Ippolito d'Este

Ippolito (I) d'Este (; 20 March 1479 – 3 September 1520) was an Italian Roman Catholic cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom. He was a member of the ducal House of Este of Ferrara, and was usually referred to as the Cardinal of Ferrara. Though a bishop of five separate dioceses, he was never consecrated a bishop. He spent much of his time supporting the ducal house of Ferrara and negotiating on their behalf with the Pope. Biography Born in Ferrara, Ippolito was the son of Duke Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Eleanor of Naples, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples. His eldest brother, Alfonso became duke in 1505 (and married Lucrezia Borgia). He had another brother, Ferdinando, a brother Sigismondo, and two sisters, Beatrice (who married Ludovico Sforza) and Isabella (who married Duke Francesco of Mantua). He also had a half-brother, Giulio, and a half-sister, Lucrezia. Youth From infancy Ippolito was destined for a career in the Church, and at the age of three he was named Abbot Commendatory of Casalnovo. In December 1485, at the age of six, he received his first tonsure, and was named Abbot Commendatory of S. Maria di Pomposa (Ferrara). Two years later, on 27 May 1487, thanks to his aunt Beatrice of Aragon, who had married King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, he was named archbishop of Esztergom in Hungary. The appointment by Pope Innocent VIII did not take effect, however, until he was eighteen. Ippolito nonetheless departed Ferrara for Hungary on 18 June 1487, accompanied by his cousin, Bishop Nicolò Maria d'Este of Adria; the departure was noted by Marino Sanuto in his Diarii, who traces his journey through Rovigo and Padua. Ippolito joined King Matthias and Queen Beatrice, his mother's sister, in Hungary.