Ricciarda of Saluzzo
Ricciardia, Marquess of Saluzzo (1410 – 16 August 1474, Ferrara) was an Italian noblewoman. 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]
In 1429 she married Niccolò III d'Este - she was his third wife, after Gigliola da Carrara and Parisina Malatesta. They had two children:
- Ercole (1431 – 1505), future duke of Ferrara;
- Sigismondo (1433 – 1507), lord of San Martino in Rio.
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 Leonello,[2] who exiled Ricciardia and her two children to Naples.[3] She forged alliances and on Borso's death succeeded in getting Ercole made duke of Ferrara.[4]