her parents, who nonetheless reluctantly agree. Ruggiero, meanwhile, sets off to kill Leo. On the way, he finds the Constantine’s forces battling the Bulgarians. Ruggiero immediately enters the battle to assist the Bulgarians, who had been losing, and manages to turn the tide of the battle. However, he is captured and imprisoned by the Greeks. Leo, impressed with Ruggiero’s valor, frees him. He then asks for a favor, and Ruggiero, grateful for his freedom, promises to grant whatever Leo asks. Leo, having learned of Bradamante’s challenge and knowing he isn’t strong enough to win against her, asks that Ruggiero fight Bradamante on his behalf. Ruggiero reluctantly keeps his promise and disguises himself as Leo to fight Bradamante. He wins the match and retreats to the woods, wishing to die. There, Leo finds him and asks what is wrong. After Ruggiero reveals his identity and that he is in love with Bradamante, Leo annuls the engagement to let Bradamante and Ruggiero wed. At the end, their marriage gives rise to the noble House of Este, who were patrons to both Boiardo and Ariosto. The poems drew from legends of Charlemagne, chansons de geste, and blended recurring motifs found in the Matter of France and the Matter of Britain. Bradamante and Ruggiero's romance is most likely made to parallel the romance of Angelica and Orlando. Bradamante and Ruggiero's love is reciprocated and honorable, whereas Orlando is driven mad with love and Angelica despises him. Bradamante also spends much of Orlando Furioso chasing down her love to save him, contrasting with Angelica, who spends most of the story running from Orlando. In later works In 1582, French dramatist Robert Garnier wrote a tragicomedy named Bradamante that further develops the love story between the heroine and Roger (Ruggiero). Several eponymous operas have been written about the heroine: La Bradamante, written by Pietro Paolo Bissari with music composed by Francesco Cavalli, was first performed in 1650 at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo of Venice. Bradamante, composed by Louis Lacoste with a libretto written by Pierre-Charles Roy, was first performed at the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on 2 May 1707. Bradamante, written by Heinrich Joseph von Collin with music composed by Johann Friedrich Reichardt, was first performed in Vienna on 3 February 1809. Bradamante, composed by Eduard Tauwitz, was first performed in Riga in 1844. She also appears as a character in