Lodovico Ariosto

Lodovico Ariosto (1474–1533) was an Italian poet, born in Reggio Emilia, who spent much of his career as a courtier and administrator to the ruling Este family of Ferrara, work he found uncongenial to his literary ambitions. His chivalric epic Orlando Furioso, continuing Matteo Maria Boiardo's unfinished Orlando Innamorato, occupied him through several revised editions, the last appearing in 1532, the year before his death.