Ferdinand I of Naples should not be confused with Ferdinand I of the Two
Sicilies, a later king of Naples. Ferdinand I, also called Ferrante, was
the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the son of Alfonso V of Aragon and
his mistress, Giraldona Carlino. Biography
His mother was Gueraldona Carlino. In order to arrange a good future for
Ferdinand, King Alfonso had him married in 1444 to a feudal heiress, Isabella of
Clermont, who besides being the elder daughter of Tristan di Chiaramonte,
Count of Copertino, 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 Mary of Enghien, who had been queen consort of Naples
between 1406 and 1414. Ferdinand's wife was the heiress presumptive of
remarkable feudal possessions in Southern Italy.
He used the title Ferdinand I, King of Naples and Jerusalem. In accordance with
his father's will, Ferdinand succeeded Alfonso on the throne of Naples in 1458,
when he was 35 years old. Pope Calixtus III, however, declared the line of
Aragon extinct and the kingdom a fief of the church. Calixtus died before he
could make good his claim, and the new Pope Pius II within the year publicly
recognized Ferdinand's titles. In 1459, Ferdinand's rule was threatened
by a long revolt of the barons. Among the leaders of revolt were Giovanni
Antonio Orsini, prince of Taranto and uncle of Ferdinand's wife. The rebels
joined to offer the crown to John of Anjou, a son of the former king René.
With the help of the Genoese, John brought a fleet and landed, slowly
taking some towns including Nocera. On July 7, 1460, Ferdinand was defeated by
John in the plain beside the mouth of the Sarno River south of Mount Vesuvius.
Ferdinand was nearly captured and escaped with a guard of only twenty men.
The pope and the duke of Milan sent reinforcements under the count of Urbino
and Alessandro Sforza, but these arrived after the defeat and were themselves
crushed by John's ally Piccinino at San Fabriano.
Despite subsequently receiving the surrender of most of the strongholds in
Campania, John did not immediately march on Naples and Ferdinand and his wife
Isabella were able to hold it and slowly regain their position. Isabella appears
to have been responsible for dissuading Orsini from supporting John and Genoa
removed their assistance. The papacy, Milan, and the Albanian chief
Skanderbeg—who came to the aid of the prince whose father had aided
him—provided forces which decisively defeated John's land forces at Troia on
August 18, 1462. His fleet was finally demolished by the combined forces of
Ferdinand and King Juan II of Aragon off Ischia in July of 1465. By 1464,
Ferdinand had re-established his authority in the kingdom, although some
antipathy by the barons remained. 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 honorable 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 Ferdinand's resources
and position that his wife in 1463 succeeded her uncle Giovanni Antonio del
Balzo Orsini as possessor of the rich Taranto, Lecce and other fiefs in
Apulia. Isabella became also the holder of Brienne rights to the Kingdom of
Jerusalem. Ferdinand's wife Isabella's had died in
1465, and by 1476, Ferdinand had remarried Joanna of Aragon, his first
cousin. 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. In 1482, abandoning his traditional position of
paladin of the Papal States, he fought alongside Ferrara and Milan against the
alliance of Sixtus IV and the Republic of Venice.
Ferdinand's oppressive government led in 1485 to a reinvigorated rebellion of the
aristocracy, known as the Conspiracy of the Barons, which included Francesco
Coppola and Antonello Sanseverino of Salerno and supported by Pope Innocent
VIII. Coppola and Antonello Petrucci were arrested during a wedding at Castel
Nuovo, and subsequently executed. Ultimately this uprising was crushed,
many of the nobles, notwithstanding Ferdinand's signing of a general
amnesty, were afterwards jailed and executed at his command.
In December 1491 Ferdinand was visited by a group of pilgrims on their return
from the Holy Land. This group was led by William I, Landgrave of Hesse.
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 25 January 1494, worn out
with anxiety; he was succeeded by his son, Alphonse, 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. His remains show levels of carbon 13 and nitrogen 15
consistent with historical reports of considerable consumption of meat.
Ferdinand's reputation According to the Encyclopædia Britannica
Eleventh Edition, "Ferdinand was gifted with great courage and real political
ability, but his method of government was vicious and disastrous. His
financial administration was based on oppressive and dishonest monopolies, and
he was mercilessly severe and utterly treacherous towards his enemies."
Ferdinand had many enemies, especially considering his kingdom's importance to
other rulers, and he was ruthless in response to any perceived slight. He
even fiercely plotted against Pope Alexander VI, after he realized that the
pontiff could not secure his position. As further testimony to the latter,
Jacob Burckhardt described his recreational activities as follows:
"Besides hunting, which he practiced regardless of all rights of property,
his pleasures were of two kinds: he liked to have his opponents near him,
either alive in well-guarded prisons, or dead and embalmed, dressed in the
costume which they wore in their lifetime." Fearing no one, he would take
great pleasure in conducting his guests on a tour of his prized "museum of
mummies". Ancestors
Marriages and children Ferdinand married twice.
First to Isabella of Clermont in 1444. Isabel was daughter to Tristan de
Clermont, Count di Copertino and Caterina Orsini. She died in 1465. They
had six children: Alphonso II of Naples.
Eleanor of Naples. She was consort to Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara and
mother to Isabella d'Este and Beatrice d'Este.
Frederick IV of Naples. John of Naples. Later Archbishop of
Taranto, then Cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom until his death.
Beatrice of Naples. She was Queen consort to Matthias Corvinus of Hungary
and later to Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary.
Francis of Naples, Duke of Sant Angelo. Second to Joanna of Aragon. She was born
to John II of Aragon and Juana Enríquez, his second wife. She was a full sister
of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and a half sister of the unfortunate Prince
Charles of Viana, John II's son by his first marriage. Joanna and Ferdinand I
were married on 14 September 1476. They had two children:
Joanna of Naples. Queen consort to Ferdinand II of Naples, who, as the son
of Ferdinand I's son Alfonso II of Naples, was also her half-nephew. No
issue. Charles of Naples.
Ferdinand also had a number of illegitimate children:
By his mistress Diana Guardato, a member of the aristocratic Patriacian family of
the Kingdom of Naples: Ferdinando d' Aragona y Guardato, 1st
Duke of Montalto, who married 1st, Anna Sanseverino, 2nd, Castellana de Cardona
Maria d'Aragona, who married Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi,
a nephew of Pope Pius II and brother of Pope Pius III.
Giovanna d' Aragona, who married 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, who married Gian
Giordano Orsini. By his mistress Giovanna Caracciolo:
Ferdinand d'Aragona, Count of Arsena. Arrigo d'Aragona, Marquess of Gerace.
Cesare d'Aragona, Marquess of Santa Agata.
Leonor d'Aragona. Alonso, bastard of Aragona, who married
Charla of Lusignan daughter of King James II of Cyprus.
Lucrezia d'Aragona, daughter of either Giovanna Caracciola or Eulalia
Ravignano, was consort to Onorato III, Prince of Altamura.
Notes References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain:
Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. Encyclopædia Britannica. Cambridge University Press.
External links Marek, Miroslav. "His descent from
Ferdinand IV of Castile". Genealogy.EU.