Azzo VIII d'Este

Azzo VIII d'Este (c. 1263–1308) succeeded his father Obizzo II, whom Dante says he murdered, as lord of Ferrara in February 1293. In 1305 he paid Charles II of Naples a great sum to marry his daughter Beatrice, a bargain Dante denounced as slave-trading.

The agreement imposed primogeniture, excluding his brother Francesco, who joined a league against him. When Azzo promised Modena and Reggio to Beatrice, both cities rebelled and fell to the league in 1306. He died in January 1308, and his will in favour of Fresco's young son Folco sparked the first War of Ferrara.