Ferrara was one of the first Italian Signorie. The Este family governed the city uninterruptedly for three centuries, and medieval chroniclers of Ferrara had two possibilities with regard to political arguments: to unconditionally praise the Estes, or to be silent. Nicolò€ d’Este (1393-1441), marquis of Ferrara, was a skilled politician, but he gave birth to more than 30 children, most of them illegitimate, and with preferring to leave the government to an illegitimate child even in the presence of legitimate children he mismanaged his succession. Therefore, hints about the endemic instability of 15th century Ferrara can be traced only in sources outside the domain.
