Rinaldo d'Este (26 April 1655 – 26 October 1737) was Duke of Modena and Reggio from 1694 until his death, as well as a member of the House of Este. He was succeeded by his son.
Rinaldo married Charlotte in Modena on 11 February 1696. Rinaldo wanted to encourage relations between Modena and Brunswick, whose ruling house was the House of Hanover. The marriage was celebrated splendidly despite financial problems in Modena; the artist Marcantonio Franceschini was commissioned to paint a room, the Salone d'onore at the ducal palace in honour of the marriage.
Charlotte died at the Ducal Palace of Modena after giving birth to a daughter in September 1710. The child also died. She was buried at the Church of San Vincenzo in Modena. Her son Francesco succeeded as Duke of Modena in 1737.
His first move as duke was to reduce the price of the grain and to improve the conditions of life of the peasants.
At the outbreak of the War of Spanish Succession (1702) he declared neutrality, but this did not prevent the French troops from capturing Modena. The Duke was forced to flee to Bologna. In 1707, after a long siege in which Rinaldo took part, German troops ousted the French from his capital. In the resulting peace treaty, Rinaldo acquired the Duchy of Mirandola, but lost Comacchio. In 1721, he attempted to establish friendlier relationship with France by marrying his son Francesco with Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans, the daughter of Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, the Regent of France during the childhood of King Louis XV. Charlotte Aglaé received an enormous dowry of 1.8 million livres, half of which was contributed in the name of the young king, Louis XV, on orders of the Regent. From her adopted country, Charlotte Aglaé received a trousseau consisting of diamonds and portraits of her future husband. However, the marriage proved troublesome, mainly due to his new daughter-in-law's licentious behaviour.
In 1733 the War of Polish Succession began. Rinaldo, though nominally neutral, sided secretly for Austria. Again French troops forced him to move to Bologna, but a peace in 1736 was again favourable for the Este, who obtained the county of Novellara and Bagnolo.
Clemente d'Este (20 April 1708 – 23 April 1708), died in infancy.
X d'Este (September 1710), female, died at birth.
The duke also had an illegitimate son:
Rinaldo de Reggio, Chevalier de Reggio, married Félicité De Canapan, and had one son: François Marie, Chevalier de Reggio, who was the great-grandfather of Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard.