Azzo VI d'Este

Who rules

Name

Azzo VI d'Este

Title

Marquis (marchio) of Este

Since

Succeeded his grandfather Obizzo I, who was dead by 1194 at the latest (DBI)

Born

About 1170, so about 29-30

Family

Este; apparently son of Azzo V (DBI is tentative), grandson of Obizzo I and Sofia of Lendinara

Confidence

high

Treccani DBI, ESTE, Azzo d' (Azzo VI); it.wikipedia

Overlord

The Empire for the marquisate and his imperial fiefs; the bishops of Adria and Padua and the abbey of Vangadizza for church fiefs and advocacies

What the realm holds

• Este and its castle
• Calaone castle in the Euganean hills
• Baone and the southern Euganean villages
• Montagnana and the Scodosia (Merlara, Casale, Megliadino, Saletto, Urbana)
• The lands south of Este (Carceri, Villa Estense, Sant'Elena, Vighizzolo, Granze)
• Rovigo, held of the bishop of Adria; Henry VI confirmed the Este lordship there in 1194 (it.wikipedia) [fair]
• Lendinara (inherited through Obizzo I's wife Sofia of Lendinara)
• The advocacy of the abbey of Vangadizza at Badia Polesine, where the family is buried
• The curia of Ariano near Ferrara, granted by the bishop of Adria in 1195 (DBI)
• In Ferrara: the Adelardi houses, property and following (the Marchesella inheritance)
• Castelguglielmo in the Polesine, named after its Adelardi builder, as part of the Adelardi inheritance [thin]

How it was acquired

Ancient Obertenghi marquisal lands round Este; Lendinara by marriage; Rovigo of the church of Adria; the Adelardi inheritance in Ferrara secured by Obizzo I (DBI) through Marchesella, the Adelardi heiress promised to Azzo VI about 1186, who died before or soon after any wedding (it.wikipedia says the marriage may never have taken place).

Allies and rivals

In 1200: the Ferrarese party of the Adelardi's heirs (the Giocoli, Pietro Traversari of Ravenna in Riccobaldo's account); Padua, whose podesta he was in 1199; in Verona the counts of San Bonifacio (their formal alliance with him is pinned only from 1206-07). Rivals: Salinguerra Torelli in Ferrara; Ezzelino II (married first to Agnese d'Este, Azzo V's daughter, so the two houses are kin), whose enmity becomes open war in 1206-07.

The realm that morning

Azzo VI's office that winter: podesta of Padua for 1199 (DBI); whether that term ran to the turn of the year or a new podesta had taken over by 1 January 1200 is not pinned, and no office for 1200 is pinned. In Ferrara, Salinguerra was podesta in 1199 and a Veronese of the Monticoli, Tebaldo Turrisendi, takes the office in 1200: the Este side is out of power there. Wife on 1 January 1200: not pinned. The DBI gives, seemingly in order, a daughter of the Aldobrandeschi counts (it.wikipedia: Sofia, married 1189), mother of Aldobrandino, and Sofia of Savoy, daughter of Count Humbert III, mother of Beatrice; whether Sofia of Savoy is alive that morning is not pinned.

Children born by 1 January 1200: Aldobrandino and Beatrice (birth years not given by the DBI). Azzo VII and Costanza are children of the third marriage (to Alisia, daughter of Reynald of Chatillon, prince of Antioch, in 1204) and are not yet born. In 1199, while Azzo was podesta of Padua, the Paduans destroyed Ezzelino's castle of Onara (en.wikipedia); whether Azzo led that attack is not pinned. The other lords of the Polesine between the Adige and the Po: the bishop of Adria (a Church map record), who holds Adria and Ariano and grants Rovigo and Ariano to the Este; the abbey of Vangadizza at Badia, under Este advocacy; Salinguerra Torelli, whose castle of Fratta Azzo will besiege in 1205; and the commune of Ferrara, whose Transpadane villages (Ficarolo, Stienta, Occhiobello) lie along the Po's north bank.

Wealth

Rents and tithes of the Euganean and Adige villages, the Adige and Po river tolls in the Polesine, mills, fisheries and marshes, the Este market; the Adelardi property in Ferrara.

Military

His vassals and knights of the Atestine and Polesine castles (Este, Calaone, Montagnana, Rovigo, Lendinara); his Ferrarese and Paduan friends. He fought at Carmignano in 1198 (DBI Camposampiero). No figures.

Threats

• Salinguerra Torelli holding Ferrara
• Ezzelino II, kinsman turned rival
• Padua's growth into the Euganean hills
• Disputes with Pomposa and the bishop of Adria over church lands

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 1200 (not pinned)The San Bonifacio party intervenes in Ferrara, presumably on the Este side (DBI San Bonifacio).Depends on: Torelli rule in Ferrara provoking the Este's friends. Stopped by: A Ferrarese settlement.

Later, on the likely course

1. 1204Marriage to Alisia of Antioch, contracted in Friuli with Salinguerra among the guarantors.Depends on: Azzo being a widower by then. Stopped by: His second wife surviving.
2. 1205-1208Open war with Salinguerra (Fratta, 1205) and Ezzelino (Verona, 1206-07); Azzo podesta of Verona (1206) and lord of Ferrara (1208).Depends on: The Verona and Ferrara factions coming to blows. Stopped by: A lasting peace among the March's parties.

Places of note

• Calaone castle: Este castle in the Euganean hills
• Vangadizza abbey: Este burial church, under their advocacy
• Ariano (curia of the bishop of Adria, 1195): Granted to Azzo in 1195

Where the sources disagree

• it.wikipedia names the first wife Sofia Aldobrandini (married 1189) and has Henry VI make Azzo count of Rovigo in 1194; the DBI says only 'a daughter of the Aldobrandini counts' and does not mention the 1194 grant. Followed the DBI where they differ.

Evidence: Offices and marriages from the DBI; the exact list of Este castles in 1200 is reconstructed from the family's long-held core and is not a dated list.

On the map: A reconstruction of the Este core: the marquis held rights, castles and church fiefs scattered among other lords' lands, not a closed territory; Fratta Polesine was Salinguerra Torelli's castle and the Transpadane Polesine (Ficarolo, Stienta, Occhiobello) was Ferrara's.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Lombard city annals of Piacenza, Milan, Cremona, Parma, Mantua and Verona (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries). The communes' own year lists. Read online