[1] In Scotland the three estates were the prelates, the
tenants-in-chief and the burgesses, the third estate joining the
others for the first time about the beginning of the 14th century. In
1428 commissioners of shires, men elected by the minor
tenants-in-chief, were ordered to appear in parliament; the greater
tenants-in-chief then coalesced with the prelates and the three
estates were the lords, clerical and lay, the commissioners of shires
and the burgesses. From 1640 to 1660 parliament was reorganized, the
prelates being excluded, but at the Restoration the old order was
re-established. The Scottish parliament was accustomed to depute much
of its work to a committee, composed of members from each of the
three orders, and the committee of the estates was very prominent
during the struggle between Charles I. and his people.
[2] These diets are, wherever they still exist, survivals of the
"parliaments" of separate territorial units.
ESTATE AND HOUSE AGENTS. A person exercising the calling of a house
agent in England is required, under a penalty of L20, to take out yearly
a licence upon which L2 is charged as a duty of excise, unless he is
licensed as an auctioneer or appraiser, or is an agent employed in the
management of landed estates, or a solicitor or conveyancer who has
taken out his annual certificate as such. In this connexion a person is
deemed to be a house agent if he advertises for sale or for letting, or
in any way negotiates for the selling or letting of any furnished house
or part of any furnished house (any storey or flat rated and let as a
separate tenement being for this purpose a house); subject, however, to
the qualification that no one is to be deemed to be a house agent by
reason of his letting, or offering to let, or in any way negotiating for
the letting of, any house the annual rent or value of which does not
exceed L25.
A house agent who is merely instructed to act in the usual way of his
calling has no authority to bind his employer by a contract. His
business is to endeavour to find a person willing to become a purchaser
or tenant and then to communicate his offer to the owner. Unless express
authority is given to the agent to sell or let, and for that purpose to
enter into a binding contract, the principal reserves his right to
accept or refuse the offer. As a rule, a house or estate agent has no
authority to receive payment on behalf of the principal. Where he is
employed to procure a tenant, he must use reasonable diligence to
ascertain that the person to whom the property is let through his agency
is fit to be a tenant. He does not, however, in any way guarantee the
payment of the rent. A house agent may not, for or in expectation of
payment, prepare any deed relating to the sale or letting of real or
personal estate. There is, however, no similar prohibition as to
agreements not under seal, and it is a common practice for house agents
to charge for the preparation of them.
House agents are usually remunerated by way of commission. The scale
adopted by the Institute of Estate and House Agents embodies the rates
usually charged. In the absence of express provision upon the subject
between the principal and the agent, commission is payable only when the
latter has found a purchaser or tenant. If, however, he had found a
person willing to buy or take property upon the terms upon which the
principal intimated to him his willingness to sell or let it, the
principal will be liable to pay the amount of the commission, even
though in fact he refuses or is unable to sell or let it. Where the
agent can show that he has brought about a sale or tenancy he will be
entitled to the commission notwithstanding the fact that another agent
has been paid, or has recovered in an action, commission in respect of
the same sale or tenancy. The agent's authority may be revoked at any
time; but, where he has already performed the service for which he was
employed, the principal cannot defeat his right to be paid the amount of
the commission by subsequently revoking his authority. If the agent is
unsuccessful in finding a purchaser or tenant, as the case may be, he
will not, as a rule, have any right to remuneration for his efforts in
the matter.
Most auctioneers, in addition to holding auctions, carry on the business
of house and estate agency. The number of licences issued to house
agents and appraisers in England for the year ended 31st March 1899 was
4429, and for the year ended 31st March 1909, 4618. The number of
licences issued to auctioneers in England for the corresponding periods
was 6389 and 6543 respectively. (H. Ha.)
ESTATE DUTY. For purposes of the national revenue in the United Kingdom,
the Finance Act 1894 imposed on all property passing by death after the
1st of August 1894 a duty called estate duty, in lieu of certain other
duties previously payable. The objects of the act were--(1)
simplification of the death duties and equalization as between real and
personal property, and (2) aggregation of all the property passing on a
death, and taxation at rates graduated according to the value of the
whole. Before the act a duty (probate duty) was taken on the free
personal property of deceased persons in the hands of the executor or
administrator, without regard to the subsequent distribution. The legacy
and succession duties were levied on distribution of the property
passing on the death, from the persons taking any property under the
will or intestacy of the deceased, or under settlement, or by devolution
of title on his death. These two latter duties were mutually exclusive,
and together covered practically all property passing by death. They
were levied at rates graduated according to consanguinity. In 1888 an
attempt was made to equalize the rates of the death duties as between
property which paid the probate and legacy duties, and property which
paid succession duty only. But the Finance Act 1894 replaced the probate
duty by a duty extending to all property real or personal passing on or
by reference to death, whether by disposition of the deceased or not,
without regard to its tenure or destination. The Finance Acts of 1907
and 1909-1910 increased the scale of duties laid down in 1894.
For this purpose all property passing on a death is aggregated to form
one estate, on the capital value of which the duty is charged, at rates
graduated from 1 to 15% according to the aggregate value. Besides the
property of which the deceased was competent to dispose at his death,
the aggregated estate includes property in which he had an interest
ceasing on his death, from the cesser of which a benefit accrues, or
which was disposed of by him within twelve months of death, or at any
time, with reservation of an interest to himself. The extent to which
property is deemed to pass on the cesser of a limited interest is
measured by the proportion of the income to which the interest extended,
without regard to the tenure of the deceased or his successor. Property
may therefore be included in the aggregate estate at its capital value
owing to the passing of a life-interest only, the property being settled
so that the absolute ownership does not pass at all. But when the duty
has once been paid on property passing under a settlement, the property
does not again become chargeable until it passes on the death of a
person who is or has been competent to dispose of it. To compensate for
this advantage, when property passing under a settlement made after the
act pays the estate duty, a further duty of 2% (settlement estate duty)
is taken, except where the only subsequent life-interest is that of the
wife or husband of the deceased.
The rate of duty being fixed according to the aggregate capital value of
the whole estate, the charge is distributed according to the different
modes of disposition of the property comprised in the estate. The duty
on the personalty which passes to the executor as such is paid by him,
as the probate duty was, and comes out of the general estate. For the
other property passing, trustees, or any person to whom it passes for a
beneficial interest in possession, are made accountable, and are
required to bring in an account of the property and pay the duty. The
duty is a first charge on such property, and, when it is paid by a
person having a life-interest only, he may charge the _corpus_ of the
property with it. The duty on real property included in an account is
payable by eight yearly or sixteen half-yearly instalments, becoming due
twelve months after the death, and bearing interest at 3% from that
date. On other property, except in a few special cases, the duty bears
interest at 3% from the date of the death. When the estate duty has been
paid no further duty is chargeable on property comprised in the estate
which passes to lineal relations of the deceased. But on property
passing to collaterals or strangers legacy or succession duty, as the
case may be, is payable by the devisees or successors, at a rate (which
is the same whichever duty be payable) fixed according to consanguinity.
For a detailed account of the provisions of the act of 1894 and
subsequent amending acts, and of the practical working of the duty,
reference is made to Austen-Cartmell, _Finance Acts_ (1894-1907);
Hanson, _Death Duties_ (London, 1904); Soward, _Handbook to the Estate
Duty_ (4th ed., London, 1900); and to the reports of the commissioners
of Inland Revenue for 1894-1895 and subsequent years.
ESTCOURT, RICHARD (1668-1712), English actor, began by playing comedy
parts in Dublin. His first London appearance was in 1704 as Dominick, in
Dryden's _Spanish Friar_, and he continued to take important parts at
Drury Lane, being the original Pounce in Steele's _Tender Husband_
(1705), Sergeant Kite in Farquhar's _Recruiting Officer_, and Sir
Francis Gripe in Mrs Centlivre's _Busybody_. He was an excellent mimic
and a great favourite socially. Estcourt wrote a comedy, _The Fair
Example, or the Modish Citizen_ (1703), and _Prunella_ (1704), an
interlude.
ESTE, one of the oldest of the former reigning houses of Italy. It is in
all probability of Lombard origin, and descended, according to Muratori,
from the princes who governed in Tuscany in Carolingian times. The
lordship of the town of Este was first acquired by Alberto Azzo II., who
also bore the title of marquis of Italy[1] (d. c. 1097); he married
Kunitza or Kunegonda, sister of Welf or Guelph III., duke of Carinthia.
Welf died without issue, and was succeeded by Welf IV., son of Kunitza,
who married a daughter of Otto II., duke of Bavaria, and who obtained
the duchy of Bavaria in 1070. Through him the house of Este became
connected with the princely houses of Brunswick and Hanover, from which
the sovereigns of England are descended. The Italian titles and estates
were inherited by Folco I. (1060-1135), son of Alberto Azzo by his
second wife Gersende, daughter of Herbert I., count of Maine.[2] The
house of Este played a great part in the history of medieval and
Renaissance Italy, and it first comes to the front in the wars between
the Guelphs and Ghibellines; as leaders of the former party its princes
received at different times Ferrara, Modena, Reggio and other fiefs and
territories.
Obizzo I., son of Folco, was the first to bear the title of marquis of
Este. He entered into the Guelphic league against the emperor Frederick
I., and was comprehended in the treaty of Venice of 1177 by which
municipal _podestas_ (foreigners chosen as heads of cities to administer
justice impartially) were instituted. He was elected podesta of Padua in
1178, and in 1184 he was reconciled with Frederick, who created him
marquis of Genoa and Milan, a dignity somewhat similar to that of
imperial vicar. By the marriage of his son Azzo to the heiress of the
Marchesella family (the story that she was carried off to prevent her
marrying an enemy of the Este is a pure legend), he came to acquire
great influence in Ferrara, although he was opposed by the hardly less
powerful house of Torelli.
Obizzo died in 1194 and Azzo V. having predeceased him, the marquisate
devolved on his grandson Azzo VI. (1170-1212), who became head of the
Guelph party, and to him the people of Ferrara sacrificed their liberty
by making him their first lord (1208). But during his lifetime civil war
raged in the city, between the Este and the Torelli, each party being
driven out again and again. Azzo (also called Azzolino) died in 1212 and
was succeeded by Aldobrandino I., who in 1213 concluded a treaty with
Salinguerra Torelli, the head of that house, to divide the government of
the city between them. On his death in 1215 he was succeeded by his
brother Azzo VII. (1205-1264), surnamed Novello, but Salinguerra Torelli
usurped all power in Ferrara and expelled Azzo (1222). In 1240 Pope
Gregory IX. determined on another war against the emperor Frederick II.,
but deemed it wise to begin by crushing the chief Ghibelline houses.
Thus Azzo found himself in league with the pope and various Guelph
cities in his attempt to regain Ferrara. That town underwent a four
months' siege, and was at last compelled to surrender; Salinguerra was
sent to Venice as a prisoner, and Azzo ruled in Ferrara once more. The
Ghibelline party was annihilated, but the city enjoyed peace and
happiness within, although her citizens took part in the wars raging
outside. The Guelph cause triumphed, Frederick being defeated several
times, and after his death Azzo helped in crushing the terrible Eccelino
da Romano (q.v.) who upheld the imperial cause, at the battle of Cassano
(1259). He died in 1264 and was succeeded by Obizzo II. (1240-1293) his
grandson, who in 1288 received the lordship of Modena, and that of
Reggio in 1289. He was a capable but cruel ruler, and while professing
devotion to the Guelph cause, did homage to the German king Rudolph I.
when he descended into Italy.
Obizzo II. died in 1293 and was succeeded by his son Azzo VIII., but the
latter's brothers, Aldobrandino and Francesco, who were to have shared
in the government, were expelled and became his bitter enemies. The
misgovernment of Azzo led to the revolt of Reggio and Modena, which
shook off his yoke. Enemies arose on all sides, and he spent his last
years in perpetual fighting. He died in 1308, and having no legitimate
children, his brothers, his natural son Fresco, and others disputed the
succession. A papal legate was appointed, and though the Este returned
they were placed under pontifical tutelage.
The history of the house now becomes involved and of little interest
until we come to Nicholas III. (1384-1441), who exercised sway over
Ferrara, Modena, Parma and Reggio, waged many wars, was made general of
the army of the Church, and in his later years governor of Milan, where
he died, not without suspicion of poison. To him succeeded Lionello
(1407-1450), a wise and virtuous ruler and a patron of literature and
art; then Borso (1413-1471), his brother, who was created duke of Modena
and Reggio by the emperor Frederick III., and duke of Ferrara by the
pope. In spite of the wars by which all Italy was torn, Ferrara enjoyed
a period of peace and prosperity under Borso; he patronized literature,
established a printing-press at Ferrara, surrounded himself with learned
men, and his court was of unparalleled splendour. He also protected
industry and commerce, and ruled with great wisdom. His brother Ercole
I. (1431-1505), who succeeded him in 1471, was less fortunate, and had
to engage in a war with Venice, owing to a dispute about the salt
monopoly, with the result that by the peace of 1484 he was forced to
cede the district of Polesine to the republic. But the last years of his
life were peaceful and prosperous, so that afterwards men looked back to
the days of Ercole I. as to a golden age; his capital was noted both for
its luxury and as the resort of men eminent in literature and art.
Boiardo the poet was his minister, and Ariosto obtained his patronage.
Ercole's daughter Beatrice d'Este (1475-1497), duchess of Milan, one of
the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the Italian
Renaissance, was bethrothed at the age of five to Lodovico Sforza (known
as _il Moro_), duke of Bari, regent and afterwards duke of Milan, and
was married to him in January 1491. She had been carefully educated, and
availed herself of her position as mistress of one of the most splendid
courts of Italy to surround herself with learned men, poets and artists,
such as Niccolo da Correggio, Bernardo Castiglione, Bramante, Leonardo
da Vinci and many others. In 1492 she visited Venice as ambassador for
her husband in his political schemes, which consisted chiefly in a
desire to be recognized as duke of Milan. On the death of Gian Galeazzo
Sforza, Lodovico's usurpation was legalized, and after the battle of
Fornovo (1495) both he and his wife took part in the peace congress of
Vercelli between Charles VIII. of France and the Italian princes, at
which Beatrice showed great political ability. But her brilliant career
was cut short by death through childbirth, on the 3rd of January 1497.
She belongs to the best class of Renaissance women, and was one of the
culture influences of the age; to her patronage and good taste are due
to a great extent the splendour of the Castello of Milan, of the Certosa
of Pavia and of many other famous buildings in Lombardy.
Her sister Isabella d'Este (1474-1539), marchioness of Mantua, was
carefully educated both in letters and in the arts like Beatrice, and
was married when barely sixteen to Francesco Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua
(1490). She showed great diplomatic and political skill, especially in
her negotiations with Cesare Borgia (q.v.), who had dispossessed
Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, the husband of her
sister-in-law and intimate friend Elisabetta Gonzaga (1502). She
received the deposed duke and duchess, as well as other princes in the
same condition, at her court of Mantua, which was one of the most
brilliant in Italy, and like her sister she gathered together many
eminent men of letters and artists, Raphael, Andrea Mantegna and Giulio
Romano being among those whom she employed. Both she and her husband
were greatly influenced by Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529), author of
_Il Cortigiano_, and it was at his suggestion that Giulio Romano was
summoned to Mantua to enlarge the Castello and other buildings. Isabella
was "undoubtedly, among all the princesses of the 15th and 16th
centuries, the one who most strikingly and perfectly personified the
aspirations of the Renaissance" (Eugene Muntz); but her character was
less attractive than that of her sister, and in her love of collecting
works of art she showed a somewhat grasping nature, being ever anxious
to cut down the prices of the artists who worked for her.
To Ercole I. succeeded his son Alphonso I. (1486-1534), the husband of
Lucrezia Borgia (q.v.), daughter of Pope Alexander VI. During nearly the
whole of his reign he was engaged in the Italian wars, but by his
diplomatic skill and his military ability he was for many years almost
always successful. He was gifted with great mechanical skill, and his
artillery was of world-wide reputation. On the formation of the league
of Cambrai against Venice in 1508, he was appointed to the supreme
command of the papal troops by Julius II.; but after the Venetians had
sustained a number of reverses they made peace with the pope and joined
him against the French. Alphonso was invited to co-operate in the new
combination, and on his refusal war was declared against him; but
although he began by losing Modena and Reggio, he subsequently inflicted
several defeats on the papal troops. He fought on the side of the
French at the battle of Ravenna (1512), from which, although victorious,
they derived no advantage. Soon afterwards they retired from Italy, and
Alphonso, finding himself abandoned, tried to make his peace with the
pope, through the mediation of Fabrizio Colonna. He went to Rome for the
purpose and received absolution, but on discovering that Julius meant to
detain him a prisoner, he escaped in disguise, and the pope's death in
1513 gave him a brief respite. But Leo X. proved equally bent on the
destruction of the house of Este, when he too was cut off by death.
Alphonso availed himself of the troubles of the papacy during the reign
of the equally hostile Clement VII. to recapture Reggio (1523) and
Modena (1527), and was confirmed in his possession of them by the
emperor Charles V., in spite of Clement's opposition.
He died in 1534, and was succeeded by his son Ercole II. (1508-1559),
who married Renee, daughter of Louis XII. of France, a princess of
Protestant proclivities and a friend of Calvin. On joining the league of
France and the papacy against Spain, Ercole was appointed
lieutenant-general of the French army in Italy. The war was prosecuted,
however, with little vigour, and peace was made with Spain in 1558. The
duke and his brother, Cardinal Ippolito the Younger, were patrons of
literature and art, and the latter built the magnificent Villa d' Este
at Tivoli. He was succeeded by Alphonso II. (1533-1597), remembered for
his patronage of Tasso, whom he afterwards imprisoned. He reorganized
the army, enriched the public library, encouraged agriculture, but was
extravagant and dissipated. With him the main branch of the family came
to an end, and although at his death he bequeathed the duchy to his
cousin Cesare (1533-1628), Pope Clement VIII., renewing the Church's
hostility to the house of Este, declared that prince to be of
illegitimate birth (a doubtful contention), and by a treaty with
Lucrezia, Alphonso's sister, Ferrara was made over to the Holy See.
Cesare held Modena and Reggio, but with him the Estensi cease to play an
important part in Italian politics. For two centuries this dynasty had
been one of the greatest powers in Italy, and its court was perhaps the
most splendid in Europe, both as regards pomp and luxury and on account
of the eminent artists, poets and scholars which it attracted.
The subsequent heads of the family were: Alphonso III., who retired to a
monastery in 1629 and died in 1644; Francis I. (1610-1658), who
commanded the French army in Italy in 1647; Alphonso IV. (1634-1662),
the father of Mary Beatrice, the queen of James II. of England, who
fought in the French army during the Spanish War, and founded the
picture gallery of Modena; Francis II. (1660-1694), who originated the
Este library, also at Modena, and founded the university; Rinaldo
(1655-1737), through whose marriage with Charlotte Felicitas of
Brunswick-Luneburg the long-separated branches of the house of Este were
reunited; Francis III. (1698-1780), who married the daughter of the
regent Philip of Orleans. Francis III. wished to remain neutral during
the war between Spain and Austria (1740), but the imperialists having
occupied and devastated his duchy, he took the Spanish side and was
appointed _generalissimo_ of the Spanish army in Italy. He was
re-established in his possessions by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle
(1748), and on being reconciled with the empress Maria Theresa, he
received from her the title of governor of Lombardy in 1754. With his
son Ercole III. Rinaldo (1727-1803), who at the peace of Campoformio
lost his duchy, the male line of the Estensi came to an end. His only
daughter, Marie Beatrice (d. 1829), was married to the archduke
Ferdinand, third son of the emperor Francis I. Ferdinand was created
duke of Breisgau in 1803, and at his death in 1806 he was succeeded by
his son Francis IV. (q.v.), to whom the duchy of Modena was given at the
treaty of Vienna in 1814. He died in 1846 and was succeeded by Francis
V. (q.v.), who lost his possessions by the events of 1859. With his
death in 1875 the title and estates passed to the archduke Francis
Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. The children of Lady
Augusta Murray, daughter of the earl of Dunmore, by her marriage with
Augustus Frederick, duke of Sussex, sixth son of George III. of Great
Britain, assumed the old name of d' Este, and claimed recognition as
members of the royal family; but as the marriage was in violation of the
royal marriages act of 1773, it was declared invalid, and their claims
were set aside.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--G. Antonelli, _Saggio di una bibliografia storica
ferrarese_ (Ferrara, 1851); L.A. Muratori, _Delle antichita estensi ed
italiane_ (3 vols., 1717, &c.), the chief and most reliable authority
on the subject, containing a quantity of documents; A. Frizzi,
_Memorie per la storia di Ferrara_ (2nd ed., Ferrara, 1847); A.
Solerti, _Ferrara e la corte estense nella seconda meta del sec. XVI._
(Citta di Castello, 1900); C. Antolini, _Il dominio estense in
Ferrara_ (Ferrara, 1896), which deals with the siege of 1240 and other
special points; E.G. Gardner, _Princes and Poets of Ferrara_ (London,
1904), a bulky volume dealing only with the Renaissance period, full
of interesting and unpublished matter, especially about the literary
and artistic associations of the house, but not well put together
(contains good bibliography); G. Bertoni, _La Biblioteca estense e la
coltura ferrarese ai tempi del duca Ercole I._ (Turin, 1903), useful
for the literary aspect of the subject; P. Litta, _Le Celebri Famiglie
italiane_, vol. iii. (Milan, 1831), still a valuable work; E. Noyes,
_The Story of Ferrara_ (London, 1904); Julia Cartwright's _Isabella
d'Este_ (London, 1903), and _Beatrice d'Este_ (1899), pleasantly
written but amateurish volumes based on A. Luzio's _Mantova e Urbino_
(Turin, 1893); A. Luzio and R. Renier, "Delle relazioni di Isabella
d'Este Gonzaga con Lodovico e Beatrice Sforza" (Milan, 1890, _Archivio
Storico Lombardo_, xvii.). (L. V.*)