ABSTRACT
https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-u.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780429292354/3abb420d-80da-4aed-a9cf-ae5c42b997f9/content/ifig0001.tif"/>Alfonso d’Este, the new duke of Ferrara, was born on July 21, 1476, the third child and first son of Ercole and Eleonora. He was twenty-five when he succeeded his father. A crude, slow-thinking, insensitive creature, Alfonso was physically strong and more intelligent than was at first suspected. His energy was prodigious. His arrogance, courage and stubborn will were all exceptional. He lacked the charm of his uncles Leonello and Borso and lacked his father’s patient guile. But Alfonso was a warrior who fought heroically to keep Ferrara safe for the Este dynasty and a diplomat who could, when he had to, turn on a charm, which, although not natural to him, was immensely useful.
