Editing Ferrara (section)

===Antiquity and Middle Ages===
[[File:Ornamento in oro, 410-300 ac. ca. 01.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Etruscan jewellery is displayed at the [[wmit:Museo archeologico nazionale di Ferrara|National Archaeological Museum of Ferrara]].]]
The first documented settlements in the area of the present-day Province of Ferrara date from the 6th century BC.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Graham|first1=Alexander John|title=Colony and mother city in ancient Greece|date=1999|publisher=Manchester University Press|location=Manchester|isbn=0719057396|page=6|edition=Special}}</ref> The ruins of the [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] town of [[Spina]], established along the [[lagoon]]s at the ancient mouth of [[Po river]], were lost until modern times, when drainage schemes in the [[Valli di Comacchio]] marshes in 1922 first officially revealed a necropolis with over 4,000 tombs, evidence of a population centre that in Antiquity must have played a major role.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-link=Jean MacIntosh Turfa|editor-last1=Turfa|editor-first1=Jean MacIntosh|title=The Etruscan world|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0415673082|page=295}}</ref>

There is uncertainty among scholars about the proposed [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] origin of the settlement in its current location ([[Tacitus]] and [[Boccaccio]] refer to a "Forum Alieni"<ref name="Frizzi">{{cite book |last1=Frizzi |first1=Antonio |title=Memorie Per La Storia Di Ferrara |volume= 1 |date=2012 |publisher=Nabu Press |location=Florence |isbn=9781274747815 |page=181 |orig-year=1791}}</ref>), for little is known of this period,<ref name="Domenico">{{cite book |last1=Domenico |first1=Roy Palmer |title=The regions of Italy : a reference guide to history and culture |date=2002 |publisher=Greenwood |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0313307331 |page=85 |edition=1st}}</ref> but some archeologic evidence points to the hypothesis that Ferrara could have been originated from two small [[Byzantine]] settlements: a cluster of facilities around the Cathedral of St. George, on the right bank of the main branch of the Po, which then ran much closer to the city than today, and a [[castra|castrum]], a fortified complex built on the left bank of the river to defend against the Lombards.<ref name="TCI">{{cite book|title=Ferrara and its province|date=2005|publisher=[[Touring Club Italiano|Touring Club of Italy]]|location=Milan|isbn=9788836534401}}</ref>

Ferrara appears first in a document of the [[Lombards|Lombard]] king [[Desiderius]] of 753 AD, when he captured the town from the [[Exarchate of Ravenna]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ferrara, Italy |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ferrara-Italy |website=www.britannica.com |publisher=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]|access-date=13 December 2017 |language=en}}</ref> Later the [[Franks]], after routing the Lombards, presented Ferrara to the [[Papacy]] in 754 or 756.<ref name="Domenico"/> In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the [[House of Canossa]], but at the death of [[Matilda of Tuscany]] in 1115 it became a [[Medieval commune|free commune]].<ref name="TCI"/> During the 12th century the history of the town was marked by the wrestling for power between two preeminent families, the [[Guelphs|Guelph]] Adelardi and the [[Ghibelline]] Salinguerra. The powerful Imperial [[House of Este]] threw their decisive weight behind the Salinguerra and eventually reaped the benefits of victory for themselves.<ref name="TCI"/> Thus, in 1264 [[Obizzo II d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara|Obizzo II d'Este]] was proclaimed lifelong ruler of Ferrara, taking the additional titles of Lord of [[Modena]] in 1288 and of [[Reggio Nell Emilia|Reggio]] in 1289. His rule marked the end of the communal period in Ferrara and the beginning of the Este rule, which lasted until 1598.