Dukes and Poets in Ferrara: A study in the poetry, religion, and politics of the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries

by Edmund G. Gardner

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578 pages, Hardcover

First published May 26, 2006

About the author

Edmund Garret Gardner was an English scholar and writer, specializing in Italian history and literature.

Reviews

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating look at Ferrara. Read it mostly to get a better handle on the segments of the Furioso where Ariosto is commenting on real world events of the House of Este. Look forward to reading the author's biography of Ariosto, to which this serves as a prequel.

A lot of great period details, especially when it comes to the lavish entertainments that accompanied feasts. Some wild stuff. The intrigues are covered well, as are the brutal tortures that tended to serve as postscripts. The wars were a little bit harder to follow, as I'm not really up on my Italian history. The author made an extensive use of surviving documents and letters, which is to be commended, but can be a bit hard on modern eyes when you're trying to get to the point and trying to scan past the lengthy introductory formulas that fill up so much space.

I just about have the Estes down, but you start throwing in the Sforzas, Borgias, Medicis, etc, and I start getting a bit lost. Just about have it down. As for the poets, this one's really about Boiardo, which is good because he's the only one who has both an interesting life and interesting poetry. Though that said, Teobaldi, the Strozzi couple and Bembo are kind of interesting.

Did a twitter thread on interesting bits here

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a century or so a still useful if somewhat antiquarian narrative of Ferrarese history. Especially good on the War of Ferrara and its appendices has some unpublished material that may prove useful to social and literary historians.

[Truberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific account of the House of Este's adventures in its most interesting years, from Niccolò to Alfonso. It reads like a novel and it's full of anecdotes that help deliver the true (often bizarre) colours of the Italian Reinassance.
Loved it ❤️