Editing Ferrara (section)

===Early modern===
{{main|Duchy of Ferrara}}
In 1452 [[Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Borso d'Este]] was created duke of [[Duchy of Modena|Modena]] and [[Duchy of Reggio|Reggio]] by [[Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Frederick III]] and in 1471 duke of Ferrara by [[Pope Paul II]].<ref name="Tuohy">{{cite book |last1=Tuohy |first1=Thomas |title=Herculean Ferrara : Ercole d'Este, 1471–1505, and the invention of a Ducal capital |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press, with the assistance of the Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali, Ferrara |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521522632 |page=211 |edition=1st}}</ref> [[Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara|Lionello]] and, especially, [[Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Ercole I]] were among the most important [[patrons of the arts]] in late 15th- and early 16th-century Italy. During this time, Ferrara grew into an international cultural centre, renowned for its architecture, music, literature and visual arts.<ref name="Rosenberg">{{cite book|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Charles M.|title=The court cities of northern Italy : Milan, Parma, Piacenza, Mantua, Ferrara, Bologna, Urbino, Pesaro, and Rimini|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0521792486|page=198}}</ref>

The architecture of Ferrara greatly benefited from the genius of [[Biagio Rossetti]], who was requested in 1484 by Ercole I to draft a masterplan for the expansion of the town. The resulting "[[Addizione Erculea|Erculean Addition]]" is considered one of the most important examples of Renaissance [[urban planning]]<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pade |display-authors=etal |first1=Marianne|title=The court of Ferrara & its Patronage|date=1990|publisher=Museum Tusculanum Press|location=Copenhagen|isbn=978-8772890500|pages=151–176}}</ref> and contributed to the selection of Ferrara as a [[World Heritage Site|UNESCO World Heritage Site]].
[[File:1520 Veneto Idealbildnis einer Kurtisane als Flora anagoria.JPG|thumb|left|upright|''Flora'', a Roman goddess, by [[Bartolomeo Veneto]]  has been assumed to represent Lucrezia Borgia.]]
In spite of having entered its golden age, Ferrara was severely hit by a [[War of Ferrara (1482–1484)|war]] against [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] fought and lost in 1482–84. [[Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Alfonso I]] succeeded to the throne in 1505 and married the notorious [[Lucrezia Borgia]]. He again fought Venice in the [[Italian Wars]] after joining the [[League of Cambrai]]. In 1509 he was [[excommunication|excommunicated]] by [[Pope Julius II]], but was able to overcome the Papal and Spanish armies in 1512 at the [[Battle of Ravenna (1512)|Battle of Ravenna]]. These successes were based on Ferrara's artillery, produced in his own foundry which was the best of its time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Murrin|first1=Michael|title=History and warfare in Renaissance epic|date=1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226554037|pages=124–125}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Mallett |first1=Michael |last2=Shaw |first2=Christine |title=The Italian Wars, 1494-1559 : War, State and Society in Early Modern Europe |date=2005 |publisher=Pearson |location=Harlow |isbn=978-0582057586 |page=107 |edition=1st}}</ref>

Upon his death in 1534, Alfonso I was succeeded by his son [[Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Ercole II]], whose marriage in 1528 to the second daughter of [[Louis XII]], [[Renée of France]], brought great prestige to the court of Ferrara. Under his reign, the Duchy remained an affluent country and a cultural powerhouse. However, an [[1570 Ferrara earthquake|earthquake]] struck the town in 1570, causing the economy to collapse, and when Ercole II's son [[Alfonso II d'Este|Alfonso II]] died without heirs in 1597, the House of Este lost Ferrara to the [[Papal States]].