Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533) was an Italian playwright and poet whose noble but impoverished circumstances forced him to take on the patronage of first Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, and then later of his brother Alfonso d'Este, the Duke of Ferrara. Ariosto coined the term “humanism” and is best known for his epic poem Orlando Furioso, telling the story of the battle of Charlemagne, Orlando, and the Franks against the Saracens.