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Duchy of Modena

Modena is situated to the east of Parma, and between that state and the Papal dominions. It extends from the Po to the crest of the Appenines; beyond which the duke also possesses Massa and Carrara, lying between two portions of Tuscany, and reaching to the Gulf of Genoa.

Modena, the capital, lies between the Secchia and the Panaro. The ducal palace is a magnificent structure, and as richly furnished. The cathedral, churches, university, and a number of other public buildings, ornament the city. Population in 1850 was 27,000. The other important places in the state were : Reggio, with 18,000 inhabitants ; Massa, with 7,000; Carrara, a small place noted for its marbles; Mirandola, a busy, fortified town, with 6,000 inhabitants; Finale, with 6,000; Carpi, with 6,000; Castelnuovo, with 3,000; Sassuolo, Rubiera, Novallora, Canossa, and Correggio, the last of which was the birth place of the celebrated painter Allegri.

Modena, the ancient Mutina, in the dominions of the Gallic Boii, became a Roman colony in BC 183, and was a place of some importance. After the murder of Caesar, Decimus Brutus was besieged here by Antony for four months, December 44 to April 43 B.C. (Bellwn Mulinense); but the latter was defeated by Octavian with the consuls Pansa and Hirtius, and forced to raise the siege. In the middle ages Modena belonged to the estates of the Countess Matilda, but afterwards obtained its independence and became the scene of violent conflicts between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, until in 1283 it eventually came into the possession of Obizzo II d'Este (d. 1293). On the death of Alphonso II, without issue (1597), the states of Modena and Reggio (but not that of Ferrara) fell to his kinsman Cesare d'Este (1598), husband of Virginia de Medici, daughter of Grand-duke Cosimo I. of Florence.

A specialty of Modena with regard to art-history was the sculpturing of Terracottas, the aim of the artists being to represent dramatic groups rather in accordance with pictorial than plastic principles, and therefore calculated only for being exhibited in niches. This branch of art was first fully developed by the strongly realistic master Quido Maxtorn (1450-1518), who worked also in Naples and at the court of France. Some of his works are in the crypt of the cathedral, and in San Giovanni Battista (p. 374). The art was next practised in a more refined style by Antonio Begarelli (1498-1565), who, imbued with the best spirit of the Renaissance, usually rejected the aid of painting, and brought it to the utmost perfection of which it seems capable.

On the death of Franca II. (d. 1694) this collateral line became extinct, and the succession was taken up by Rinaldo (d. 1787), younger son of Duke Francis I. Serculet III. (d. 1803), who by the Peace of Luneville lost Modena in 1801, was the last of the family of Este. Through his daughter Beatrice, who married Archduke Ferdinand, the duchy came into the possession of the younger branch of the House of Austria in 1814. The insurrections of 1821, 1831, and 1848 were quelled with cruel severity.

Francis V., the last duke, quitted bis dominions in 1859 and went over to the Austrians. After his death in 1875 the name of Este passed to the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand.