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| Francesco III d'Este | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Duke of Modena and Reggio | |||||
| Reign | 26 October 1737 – 22 February 1780 | ||||
| Predecessor | Rinaldo d'Este | ||||
| Successor | Ercole III d'Este | ||||
| Born | (1698-07-02)2 July 1698 Ducal Palace of Modena,Duchy of Modena and Reggio | ||||
| Died | 22 February 1780(1780-02-22) (aged 81) Palazzo Estense,Varese,Duchy of Milan | ||||
| Spouse | |||||
| Issue Detail | Maria Teresa, Duchess of Penthièvre Ercole III, Duke of Modena Princess Matilde d'Este Maria Fortunata, Princess of Conti Benedetto Filippo, Abbot of Anchin | ||||
| |||||
| House | Este | ||||
| Father | Rinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena | ||||
| Mother | Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg | ||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||
Francesco III d'Este (Francesco Maria; 2 July 1698 – 22 February 1780) wasDuke of Modena and Reggio from 1737 until his death.
Francesco was born inModena, the son ofRinaldo d'Este, Duke of Modena, andDuchess Charlotte of Brunswick-Lüneburg.[1]
During his reign, the duchy was bankrupted by theWars of the Spanish,Polish, andAustrian Successions. As a result, Francesco was forced to sell the most precious artworks of theEstense 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 theVia Vandelli, connecting the city to theTuscanDuchy of Massa and Carrara (belonging to his daughter-in-lawMaria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina and destined to be incorporated into the Este States), and to theMediterranean Sea.
Francesco also was the interimGovernor of the Duchy of Milan between 1754 and 1771, being also invested in 1765 with the non-hereditary lordship ofVarese, a fief specially created for him byEmpress Maria Theresa. There he died in 1780 in thePalazzo Estense he had built.
His sonErcole succeeded him as the sovereign of the Duchy of Modena and Reggio.
In 1721, Francesco marriedCharlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (1700–1761),[1] a daughter ofPhilippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans andFrançoise Marie de Bourbon (legitimized daughter ofLouis XIV andMadame de Montespan),[2] and had ten children. Together, they resided in theDucal Palace of Rivalta.
He acted as proxy groom for his sisterEnrichetta d'Este in 1728 who was marryingAntonio Farnese, Duke of Parma.
After his first wife's death, he remarried twice moremorganatically to Teresa Castelbarco (1704-1768) and Renata Teresa d'Harrach (1721-1788).
His granddaughterMaria Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Massa was the last scion of theHouse of Este of Modena, whose male line became extinct with her.
Given that in the Este States theSalic law was in force which prohibited women from succeeding to the throne, after the premature death of his fourth son Benedetto Filippo (though directed to an ecclesiastical career) in 1751 and, two years later, that of his only grandson in the male line, Rinaldo Francesco, just aged 4 months, the duke had to surrender to the idea that extinction was looming large over the house of Este.Maria Beatrice was now the sole surviving child of his sole surviving son, Ercole Rinaldo (the future DukeErcole III), and it was clear that the latter would not father any more legitimate offspring because he and his wife,Maria Teresa Cybo-Malaspina, were now irretrievably separated.
Therefore, Francesco III set out to prevent his ancient Este States, asimperial fiefs, from being declared "vacant" (heirless) in future and then simply absorbed by theEmpire, just as, almost two centuries earlier,Ferrara, a papal fief held to be vacant byPope Clement VIII, had been confiscated by theApostolic Chamber. Previously he had already turned to the court ofGreat 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 theHouse 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 theHouse of Austria. In virtue of them,Archduke Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, EmpressMaria 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 anolder brother of his, Leopold moved up one place in the line of succession, becoming heir to the throne of theGrand Duchy of Tuscany as provided for the second son of the imperial couple, and even taking over from his late brother as candidate to the InfantaMaria Luisa of Spain's hand; 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 thePerpetual 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 newHouse 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 sonFrancesco IV would be placed at the head of the restored Duchy of Modena and Reggio by theCongress of Vienna.
Media related toFrancesco III d'Este, Duke of Modena at Wikimedia CommonsFrancesco III d'Este Born: 2 July 1698 Died: 22 February 1780 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Duke of Modena and Reggio 1737–1780 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Governor of the Duchy of Milan 1754–1771 | Succeeded by |
