Alfonso II

…court of Duke Alfonso II d’Este at Ferrara, where he enjoyed the patronage of the duke’s sisters, Lucrezia and Leonora, for whom he wrote some of his finest lyrical poems. In 1569 his father died; the following year Lucrezia left Ferrara, and Tasso followed the cardinal to Paris, where he…

…to rule was his first-born, Alfonso II (reigned 1559–97), the fifth and last duke of Ferrara. He also tried, vainly, to be elected king of Poland and to organize a crusade against the Turks. More important for the dynasty, however; was the fact that, though Alfonso II had three marriages,…