In the age of Alfonso II D'Este (1533-1597) the tournois à thème developed into a more complex
performance the cavalleria which involved stage-setting acting music dancing machinery
and firework displays. One of its most accomplished examples was the cavalleria L'Isola Beata
(1569) which is fully described and analysed in this work. The cavalleria also influenced the
development of dramatic tournaments in the Italian courts and anticipated a new form of
performance in the Baroque period the opera-torneo .
