558 E S T E S T technical " three estates " were those we have mentioned. In the lapse of time the original meaning of the phrase has been gradually lost sight of. The clergy have ceased to be a separate order so far as the political organization of the country is concerned. The " three estates " came to be identified with the three great divisions of the legislative authority, kings, lords, and commons. The phrase seems to have been used in this sense in the reign of Henry IV., and Hallam says it was a current doctrine among the popu lar lawyers of the 17th century. According to another view, the three estates of the realm were "the lords spiritual, the lords temporal, and the commons." (See p. 314 of the present volume.) ESTE, the ancient Ateste, a town of Lombardy, in the delegation of Padua, and 18 miles S.S.W. of the town of that name, is beautifully situated at the southern extremity of the Euganean hills, on the canal of Monselice. It has a very antique and picturesque appearance ; its houses are mostly of madi;eval date ; and it possesses some ancient buildings of considerable interest. Chief of these is the Rocca or castle, a donjon tower with embrasures and battlements occupying the site of the original fortress of Este. The church of San Martiuo is of great antiquity, and has a leaning Romanesque campanile. The interior of the church, has been modernized. Este also possesses a belfrey tower containing a clock made by the celebrated Dondi. The chief manufactures of the town are silk-twist, hats, earthenware, majolica, and saltpetre. Este, under the name of Ateste, existed as early as 136 B.C. In 452 it was destroyed by Attila ; and afterwards it was rebuilt by the Lombards within a narrower area. The population in 1871 was 5743. ESTE, one of the oldest princely houses of Italy. Their genealogy, according to Muratori, can be traced back to the small princes who governed Tuscany under the Carlo- vingians, and who some time afterwards received certain districts or counties from them in fief. They are in all probability of Longobard origin, but there is no authentic record of their succession reaching farther back than to the marquis Adalbert who died about 917. They were called Este after the town of that name, and the title marquis of Este was first borne by ALBERT Azzo II., who married Kunitza or Kunigonda, sister of Welph or Guelph III., duke of Carinthia. Welph died without issue, and the eldest son of Kunitza, Welph IV., succeeded to his inheri tance, and marrying a daughter of Otho II., duke of Bavaria, was created duke of Bavaria, on Otho s death without male succession, in 1071. Through him the house of Este thus became connected with the princely houses of Brunswick and Hanover, from which are descended the sovereigns of England. The Italian title and estates were inherited by FULCO I. (1060-1135), son of Albert Azzo II. by his second marriage to Garisenda, countess of Maine, in France. Hugo, the second son by this marriage, in herited his mother s property in France, but as he died without issue, it ultimately came into the possession of Fulco and his successors. During the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries, the history of the Estensi is interwoven with that of the other princely houses of northern Italy, of the struggles for supremacy between pope and emperor, of the contests between rival cities, and even of the factions into which individual cities were sometimes divided. From the rivalry between the German Welphs and Weiblungen the names Guelfs and Ghibelines came to be used to designate the two great rival Italian parties; and, as the head of the Guelf party, the Estensi received at different periods the sovereignties of Ferrara, Modena, and }|0ggio. They distinguished themselves also as the patrons of litera ture and the fine arts, and had intimate relati&ns with Ariosto and Tasso. OBIZZO I., sun of Fulco I., catered into a league against Frederick Barbarossa, and was comprehended iu the Venetian treaty of 1177 by which municipal podestas were instituted. He was elected podesta of Padua in 1182; and in 1184 Frederick named him marquis of Milan and Genoa, a dignity somewhat similar to that of imperial vicar. By carrying off Marchesella, heiress of the Adelurdi family of Ferrara, and marrying her to his son Azzo V., he ob tained for his family a predominant influence in that city also, but kindled a strife with the family of Torello which continued to rage for two centuries. Obizzo I. died about 1190; and Azzo V. died about eleven years later and was succeeded by Azzo VI. (1170-1212), who became the head of the Guelf party. During the whole lifetime of Azzo VI. a civil war raged almost uninterruptedly in the streets of Ferrara, each party, it is said, being ten times driven from the city. Azzo died in November 1212, and was succeeded by ALDOVRANDINO, who in 1213 concluded a treaty with Salinguerra Torello, by which the government of Ferrara was divided between them. He died in 1215, and was succeeded by his brother Azzo VII. (1205-1264), surnamed Novdlo or the Youutj. Between him and Eccelino III. de Romano, who leagued himself with the Torelli, a war broke out in 1229, and although a temporary reconciliation was effected in 1233, and Azzo was affianced to Adelaide, niece of Eccelino, it was renewed after his marriage in 1235. .At first Eccelino, who supported the cause of Frederick II., was completely victorious in Lom bardy, but the influence of Pope Alexander VI. gradually helped to combine the towns of Lombardy against him, and Azzo also received the assistance of many fugitives whom the tyranny of Eccelino had driven from Padua and Verona. Finally, after two years indecisive skirmishing, Eccelino accepted battle at Cassano, 16th September 1259, and was completely defeated and taken prisoner, surviving his overthrow only a few days. Azzo died 17th February 1264, and was succeeded by OBIZZO II. (1240-1293), who in 1288 received the lordship of Modena, and in 1290 that of Reggio. Obizzo was succeeded by his son Azzo VIII., who was elected perpetual sovereign of Modena and Reggio. The two brothers of Azzo, however, laid claim the one to Modena and the other to Reggio, and succeeded in capturing from him both towns. He was also driven from Este, but an attempt to deprive him of Ferrara was unsuccessful. Azzo died 31st January 1308. He had no legitimate children, and, on account of the hos tility towards him of his two brothers, he named as his successor his grandson Fulco III., by his illegitimate son Francis, but despairing of holding possession of Ferrara against the brothers of Azzo, Francis, acting for his infant son, ceded it to the Venetians in lieu of an annual pay ment, and retired with Fulco to Venice, where they died in obscurity. After this the possession of Ferrara, Modena, Reggio, and their dependencies was disputed for some years with varying results by the Venetians, the pope, and rival members of the legitimate line of Estensi, but from the time of Azzo VIII. the Estensi annals are intricate, confused, and of little interest until NICHOLAS III. (1384- 1441), who exercised sovereignty over Ferrara, Modena, Parma, and Reggio, was declared by Boniface IX ^captain general of the army of the church, and enjoyed in his later years the intimate friendship of the duke of Milan. He died suddenly from poison, most probably admin istered by his enemies at the court of Milan to prevent his being named the duke s successor. To him succeeded LIONEL, who died in 1450, and was suceecled by BORSO, who was created duke of Modena and Reggio by Frederick III., and, by the pope, dnke of Ferrara. Borso was a great
patron of literature, and established a printing press at