Ricciarda of Saluzzo

She was the daughter of Thomas III, Marquess of Saluzzo and his French wife Marguerite de Pierrepont, daughter of Ugo II de Pierrepont, count of Roncy and Braine.

[1][better source needed] In 1429 she married Niccolò III d'Este - she was his third wife, after Gigliola da Carrara and Parisina Malatesta.

They had two children: After Niccolò's death in 1441, the ten-year-old Ercole could in theory have succeeded his father as his eldest legitimate child.

However, her father instead left the title to his illegitimate son Leonello,[2] who exiled Ricciardia and her two children to Naples.

However, in the meanwhile Ricciarda had forged alliances that meant that on Borso's death she succeeded in getting Ercole made duke of Ferrara.