Frederick IV Of NAPLES

Other Events and Attributes:

• Also Known As: Don Ferrante

Notes:

In order to arrange a good future for Ferdinand, King Alfonso had him married in 1444 to a feudal heiress, Isabella of Taranto, who besides being the elder daughter of Tristan di Chiaramonte (Tristan de Clermont-Lodeve), Count of Capertino, and Catherine of Baux Orsini, was the niece and heiress presumptive of childless prince Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini of Taranto. She was a granddaughter of Queen Mary of Enghien (mother of Giovanni and Catherine), who had been Queen Consort of Naples (Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily) in 1406-14.

Ferrante's wife was the heiress presumptive of remarkable feudal possessions in Southern Italy.

He used the title King of Naples and Jerusalem (Ferdinand I of Naples). In accordance with his father's will, Ferdinand succeeded Alfonso on the throne of Naples in 1458, when he was 35 years old, but Pope Calixtus III declared the line of Aragon extinct and the kingdom a fief of the church. But although he died before he could make good his claim (August 1458), and the new Pope Pius II recognized Ferdinand, John of Anjou, profiting by the discontent of the Neapolitan barons, decided to try to regain the throne of his ancestors that was lost by his father RenÈ, and invaded Naples.

Ferdinand was severely defeated by the Angevins and the rebels at Sarno in July 1460, but with the help of Alessandro Sforza and of the Albanian chief, Skanderbeg, who came to the aid of the prince whose father had aided him, he triumphed over his enemies, and by 1464 had re-established his authority in the kingdom. In 1478 he allied himself with Pope Sixtus IV against Lorenzo de 'Medici, but the latter journeyed alone to Naples where he succeeded in negotiating an honourable peace with Ferdinand.

The original intent of making Taranto as his and his heirs' main principality was not any longer current, but still it was a strengthening of Ferrante's resources and position that his wife in 1463 succeeded her uncle Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini as possessor of Taranto fiefs. Isabella became also the holder of Brienne rights to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

After Isabella's death in 1465, Ferrante married secondly Infanta Juana of Aragon, his own first cousin, in 1476.

In 1480, forces of the Ottoman Empire under orders of Mehmed II captured Otranto, and massacred the majority of the inhabitants, but in the following year it was retaken by Ferdinand's son Alphonso, duke of Calabria. His oppressive government led in 1485 to an attempt at revolt on the part of the nobles, led by Francesca Coppola and Antonello Sanseverino and supported by Pope Innocent VIII; the rising having been crushed, many of the nobles, notwithstanding Ferdinand's promise of a general amnesty, were afterwards treacherously murdered at his express command.

Coronato of Ferrante I of Naples.Encouraged by Ludovico Sforza of Milan, in 1493 King Charles VIII of France was preparing to invade Italy for the conquest of Naples and starting the Italian Wars, and Ferdinand realized that this was a greater danger than any he had yet faced. With almost prophetic instinct he warned the Italian princes of the calamities in store for them, but his negotiations with Pope Alexander VI and Ludovico Sforza failed.

He died on January 25, 1494, worn out with anxiety; he was succeeded by his son, Alfonso, Duke of Calabria, who was soon deposed by the invasion of King Charles which his father had so feared. The cause of his death was determined, in 2006, to have been colorectal cancer, by examination of his mummy.

Ferdinand also had a number of illegitimate children:

By his mistress Diana Guardato.
Ferdinand d' Aragona, Duke di Montalto.
Maria d'Aragona. Later consort to Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, a nephew of Pope Pius II and brother of Pope Pius III.
Giovanna d' Aragona. Later consort to Leonardo della Rovere, Duke of Arce and Sora, a nephew of Pope Sixtus IV and brother of Pope Julius II.
By his mistress Eulalia Ravignano.
Maria d'Aragona. Later wife to Gian Giordano Orsini.
By his mistress Giovanna Caracciola.
Ferdinand d'Aragona, Count of Arsena.
Arrigo d'Aragona, Marquess of Gerace
Cesare d'Aragona, Marquess of Santa Agata.
Leonor d'Aragona.
Lucrezia d'Aragona, daughter of either Giovanna Caracciola or Eulalia Ravignano. She was consort to Onorata III, Prince of Altamura.
This article incorporates text from the EncyclopÊdia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Ferdinand married Isabella Of TARANTO in 1444. Isabella was born about 1424; died on 30 Mar 1465; was buried in St. Pietro the Martyr. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
Isabella di Taranto, born Isabella de Clermont, (c. 1424-1465), Princess of Taranto, was the elder daughter of Tristan di Chiaramonte (Tristan de Clermont-Lodeve), Count of Cupertino, and Catherine of Taranto. She was also the niece and heiress presumptive of childless Giovanni Antonio del Balzo Orsini, prince of Taranto. She was a granddaughter of queen Mary of Enghien (mother of Giovanni and Catherine), who had been queen consort of Naples (Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily) in 1406-14. Thus, she was the heiress presumptive of feudal possessions in Southern Italy.

In 1444 (or 30 May 1445) she married Ferrante di Aragona, then Duke of Calabria (1423-1494), natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon who had recently conquered the Neapolitan kingdom from French Angevins, and thus was the new liege lord of Isabella and her family. Alfonso arranged this marriage in order to give a good future to his favorite bastard son, by giving him his own principality by marriage. Also, Alfonso wanted his loyal people (such as his own son) to have feudal fiefs in his new kingdom, which would happen in the future as soon as Ferdinand and Isabella succeeded in Taranto. The marriage also strengthened the king's grip on the current lords of Taranto.

In 1458 her husband became, by the will of king Alfonso, King in his conquered territories and as such used the title King of Naples and Jerusalem, and Isabella became queen consort. By that point, they had several children of their own, the eldest being the 10-year-old Alphonso.

They no longer wanted to make Taranto their principal holding, but it was still a strong possession, and in 1463 Isabella succeeded her uncle Giovanni Antonio in Taranto. Isabella also inherited the Brienne claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Isabella died 30 March in 1465, buried in St.Pietro the Martyr. Her heir was her eldest son, Alphonso, then Duke of Calabria, the future king Alfonso II of Naples and Jerusalem.

Her widower King Ferrante (born 1423, died January 25, 1494) secondly married Infanta Juana of Aragon, his own first cousin, in 1476

Other Events and Attributes:

• Birth: 1394

Notes:

Alfonso the Magnanimous (also Alphonso; Catalan: Alfons) (1396 ? 27 June 1458) was the King of Aragon[1] and Count of Barcelona (as Alfonso V) from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death.

He was a son of Ferdinand I of Aragon (known as Ferdinand of Antequera), and is one of the most conspicuous figures of the early Renaissance.

He represented the old line of the counts of Barcelona only through women, and was on his father's side descended from the House of Trastamara, a noble family of Castile. By hereditary right he was king of Sicily and disputed the island of Sardinia with Genoa. Alfonso was also in possess of much of Corsica by the 1420s.

In 1421 queen Joanna II of Naples, who had no children, adopted and named him as heir to the Kingdom of Naples. In the same year Alfonso reached Naples. Here he hired the famous condottiero Braccio da Montone with the task to reduce the resistance of the other pretendant, Louis III of Anjou, and his forces led by Muzio Attendolo Sforza. As Pope Martin V supported Sforza, Alfonso moved the religious allegiance of the reign to the Aragonese antipope Benedict XIII. When Sforza also abandoned Louis, Alfonso seemed to have all his problems solved: however, his relationships with Joanna suddenly worsened, and in May 1423 he had her lover, and a powerful figure in the Neapolitan court, Gianni Caracciolo, arrested. After a failed attepmt to arrest the queen also, Joanna called Sforza who defeated the Aragonese milices near Castel Capuano in Naples. Alfonso fled to Castel Nuovo, but the help of a fleet of 22 galleys led by Giovanni da Cardona impreved his situation. Sforza and Joanna ransomed Caracciolo and set in the fortress of Aversa. Here she rejected the adoption of Alfonso and, with support from Martin V, named as her heir Louis III. The Milanese Filippo Maria Visconti joined the anti-Aragonese coalition. Alfonso called for help Braccio da Montone, who was besieging Joanna's troops in L'Aquila, but had to set sail to Spain, where a war had broken out between his brothers and the Kingdom of Castilla. In his way towards Barcelona, he destroyed Marseille, a possession of Louis III.

In the late 1423 the Genoese fleet of Visconti moved in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea and easily conquered Gaeta, Procida, Castellammare and Sorrento. Naples, which was held by Alfonso's brother, Pedro, was besieged in 1424 by the genoese ships and joanna's troops, now led by Francesco Sforza, son of Muzio (who had died at L'Aquila). The city fell in the April of that year. Pedro, after a short resistance in Castel Nuovo, fled to Sicily in August. Joanna II and Louis III (although the true power was in the hands of Gianni Caracciolo) took again possession of the realm.

The occasion to reconquer Naples occurred in 1432, when Caracciolo was killed in a conjure. Alfonso tried to regain the favour of the queen, but failed, and had to wait for the death of both Louis (at Cosenza in 1434) and Joanna herself (February 1435). By her testament, inheritor of the reign was RenÈ of Anjou, Louis III's brother. This solution was opposed by the new pope, Eugene IV, who was namely feudal lord of the King of Naples. As the Neapolitans had anyway called for the French, Alfonso decided to intervene and, with the support of several barons of the reign, captured Capua and besieged the important sea fortress of Gaeta. His fleet of 25 galleys was met by the Genoese ships sent by Visconti, led by Biagio Assereto. In the battle that ensued, Alfonso was defeated and made prisoner.

In Milan, he however impresed his captor with his wide culture and persuaded him to let him go by making it plain that it was not in Milan's interest to prevent the victory of the Aragonese party in Naples. Helped by a Sicilian fleet, Alfonso recaptured Capua and set his base in Gaeta in the February of 1436. Papal troops had invaded the Neapolitan kingdom, but Alfonso corrupted the cardinal Giovanni Vitelleschi, who commanded them, and his successes vaned. In the meantime, RenÈ had managed to reach Naples on May 19, 1438. Alfonso tried to besiege the city in the following September, but failed. His brother Pedro was killed during the battle. Castel Nuovo, where an Aragonese garrison resisted, fell to the Angevine mercenaries in the August of 1439. After the death of his condottiero Giacomo Caldora, however, the fortune of RenÈ started to wane: Alfonso could easily capture Aversa, Salerno, Benevento, Manfredonia and Bitonto. RenÈ, whose possession included now only part of the Abruzzi and Naples, obtained 10,000 men by the pope, but the cardinal leading them signed a truce with Alfonso. Giovanni Sforza came with a reduced corps, as troops sent by Eugene IV had halted his father Francesco in the Marche.

Alfonso, who was provided with the most impressive artillery of the time, again besieged Naples. The sieged began on November 10, 1441, and ended on June 2 of the following year. After the return of RenÈ in Provence, Alfonso easily reduced the remaining resistance and made his triumphal entrance in Naples on February 26, 1443, as the monarch of a pacified kingdom. In 1446 he conquered also Sardinia, becoming the head of the most importan reign of western Europe.

Alnfonso had been betrothed to MarÌa de Castilla (1401?1458; sister of Juan II of Castile) in Valladolid in 1408; the marriage was celebrated in Valencia during 1415. They failed to produce children. Alfonso had been in love with a woman of noble family named Lucrezia d'Alagno, who served as a de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring muse.

His Spanish possessions were ruled for him by his brother John. Alfonso, by formally submitting his reign to the Papacy, obtained by pope Eugene IV that the Kingdom of Naples went to his bastard son Ferdinand. He died in Castel dell'Ovo in 1458, when he was planning the conquest of Genoa. Sicily and Sardinia were inherited by his brother John, who survived him.

Art and administration
Like a true prince of the Renaissance he favoured men of letters whom he trusted to preserve his reputation to posterity. He founded the Academy of Naples and, for his entrance in the city in 1443, had a magnificent triumphal arch added to the main gate of Castel Nuovo. This artwork, considered the most important civil piece of art of the time, was designed by Francesco Laurana. His devotion to the classics was exceptional even for the time. For example, Alfonso halted his army in pious respect before the birthplace of a Latin writer, carried Livy or Caesar on his campaigns with him, and his panegyrist Panormita even stated that the king was cured of an illness when a few pages of Quintus Curtius Rufus' history of Alexander the Great were read to him. However, the classics had not refined his taste, for he was amused by setting itinerant scholars, who swarmed to his court, to abuse one another in the indescribably filthy Latin scolding matches which were then the fashion.

After his conquest of Naples in 1442, Alfonso ruled by his mercenary soldiers and mercenary men of letters. In his Italian kingdom, he mantained the former political and administrative institutions; a unified General Chanchellorship for the whole Aragonese reign was set in Naples, although the main functionaries were of Aragonese nationality. Apart from the financiary, administrative and artistical improvements, his other merits in the Sicilian kingdom include the restoration of the aqueducts, the drying of marshy areas, the pavement of streets.

[edit] Connection with Ethiopia
Alfons was the object of diplomatic contacts from the empire of Ethiopia. In 1428, he received a letter from Yeshaq I of Ethiopia, borne by two dignitaries, which proposed an alliance against the Muslims and would be sealed by a dual marriage that would require the Infante Don Pedro to bring a group of artisans to Ethiopia where he would marry Yeshaq's daughter. In return, Alfons sent a party of 13 craftsmen, all of whom perished on the way to Ethiopia[2]. He later sent a letter to Yeshaq's successor Zara Yaqob in 1450, in which he wrote that he would be happy to send artisans to Ethiopia if their safe arrival could be guaranteed, but it probably never reached the Emperor.[3] [4]

Alfonso married UNKNOWN. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Fact: Between 1412 and 1416, King of Aragon and Sicily

Notes:

Wikipedia Encyclopedia:

In 1406, upon the death of his elder brother King Henry III of Castile, Ferdinand declined the Castilian crown and instead, with Henry's widow Catherine, became coregent during the minority of his nephew John II of Castile. In this capacity he distinguished himself by his prudent administration of domestic affairs.

After Ferdinand's maternal uncle, Martin I of Aragon (as Martin II, also King of Sicily) died without surviving issue, Ferdinand was chosen king in 1412 to succeed him by the Pact of Caspe.

The most notabe accomplishment of his brief reign was his agreement in 1416 to depose the Antipope Benedict XIII, thereby helping to end the Great Schism, which had divided the Western Church for nearly 40 years.

Ferdinand married Eleanor Of ALBUQUERQUE in 1393. Eleanor (daughter of Sancho Of ALBURQUERQUE and ? UNKNOWN) was born in 1374; died in 1435. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]