With the Devolution of 1598, Ferrara and the territory vacated by the Este family passed under the direct political and administrative control of the Papal States, under whose rule they remained, with the exception of the Napoleonic period, until 1859, when Ferrara became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. This transition marked the inevitable decline of the city. On the other hand, it allowed the preservation of the medieval and Renaissance fabric of the city, “saving” it from the oversized and somewhat rhetorical intrusions of subsequent centuries.
