Francesco III d'Este

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Francesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena
)

Francesco III d'Este
Ercole III d'Este
Born(1698-07-02)2 July 1698
Ducal Palace of Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio
Died22 February 1780(1780-02-22) (aged 81)
Palazzo Estense, Varese, Duchy of Milan
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1721; died 1761)​
Roman Catholicism

Francesco III d'Este (Francesco Maria; 2 July 1698 – 22 February 1780) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1737 until his death.

Biography

He was born in

Duchess Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg
.

During his reign, the duchy was bankrupted by the

Estense Gallery. He was a careful administrator but most of the duchy's financial policy was in the hands of the Austrian plenipotentiary, Beltrame Cristiani
.

Among his measures, the urban renovation of Modena and the construction of the

Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina and destined to be incorporated into the Este States), and to the Mediterranean Sea
.

Francesco also was the interim

Empress Maria Theresa. There he died in 1780 in the Palazzo Estense
he had built.

His son

Ercole
succeeded him as the sovereign of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio.

Family and children

In 1721, he married

Madame de Montespan) and had ten children. Together, they resided in the Ducal Palace of Rivalta
.

He acted as proxy groom for his sister

Antonio Farnese, Duke of Parma
.

After his first wife's death, he remarried twice more morganatically to Teresa Castelbarco (1704-1768) and Renata Teresa d'Harrach (1721-1788).

His granddaughter Maria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa was the last scion of the House of Este of Modena, whose male line became extinct with her.

Matrimonial agreements

Given that in the Este States the

Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina
, were now irretrievably separated.

Therefore, Francesco III set out to prevent his ancient Este States, as

Apostolic Chamber. Previously he had already turned to the court of Great Britain for advice and help: King George II was a distant maternal cousin of his and Francesco looked to him as a sort of head of the family given the shared ancestral origins of the two dynasties from the House of Welf. Thus, in the same year 1753, with the mediation and guarantee of George II, two simultaneous treaties (one public and one secret) were concluded between the House of Este and the House of Austria. In virtue of them, Archduke Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, Empress Maria Theresa
's ninth-born child and third son, and three-year-old Maria Beatrice d'Este were engaged, being entrusted with the lofty task of setting up a new ruling house that would bring together the names of both their families. The treaties also stipulated that Leopold should be designated by Francesco III as heir for the imperial investiture as Duke of Modena and Reggio in the event of extinction of the Este male line. It was intended that the new house should rule the Este States as a separate entity from the other Habsburg domains. In the meantime, Francesco would cover the office of governor of Milan ad interim, which was destined for the archduke.

In 1761, however, following the death of an older brother of his, Leopold moved up one place in the line of succession, becoming heir to the throne of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany as provided for the second son of the imperial couple, and even taking over from his late brother as betrothed to the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain; whereupon the 1753 treaties evidently became anachronistic and had to be revised. In 1763, despite the harsh opposition of Ercole Rinaldo, the two families agreed to simply replace the name of Leopold with that of his next junior brother, Archduke Ferdinand Karl of Habsburg-Lorraine, who had not yet been born at the time of the signing of the treaties and was four years younger than his betrothed. In January 1771 the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg ratified Ferdinand's future investiture and, in October, Maria Beatrice and he finally got married in Milan, thus giving rise to the new House of Austria-Este. Francesco III ceded to the archduke the post of governor of Milan and the new archducal couple settled in the Lombard capital where they lived the next about 25 years producing a large offspring of ten children. In 1815, their son Francesco IV would be placed at the head of the restored Duchy of Modena and Reggio by the Congress of Vienna.

Issue

  1. Alfonso d'Este (18 November 1723 – 16 June 1725) died in infancy.
  2. Francesco Constantino d'Este (22 November 1724 – 16 June 1725) died in infancy.
  3. Louis Jean Marie de Bourbon, Duke of Penthièvre
    and had issue.
  4. Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, Duchess of Massa
    and had issue.
  5. Matilde d'Este
    (7 February 1729 – 14 November 1803) died unmarried.
  6. Beatrice d'Este (14 July 1730 – 12 July 1731) died in infancy.
  7. Beatrice d'Este (24 November 1731 – 3 April 1736) died in infancy.
  8. Louis François de Bourbon, Prince of Conti
    , no issue.
  9. Benedetto Filippo d'Este (30 September 1736 – 16 September 1751) died unmarried.
  10. Maria Elisabetta Ernestina d'Este (12 February 1741 – 4 August 1774) married Carlo Salomone, Count of Serravalle and had issue. Direct ancestors of Sergio E. M. Salomone Montes de Oca, current Count of Serravalle,
    Bornate
    .

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre inclusivement de tous les Rois et Princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans [Genealogy up to the fourth degree inclusive of all the Kings and Princes of sovereign houses of Europe currently living] (in French). Bourdeaux: Frederic Guillaume Birnstiel. 1768. p. 85.

External links


Francesco III d'Este
Born: 2 July 1698 Died: 22 February 1780
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Rinaldo III
Duke of Modena and Reggio

1737–1780 		Succeeded by
Ercole III
Government offices
Preceded by
Governor of the Duchy of Milan

1754–1771 		Succeeded by
Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Este


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