"Este, one of the oldest of the former reigning houses of Italy. It is in all probability of Lombard origin, and descended, according to Muratori, from the princes who governed in Tuscany in Carolingian times." - Encycl. Brit., `56, 8:731. {Abalberto II & the next generations did not formally become marquises (margraves) until this title was acquired by Alberto Azzo II (who died ca. 1097) (he m. Kunitza or Cunegunda, sister of Welf III, Duke of Carinthia, and (2) Gersende, dau. of Herbert I, Count of Maine).

References: [PlantagenetA]