Background
He inherited the family lands from his father, Obizzo II, whom Dante suggested in the Inferno he had assassinated.
He inherited the family lands from his father, Obizzo II, whom Dante suggested in the Inferno he had assassinated.
The Florentine poet cites him as half-son, but it is not clear if to stress Azzo's bad acts or if he was truly illegitimate. The early part of his rule was spent in almost continuous warfare: war with Padua at his accession and with Parma and Bologna in 1295–99. He was accused of the assassination of the podestà of Bologna, Jacopo del Cassero, who had opposed the Este expansion plans.
The wedding was solemnized. Modena and Reggio rebelled in 1306 over an attempt to assign them to Beatrice as part of the bride price, a custom that had been superseded in Italy by the dowry. Francesco d'Este left Ferrara as Beatrice arrived and joined the coalition of cities that moved against Azzo in 1306, determined that he should not make himself lord of Lombardy.