The Castle Estense or Castle of Saint Michele is a moated medieval structure in the center of Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

, northern Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is a large block with four corner towers.
On May 3, 1385, the Ferrarese people, driven to desperation by taxes and flooding that had brought ruin upon them, took themselves to the Marquis Niccolò II d'Este

Niccolò II d'Este

Niccolò II d'Este was lord of Ferrara, Modena and Parma from 1361 until his death.He was the son of Obizzo III, who had ruled in Ferrara from 1317 to 1352...

’s palace to ask the advice of Tommaso da Tortona, the high official held to be responsible for this grave situation.