Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena

Ercole III d'Este
Portrait by Guzzaletti Gian Battista, 1780
Duke of Modena and Reggio
Reign 22 February 1780 – 7 May 1796
Predecessor Francesco III d'Este
Successor Position abolished until 1814
Francis IV, Duke of Modena
(House of Habsburg-Este)
Born (1727-11-22)22 November 1727
Ducal Palace, Modena
Died 14 October 1803(1803-10-14) (aged 75)
Treviso, Duchy of Treviso
Spouse
Chiara Marini (m. 1795)
Issue
Detail		 Maria Beatrice, Duchess of Massa
Full name
Ercole Rinaldo d'Este
House Este
Father Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena
Mother Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans
Religion Roman Catholicism

Ercole III d'Este (Ercole Rinaldo; 22 November 1727 – 14 October 1803) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1780 to 1796. He was a member of the House of Este.

Biography

He was born in Modena, the son of Duke Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena and Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans and Regent of France. He was the couple's fourth child and had an older sister Maria Teresa and two brothers who died before his birth

In 1741 he married Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, by which he annexed the Duchy of Massa and Carrara to the Este territories. When his parents succeeded as rulers of Modena, he was styled His Royal Highness the Hereditary Prince of Modena (1737–1780) and after 1780, His Royal Highness the Duke of Modena.

Generally appreciated by his subjects (he sometimes spoke in Modenese dialect with them), and continued the reform begun by his father. He built the two bridges at Rubiera and St. Ambrogio at Modena on the Via Emilia, and built new roads connecting to the neighbouring states. In 1785 he founded the Atesine Academy of Fine Arts: during his reign arts and culture flourished, and among his protegées were Lazzaro Spallanzani, Giambattista Venturi, Girolamo Tiraboschi, Lodovico Ricci and others.

After the death of his wife in 1790, he married morganatically in 1795 with his long-time mistress Chiara Marini (d. Treviso, 1800), whom he invested with title of Marchioness of Scandiano (only formally, without any authentic rule over this land).[1]

The French invasion forced him to flee to Venice on 7 May 1796, carrying with him a conspicuous personal asset. Later French soldiers captured him at Venice, robbing 200,000 zecchini from his house. After this episode he moved to Treviso, where he died in 1803. The peaces of Treaty of Campo Formio (1797) and Lunéville had assigned him territories in Breisgau in exchange of the lost Duchy, but he never took possession of them.

His only legitimate daughter Maria Beatrice married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria. Their son Francis IV regained the Duchy of Modena and Reggio in 1814.

The Este Orioles House and Ercole III, Duke of Modena[edit]

The 30th of October 1798, the legitimate descendant of the Family Este Orioles, Antonino of Este Orioles, received a “Provvedimento di Giustizia" ( countersigned by the Marquis Gherardo Rangone -the Interior Minister of the House of Este[2] ) from the Duke of Modena Ercole III of Este ,who was in exile in Venice. Ercole III granted him and the House of Este Orioles the Ducal Title and all its prerogatives. The current head of the House of Este Orioles is Duke Antonino V ; Ercole III "Provvedimento di Giustizia" is kept in the Heraldic Heritage archive of the Serenissima Ducale e Comitale Casa d’Este Orioles.

In 2013, the Italian Judiciary -via Pronouncement[3], ascertained that Antonino V of Este Orioles descends from Antonino I Este Orioles who received the Provvedimento di Giustizia and all the prerogatives connected to it. The Pronouncement states: “S.A.S Don Antonino V of Este Orioles (the legitimate successor) has the sovereign prerogatives of the Jus Majestatis and the Jus Honorum; He also holds the titles of Duke, Count and Lord of San Giuliano, Baron of San Piero and Forestavecchia and that of Principe of Castelforte; He has also an International legal entity status as agnate in collateral line of the Estense dynasty, which was Sovereign and already ruling the Duchy of Modena at the time of Ercole III Provvedimento di Giustizia"[4][5].

Issue

  1. Maria Beatrice d'Este (7 April 1750 – 14 November 1829), married Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and had issue.
  2. Rinaldo Francesco d'Este (4 January 1753 – 5 May 1753), died in infancy.
  3. Ercole Rinaldo (1770 – 16 February 1795), created Marquess of Scandiano in 1787, General in the Modena Army (died illegitimate, before the marriage of their parents).

Ancestry

Notes

  1. ↑ ESTE (di MONTECCHIO) Duchi di Modena e Reggio in genmarenostrum.com [retrieved 24 February 2015].
  2. ↑ C.f. Venturi, Giambattista (1818) "Memoria intorno alla vita del Marchese Gherardo Rangone"
  3. ↑ These types of judicial pronouncements are not rare; for instance Cf. D’ Altavilla (D’Hauteville) Sicilia Napoli : Cassazione, Sezione Terza Penale, Udienza Pubblica, Sentenza nr. 2008 del 23 aprile 1959, Sezione Terza Penale, R.G. nr. 3909/59. Even if Nobility was abolished in Italy, former Dynastic Houses retain the Jus Majestatis and Fons Honorum as long as they never suffered Debellatio.
  4. ↑ C.f. The citation is taken from the Judicial Pronouncement (Summary; the judicial paper is 12 pages) uploaded on the website of the Apulia (Puglia) Regional Government. The Judicial Pronouncement of the Tribunale (State Tribunal) of the City of Lecce: http://www.regione.puglia.it/documents/10192/10774613/TRIBUNALE.pdf/def6927f-b70e-4cd3-b864-7b8e37ee42d8;jsessionid=C9A0ED98669B6D826B95E0C1D2F12789?version=1.1
  5. ↑ It is important to clarify that the Duke Antonino V of Este Orioles does not claim the Duchy of Modena as firstly it does not exist anymore and secondly He is a collateral agnate of the Este Family of Modena. It is also important to underline that in Italy the nobility was abolished in 1948; however this does not equate with being outlawed.It means that nobility titles cannot be included in State identity cards and the rights of who hold them is not protected by the State . However the legislation is only one side of the legal system of a country; the other is reflected by “Case laws” and Jurisprudence made by the Italian Judiciary. Currently in Italy there is an ample casuistry about the rights of former Dynastic Families and all support the attribution to these families of the Jus Majestatis (the right to be honored and respected) and Fons Honorum (the right to reward merit and virtue) as these rights are considered linked to the Dynastic families’ Heritage and not to their status to rule a territory. One of the Italian Dynastic families’ De Medici explains quite well this Italian peculiarity . With this in mind, the Judicial Pronouncement of the Tribunale of Lecce should be read and understood.
  6. ↑ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 86.

See also

Ercole III d'Este, Duke of Modena
Born: 22 November 1727 Died: 14 October 1803
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Francesco III		 Duke of Modena and Reggio
1780–1796		 Succeeded by
Francis IV
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