Norwich bulletin., 1921-08-17
IN THE DAYS NEWS

The reported theft of an invaluable collection of coins and small art ob- jects from the ponderous castle of the Dukes of Este in Parrara, Italy. a building constructed as a place of safety in times of revolt. touches a note of paradox and throws the searchlight of world news for a brief moment on a city once famous but recently neElect-
 ed," says a bulletin issued by the Ma tional Geographic Society.
 Tn location Ferrara is the New Or leans of Italy" continues the bulletin
 Tt grew up from an unknown beginning in the fiat, marshy delta of the River Pc on the banks of that great stream,
 which like the Mississippi. sometimes capriciousy changes it's course over night. For centuries the Ferrarese had to carry on a continual struggle against the threatened encroachments of ItAly's Father of Waters
 But spurred on by an indenlitable | spirit and with the assistance of able | engineers, the people of Ferrsra not only protected the city but reclaimed | from the surrounding marshes and made 1 productive hundreds of square miles of
 agricultural land. The tcwn which they | secured against the threats of the Pc 1 they built into a commercial city state | which almost rivaled the great Venice which produced one of the most notable | and notorious prineely families of his 1 tory-the House of Este; and became a
 seat of learning and culture unsurpass- | ed in the world of it's day. So great was
 the place in the world won by this now l little-known city of the Pc delta that
 Goethe did not hesitate to rank it ahead of the familiar and historic Florence now | many times it's size.
 Torn for generation by street wars
 between opposing nobles, the FerTsrese
 took the almost unparalleled expedient
 in 1908 of voluntarily surrendering
 their liberties to the House of Este which
 was given the permanent lordship of the
 city. From that time the history of Fer
 rara is the history of Este-a magnif-
 cent, brilliant tyranny a people bow
 cd down by taxation, but with tte conn
 fort that while Italy seethed with wars
 it was 8 long time an island of peace
 with culture that was the pattern and
 envy of Europe.
 When the awakening came from the
 mental sloth of the Dark Ages. Ferra-
 ra was in the van and became known as ) The typical city of t'5e Renaissance. About the court of Este thronged some l of the leading poets, artists and human itarians of the age. In the city was rrs resurrected the drama. dead since thu days of strong, wealthy Rome. Ferrars 5 earned the title of the new Athens, and the most cultured and polite city 1T l Europe
 t "As one of its erowning achieve 1 rnents the Este court produced the ia . nous Isabella d'Este, who. with beauty : charm, culture, a keen mind better stoeA . ed than most minds of the time, and al
 artistic and critical ability then unsur E passed came to be spoken of as tn i first lady of the world
 | daTha m eSiue Este which -fa . In Ferrarz today with it's four heav = towers and surrounded by it's deep moat l. is an epitone in stone and brick pow6 l. of the Marquises and Dukes of Este. an n about it hang thiekly the traditions c a the triumphs. intriEues. romances an 'f tragedies of the famous family.
 up a great marble stairway of tN r castle no longer in existence, rode tn i Emperor John of Constantinople in 14s 4 when Ferrara, as a powerful neutr; state and the cor . ention city of il ' day. was the scene of the futile meetin U between the eastern emperor and tf
 pope in the effort to harmonize the do' II II trines of the Greek and Roman churcl .u es.
 S There lived in idyilie happiness fc .s years the beautiful, young and hom II loving Marchesana Parisina and in u le dungeons below, by order of her age T. absolute husband she was beheade 'e Over the castle household ruled .u duchesses Lucre ezia Rorgia, Lucrez - Medici. and Renata. princess y France In the castle walls roam is Tasso pouring forth his fervid poetr
 and finally going mad because of h h. love for the Princess Leonora d'Este T. "FerrAra's fall from it's high esta of was rapid. The direct line of the Hou III of Este died out in 1897 and the cft 1- became a provincial holding among II
 Papal states. By degrees the surroun, y ing country reverted te marsh. the pop