Albert Azzo II d'Este

Albert Azzo II (1009–1097), Margrave of Milan and Liguria, was a powerful nobleman in the Holy Roman Empire. From around 1029 he enlarged his inherited estates in northern Italy.

Around 1073 he made the castle of Este his residence, giving the House of Este its name; before his building project Este had been little more than a village. In the Investiture Controversy he first mediated between Henry IV and Pope Gregory VII, then sided with the pope.

His son by Kunigunde of Altdorf, Welf I of Bavaria, founded the Guelph line; Fulco I, his son by Garsende of Maine, began the Italian branch. Azzo died in 1097, aged 88.