Eleanor of Naples, Duchess of Ferrara

Eleanor of Naples (Leonora or Eleonora of Aragon; 22 June 1450 – 11 October 1493) was Duchess of Ferrara by marriage to Ercole I d'Este.

Born 22 June 1450, Eleanor was the daughter King Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Clermont.

Eleanor would go on to marry Ercole d’Este (26 October 1431 – 15 June 1505) in July 1473, her supposed second husband.

She wrote to her father that she was given a lavish apartment, stating that even her chamber pot was made of gilded silver.

[5] In her correspondence with her father, she spoke of the banquet thrown for her, organized by Pietro Riario nephew of Pope Sixtus IV, which lasted six hours, and it was an endless succession of food, accompanied by music, dancing and poetry.

Due to growing up in the Aragonese court of Naples, she brought with her much political knowledge and advice, and was said to show an extreme amount of common sense.

Her eldest son Alfonso viewed his mother as one of the women he cared for the most, and he was deeply affected when he lost her at the age of seventeen.

[13] It is considered extremely rare for women during this period to be praised highly for their political prowess, making her a bit of an anomaly.

Legitimate children of Hercules and Eleanor: Isabella , Alfonso , Ferrante , Ippolito and Sigismondo had inherited the typical Este nose of their father; Beatrice the slightly upturned one of her mother. Furthermore, all were dark-haired, except Ferrante and Sigismondo, who had recovered, as it seems, the traditional blond of the Este.