Family and early years Born in
Fano on 22 April 1639 as the second daughter of Count Girolamo
Martinozzi and his wife
Laura Margherita Mazzarini, Laura spent her childhood in Rome, where her father served as
Mayor in the palace of the
Roman Curia. In 1653, Laura, her older sister
Anna Maria (1637 – 4 February 1672) and their widowed mother moved to
Paris to live with her maternal uncle, Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal thought of marrying Laura to
Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, but then he began to plan her marriage to
Alfonso d'Este, heir of the
Duchy of Modena. This union, like the marriage of King
Louis XIV to
Isabella d'Este, were conceived with the purpose to strengthen the allied relationship between France and Modena. However, in the case of the marriage between the French king and the Modenese princess, it was never materialized due to Cardinal Mazarin's decisive opposition to the marriage (which took place in 1654) between
Francesco I d'Este, Duke of Modena and Lucrezia Barberini, great-niece of
Pope Urban VIII. Initially, Laura was against this marriage, and the bride herself wanted to become a nun. The wedding ceremony took place in
London on 5 October 1673. During her absence, the Dowager Duchess entrusted her son to the care of ministers; however, Marquess Cesare Ignazio d'Este, taking advantage of the situation, was able to win over the young duke and turn him against his mother. Laura returned to Modena on 5 March 1674, and the next day, celebrating his fourteenth birthday, Francesco II dissolved the regency council and assumed his personal rule. The Dowager Duchess did not immediately, but nevertheless, submit to pressure from her son and surrendered the regency. In 1925, Laura's remains were transferred from the former convent to the Este Chapel in
San Vincenzo, Modena. The Dowager Duchess bequeathed large sums of money to the poor and temples. Almost all of her property in Italy was received by Francesco II. Maria Beatrice got Laura's capital in France. ==Issue==