Ferdinand II of Naples
Encyclopedia
Kingdom of Naples
The Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
from 1495 to 1496. He was the grandson of Ferdinand I
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
, and son of Alphonso II and heir of the Brienne claim to kingdom of Jerusalem.
Biography
Alphonso, finding his tenure of the throne uncertain on account of the approaching invasion of Charles VIII of FranceCharles VIII of France
Charles VIII, called the Affable, , was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. Charles was a member of the House of Valois...
and the general dissatisfaction of his subjects, abdicated in his son's favour in January 1495.
The 24-year-old new king tried to resist, but the French troops had already occupied much of the northern territories of the Kingdom. The Neapolitan troops on the Liri
Liri
The Liri is one of the principal rivers of central Italy, flowing into the Tyrrhenian Sea a little below Minturno under the name Garigliano....
and Garigliano rivers were obliged to retreat when the fortesses of Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
and Gaeta
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
fell. The treason of a party in Naples rendered it impossible to defend the city against the approach of Charles VIII, who entered Naples on 20 February 1495. In the capital, only Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo is a castle located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the gulf of Naples...
resisted, defended by Alfonso d'Avalos
Alfonso d'Avalos
Alfonso d'Avalos d'Aquino, 4th Marchese di Pescara e del Vasto was a condottiero of Spanish-Italian origin.He was born in Ischia, the nephew of Francesco Ferdinando I d´Ávalos, inheriting his uncle titles after 1525, fighting the French and the Venetians by his side...
.
Ferdinand fled to the castle at Ischia
Ischia
Ischia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
with an escort of 14 galleys, together with the royal family, the general Innico d'Avalos and the poet Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro
Jacopo Sannazaro was an Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist from Naples.He wrote easily in Latin, in Italian and in Neapolitan, but is best remembered for his humanist classic Arcadia, a masterwork that illustrated the possibilities of poetical prose in Italian, and instituted the theme of...
. The commander of the island fortress had already made an agreement with the French, and opposed the King's entrance. When the two met, Ferdinand killed the commander personally and had his body thrown into the sea. Ferdinand later moved to Messina, where he joined his cousin Ferdinand II
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...
, king of Sicily and Spain.
In the meantime, Alexander VI formed a coalition against Charles, made up of Emperor Maximilian
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian I , the son of Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor and Eleanor of Portugal, was King of the Romans from 1486 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 until his death, though he was never in fact crowned by the Pope, the journey to Rome always being too risky...
, Venice
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
, Milan and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. When the French king left Naples with most of his army, Ferdinand disembarked at Seminara
Seminara
Seminara is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italian region Calabria, located about 90 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 30 km northeast of Reggio Calabria....
in Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, forcing his way north to Naples. Blocked by French garrisons at Palmi
Palmi
Palmi is a comune of about 19.303 inhabitants in the province of Reggio Calabria in Calabria. It is the second largest municipality by population in the province and the seat of the district which includes 33 municipalities with a population of about 170,000 inhabitants.With the nearby beaches of...
, he decided to return to Naples by sea, and was again at Ischia (which had victoriously pushed back the French attacks) on 7 July 1496. The same day he was again in Naples: the citizens, irritated by the terrible conduct of their French conquerors during the occupation of the city, received him back with enthusiasm.
With the aid of the great Spanish general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba known as The Great Captain, Duke of Terranova and Santangelo, Andria, Montalto and Sessa, also known as Gonzalo de Córdoba, Italian: Gonsalvo or Consalvo Ernandes di Cordova was a Spanish general fighting in the times of the Conquest of Granada and the Italian Wars...
, Ferdinand was able to rid his state completely of its invaders shortly before his death. Ferdinand's death occurred in 1496, a little over a year after his accession.
He married his half-aunt Joan in 1496, shortly before his death (she was the daughter of his grandfather Ferdinand
Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I , also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by Giraldona Carlino.-Biography:...
and his second wife, Joanna of Aragon, Queen of Naples; Joan, born in 1478, a late child of a second marriage, was actually younger than Ferdinand). He thus had no heirs, and was therefore succeeded by his uncle Frederick
Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV , sometimes known as Frederick I or Federico d'Aragona, was the last King of Naples of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501...
.
His successor in the Kingdom of Naples was his uncle (his grandfather's and Isabella of Taranto's second son) Frederick of Calabria, who became king Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick IV , sometimes known as Frederick I or Federico d'Aragona, was the last King of Naples of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501...
.
Ancestry
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