern Italy. This resulted in Alfonso’s excom-
munication by Pope Julius II in 1509. Al-
fonso patronized leading writers and
artists, including Titian and Giovanni
Bellini, who completed his final painting,
The Feast of the Gods, while at Ferrara.
Alfonso’s son Ercole II, who reigned from
1534 to 1559, carried on the family tradi-
tion of patronage of artists and writers;
Alfonso II, the next duke of Ferrara, died
without a male heir in 1597, after which
the d’Este court passed into history and
Pope Clement VIII declared Ferrara to be
a fief of the papacy.SEEALSO: Ariosto, Ludovico; d’Este, House
of; d’Este, IsabellaFerrara