Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533), Italian poet, born in Reggio nell’Emilia. At an early age he wrote comedies that were favorably noticed by Ippolito I Cardinal d’Este. From 1503 to 1517 Ariosto was one of Ippolito’s courtiers. He then entered the service of the cardinal’s brother, Alfonso I, duke of Ferrara. Aristo’s greatest poem, the Orlando Furioso (1st version, 1516; final version, 1532), is ostensibly a continuation of the unfinished epic poem Orlando Innamorato (1487), by the Italian poet Matteo Maria Boiardo. Actually, the poem is a tribute to the patrons of Ariosto, the Este family, and its real hero is Ruggiero d’Este, the legendary founder of the house. Many critics consider it among the finest epics written because of its vigor and exalted style. Ariosto’s other works include comedies such as La Lena (The Wind, 1529), as well as odes, satires, and sonnets.