ESTE, HOUSE OF

princely family of Lombard origin that played a great part in the history of medieval and Renaissance Italy. It first came to the front in the wars between the Guelfs and Ghibellines during the 13th century. As leaders of the Guelfs, Estensi princes received at different times Ferrara, Modena, Reggio, and other fiefs and territories. Members of the family ruled in Ferrara from the 13th through 16th century and in Modena and Reggio from the later Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century. Additional reading There are few works on the Este family in English. Werner L. Gundersheimer, Ferrara: The Style of Renaissance Despotism (1973), recounts the rule of Nicol III and of his sons. Trevor Dean, Land and Power in Late Medieval Ferrara: The Rule of the Este, 13501450 (1988), focuses on the period during which the Este's state was transformed from a family lordship into a politically stable principality.