House of Austria-Este

The House of Habsburg-Este (Italian: Casa d'Asburgo-Este), also known as the House of Austria-Este (German: Haus Österreich-Este) and holder of the title of Archduke of Austria-Este (Italian: Arciduca d'Austria-Este; German: Erzherzog von Österreich-Este), is a cadet branch (but not sovereign branch) of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, which originally also descended from the House of Este in the cognatic line. It was created in 1771 with the marriage between Ferdinand of Habsburg-Lorraine and Maria Beatrice d'Este, only daughter of the Duke of Modena, Ercole III d'Este. After the death of Ercole III in 1803, the Modena ruling branch of the Este family's male line ended, and the Habsburg-Este line subsequently inherited their possessions and titles. The male line of the new house also became extinct in 1875, but it was then continued, by will, as a new non-sovereign cadet branch of the Habsburg-Lorraine, still flourishing in Belgium in the 21st century, where official documents, from art. 1 of Title IX of the Constitution, have definitively established the family name as Austria-Este ('Autriche-Este' in French, or 'Oostenrijk-Este' in Dutch, or 'Österreich-Este' in German).