Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

FERRARA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V10, Page 284 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

FERRARA , a See also:

city and archiepiscopal see of See also:Emilia, See also:Italy, See also:capital of the See also:province of Ferrara, 30 M. N.N.E. of See also:Bologna, situated 30 ft. above See also:sea-level on the Po di Vomano, a See also:branch channel of the See also:main stream of the Po, which is 32 M. N. Pop. (19o1) 32,968 (See also:town), 86,392 (See also:commune). The town has broad streets and numerous palaces, which date from the 16th See also:century, when it was the seat of the See also:court of the See also:house of See also:Este, and had, it is said, 100,000 inhabitants. The most prominent See also:building is the square See also:castle of the house of Este, in the centre of the town, a See also:brick building surrounded by a See also:moat, with four towers. It was built after 1385 and partly restored in 1554; the pavilions on the See also:top of the towers date from the latter See also:year. Near it is the See also:hospital of S. See also:Anna, where See also:Tasso was confined during his attack of See also:insanity (1579–1586). The Palazzo del Municipio, rebuilt in the 18th century, was the earlier See also:residence of the Este See also:family. See also:Close by is the See also:cathedral of S.

Giorgio, consecrated in 1135, when the Romanesque See also:

lower See also:part of the main See also:facade and the See also:side facades were completed. It was built by Guglielmo degli Adelardi (d. 1146), who is buried in it. The upper part of the main facade, with arcades of pointed See also:arches, See also:dates from the 13th century, and the portal has recumbent lions and elaborate sculptures above. The interior was restored in the See also:baroque See also:style in 1712. The campanile, in the See also:Renaissance style, dates from 1451–1493, but the last See also:storey was added at the end of the 16th century. Opposite the cathedral is the See also:Gothic Palazzo See also:delta Ragione, in brick (1315–1326), now the See also:law-courts. A little way off is the university, which has faculties of law, See also:medicine and natural See also:science (hardly too students in all); the library has valuable See also:MSS., including part of that of the Orlando Furioso and letters by Tasso. The other churches are of less See also:interest than the cathedral, though S. See also:Francesco, S. Benedetto, S. Maria in Vado and S.

Cristoforo are all See also:

good See also:early Renaissance buildings. The numerous early Renaissance palaces, often with good terra-See also:cotta decorations, See also:form quite a feature of Ferrara; few towns of Italy have so many of them proportionately, though they are mostly comparatively small in See also:size. Among them may be noted those in the N. See also:quarter (especially the four at the intersection of its two main streets), which was added by Ercole (See also:Hercules) I. in 1492–1505, from the plans of Biagio See also:Rossetti, and hence called the " Addizione Erculea." The finest of these is the Palazzo de' Diamanti, so called from the See also:diamond points into which the blocks of See also:stone with which it is faced are cut. It contains the municipal picture See also:gallery, with a large number of pictures of artists of the school of Ferrara. This did not require prominence until the latter See also:half of the 15th century, when its best masters were Cosimo Tura (1432–1495), Francesco See also:Cossa (d. 148o) and Ercole dei Roberti (d. 1496). To this See also:period are due famous frescoes in the Palazzo Schifanoia, which was built by the Este family; those of the lower See also:row depict the See also:life of Borso of Este, in the central row are the signs of the See also:zodiac, and in the upper are allegorical representations of the months. The See also:vestibule was decorated with See also:stucco See also:mouldings by Domenico di See also:Paris of See also:Padua. The building also contains See also:fine See also:choir-books with miniatures, and a collection of coins and Renaissance medals. The See also:simple house of See also:Ariosto, erected by himself after 1526, in which he died in 1532, lies farther See also:west. The best Ferrarese masters of the 16th century of the Ferrara school were Lorenzo See also:Costa (1460–1535), and Dosso Dossi (1479–1542), the most eminent of all, while Benvenuto Tisi (Garofalo, 1481–15J9) is somewhat monotonous and insipid.

The origin of Ferrara is uncertain, and probabilities are against the supposition that it oc'cupies the site of the See also:

ancient See also:Forum Alieni. It was probably a See also:settlement formed by the inhabitants of the lagoons at the mouth of the Po. It appears first in a document of Aistulf of 733 or 754 as a city forming "part of the exarchate of See also:Ravenna. After 984 we find it a See also:fief of Tedaldo, See also:count of See also:Modena and See also:Canossa, See also:nephew of the See also:emperor See also:Otho I. It afterwards made itself See also:independent, and in 'tor was taken by See also:siege by the countess See also:Matilda. At this See also:time it was mainly dominated by several See also:great families, among them the Adelardi. In 1146 Guglielmo, the last of the Adelardi, died, and his See also:property passed, as the See also:dowry of his niece Marchesella, to Azzolino d' Este. There was considerable hostility between the newly entered family and the Salinguerra, but after considerable struggles Azzo See also:Novello was nominated perpetual See also:podesta in 1242; in 1259 he took Ezzelino of See also:Verona prisoner in See also:battle. His See also:grandson, Obizzo II. (1264–1293), succeeded him, and the See also:pope nominated him See also:captain-See also:general and defender of the states of the See also:Church; and the house of Este was from henceforth settled in Ferrara. Niccolo III. (1393–1441) received several popes with great magnificence, especially See also:Eugene IV., who held a See also:council here in 1438.

His son Borso received the fiefs of Modena and Reggio from the emperor See also:

Frederick III. as first See also:duke in 1452 (in which year See also:Girolamo See also:Savonarola was See also:born here), and in 1470 was made duke of Ferrara by Pope See also:Paul II. Ercole I. (1471-1505) carried on a See also:war with See also:Venice and increased the magnificence of the city. His son See also:Alphonso I. married Lucrezia See also:Borgia, and continued the war with Venice with success. In 1509 he was excommunicated by See also:Julius II., and attacked the pontifical See also:army in 1512 outside Ravenna, which he took. Gaston de See also:Foix See also:fell in the battle, in which he was supporting Alphonso. With the succeeding popes he was able to make See also:peace. He was the See also:patron of Ariosto from 1518 onwards. His son Ercole II. married Renata, daughter of See also:Louis XII. of See also:France; he too embellished Ferrara during his reign (1534–1559). His son Alphonso II. married See also:Barbara, See also:sister of the emperor See also:Maximilian II. He raised the See also:glory of Ferrara to its highest point, and was the patron of Tasso and See also:Guarini, favouring, as the princes of his house had always done, the arts and sciences. Ife had no legitimate male See also:heir, and in 1597 Ferrara was claimed as a vacant fief by Pope See also:Clement VIII., as was also See also:Comacchio.

A fortress was constructed by him on the site of the castle of Tedaldo, at the W. See also:

angle of the town. The town remained a part of the states of the Church, the fortress being occupied by an See also:Austrian See also:garrison from 1832 until 1859, when it became part of the See also:kingdom of Italy. A considerable See also:area within the walls of Ferrara is unoccupied by buildings, especially on the See also:north, where the handsome Renaissance church of S. Cristoforo, with the See also:cemetery, stands; but See also:modern times have brought a renewal of See also:industrial activity. Ferrara is on the main See also:line from Bologna to Padua and Venice, and has branches to Ravenna and See also:Poggio Rusco (for Suzzara). See G. Agnelli, Ferrara e See also:Pont posa (See also:Bergamo, 1902) ; E. G. See also:Gardner, See also:Dukes and Poets of Ferrara (See also:London, 1904). FERRARA-See also:FLORENCE, COUNCIL OF (1438 ff.). The council of Ferrara and Florence was the See also:culmination of a See also:series of futile See also:medieval attempts to reunite the See also:Greek and See also:Roman churches. The emperor, See also:John VI.

See also:

Palaeologus, had been advised by his experienced See also:father to avoid all serious negotiations, as they had invariably resulted in increased bitterness; but John, in view of the rapid dismemberment of his See also:empire by the See also:Turks, See also:felt constrained to seek a See also:union. The situation was, however, complicated by the strife which See also:broke out between the pope (See also:Eugenius IV.) and the See also:oecumenical council of See also:Basel. Both sides sent embassies to the emperor at See also:Constantinople, as both saw the importance of gaining the recognition and support of the See also:East, for on this practically depended the victory in the struggle between papacy and council for the supreme See also:jurisdiction over the church (see See also:COUNCILS). The Greeks, fearing the domination of the papacy, were at first more favourably inclined toward the conciliar party; but the astute See also:diplomacy of the Roman representatives, who have been charged by certain Greek writers with the skilful use df mdn'ey and of lies, wbn over the emperor. With a See also:retinue of about 700 persons, entertained in Italy at the pope's expense, he reached Ferrara early in See also:March 1438. Here a council had been formally opened-in See also:January by the papal party, a See also:bull of the previous year having promptly taken See also:advantage of the See also:death of the Emperor See also:Sigismund by ordering the removal of the council of Basel to Ferrara; and one of the first acts of the assemblage at Ferrara had been to excommunicate the remnant at Basel. A See also:month after the coming of the Greeks, the Union See also:Synod was solemnly inaugurated on the 9th of See also:April 1438. After six months of negotiation, the first formal session was held on the 8th of See also:October, and on the 14th the real issues were reached. The time-honoured question of the filioque was still in the foreground when it seemed for several reasons advisable to See also:transfer the council to Florence: Ferrara was threatened by condottieri, the pest was raging; Florence promised a welcome subvention, and a situation further inland would make it more difficult for uneasy Greek bishops to flee the synod. The first session at Florence and the seventeenth of the union council took See also:place on the 26th of See also:February 1439; there ensued See also:long debates and negotiations on the filioque, in which Markos Eugenikos, See also:archbishop of See also:Ephesus, spoke for the irreconcilables; but the Greeks under the leadership of See also:Bessarion, archbishop of See also:Nicaea, and Isidor, See also:metropolitan of See also:Kiev, at length made a See also:declaration on the filioque, (4th of See also:June), to which all See also:save Markos Eugenikos subscribed. On the next topic of importance, the primacy of the pope, the project of union nearly suffered See also:ship-See also:wreck; but here a vague See also:formula was finally constructed which, while acknowledging the pope's right to govern the church, attempted to safeguard as well the rights of the patriarchs. On the basis of the above-mentioned agreements, as well as of See also:minor discussions as to See also:purgatory and the See also:Eucharist, the See also:decree of union was See also:drawn up in Latin and in Greek, and signed on the 5th of See also:July by the pope and the Greek emperor, and all the members of the synod save Eugenikos and one Greek See also:bishop who had fled; and on the following See also:day it was solemnly published in the cathedral of Florence.

The decree explains the filioque in a manner acceptable to the Greeks, but does not require them to insert the See also:

term in their See also:symbol; it demands that celebrants follow the See also:custom of their own church as to the employment of leavened or unleavened See also:bread in the Eucharist. It states essentially the Roman See also:doctrine of purgatory, and asserts the See also:world-wide primacy of the pope as the " true See also:vicar of See also:Christ and the See also:head of the whole Church, the Father and teacher of all Christians "; but, to satisfy the Greeks, inconsistently adds that all the rights and privileges of the See also:Oriental patriarchs are to be maintained unimpaired. After the consummation of the union the Greeks remained in Florence for several See also:weeks, discussing matters such as the See also:liturgy, the See also:administration of the sacram.gnts, and See also:divorce; and they sailed from Venice to Constantinople in October. The council, however, desirous of negotiating unions with the minor churches of the East, remained in session for several years, and seems never to have reached a formal See also:adjournment. The • decree for the Armenians was published on the 22nd of See also:November 1439; they accepted the filioque and the Athanasian creed, rejected Monophysitism and Monothelitism, agreed to the See also:developed scholastic doctrine concerning the seven sacraments, and conformed their See also:calendar to the Western in certain points. On the 26th of April 1441 the pope announced that the synod would be transferred to the Lateran; but before leaving Florence a union was negotiated with the Oriental Christians known as See also:Jacobites, through a See also:monk named Andreas, who, at least as regards See also:Abyssinia, acted in excess of his See also:powers. The Decretum See also:pro Jacobites, published on the 4th of February 1442, is, like that for the Armenians, of high dogmatic interest, as it summarizes the doctrine of the great medieval scholastics on the points in controversy. The decree for the Syrians, published at the Lateran on the 3oth of See also:September 1444, and those for the Chaldeans (See also:Nestorians) and the See also:Maronites (See also:Monothelites), published at the last known session of the council on the 7th of See also:August 1445, added nothing of doctrinal importance. Thoughthe See also:direct results of these unions were the restoration of See also:prestige to the absolutist papacy and the bringing of See also:Byzantine men of letters, like Bessarion, to the West, the outcome was on the whole disappointing. Of the complicated See also:history of the " See also:United " churches of the East it suffices to say that See also:Rome succeeded in securing but iragments, though important fragments, of the greater organizations. As for the Greeks, the union met with much opposition, particularly from the monks, and was rejected by three Oriental patriarchs at a synod of See also:Jerusalem in 1443; and after various ineffective attempts to enforce it, the fall of Constantinople in 1453 put an end to the endeavour. As See also:Turkish interests demanded the See also:isolation of the Oriental Christians from their western brethren, and as the orthodox Greek nationalists feared Latinization more than See also:Mahommedan See also:rule, a See also:patriarch hostile to the union was chosen, and a synod of Constantinople in 1472 formally rejected the decisions of Florence.

End of Article: FERRARA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
FERRAR, ROBERT (d. 1555) 		[next]
FERRARI, GAUDENZIO (1484-1549)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries