Background
He was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. Soon after his accession, he was forced by Pope Pius IV to send back his mother to France due to her Calvinist creed.
He was the elder son of Ercole II d'Este and Renée de France, the daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany. Soon after his accession, he was forced by Pope Pius IV to send back his mother to France due to her Calvinist creed.
As a young man, he fought in the service of Henry II of France against the Habsburgs. The 1570 Ferrara earthquake fell into his reign. In 1583 he allied with Emperor Rudolf II in the war against the Turks in Hungary.
The legitimate line ended in 1598 with him. The succession, however, was recognized only by the Emperor but not by the Popes. In 1598 Ferrara was therefore incorporated into the Papal States by Pope Clement VIII, on grounds of doubtful legitimacy.
Alfonso II raised the glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of Torquato Tasso, Giovanni Battista Guarini, and Cesare Cremonini—favouring the arts and sciences, as the princes of his house had always done. Luzzasco Luzzaschi served as his court organist. In addition, he was the sponsor of the Concerto delle donne, a type of group which was to be copied all over Italy.
He also restored the Castello Estense, damaged by an earthquake in 1570. His expenses, however, went at damage of the public treasure. Some specialists claim that Alfonso II is the duke upon whom Robert Browning based his poem My Last Duchess.
He was a member of the House of Este.