Alfonso II (Naples)

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Alfonso II of Naples

Alfonso II of Naples ( November 4, 1448 - December 18, 1495 in Messina ) was King of Naples from January 25, 1494 to January 23, 1495.

Life

He was the eldest child of Ferdinand I of Naples and the third king of the House of Aragon on the Neapolitan throne. His first wife was Hippolyta Maria Sforza (Italian Ippolita), his second wife Trogia Gazzela .

His mother Isabella von Clermont (Italian: Chiaromonte) was the daughter of Tristan , the Count of Capertino and Caterina Orsini del Balzo from the Roman noble Orsini family and died in 1465. His father Ferrante, German: Ferdinand I was 10 years old in 1458, when Alfonso was old, by the will of Alfonso V of Aragon King. In 1463, when Alfonso II was 15 years old, his great-uncle Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo , Prince of Taranto , died, inheriting some areas.

Already with the ascension of Alfonso's father to the throne of the Neapolitan throne (nominally and in fact a fiefdom of the Pope), a violent dispute with the French house of Anjou had eased, who also saw themselves as the rightful heirs of the crown. Ludovico Sforza , who had ousted Ferrante's son-in-law Gian Galeazzo Sforza from the rule of Milan, forged a far-reaching alliance in 1493 with the energetic help of his brother, the cardinal and papal vice-chancellor Ascanio Sforza , which initially included Milan, Venice and Pope Alexander VI. belonged to. (Due to numerous concessions the Pope had to make in his election, he was completely under the influence of the Sforza in the first years of his pontificate.) This league was later to be joined by King Charles VIII of France , who was to lead a military expedition to Italy , and conquer Naples. When Karl was able to end the War of the Burgundian Succession (against Maximilian I with the Peace of Senlis in May 1493), he had his hands free for an Italian campaign.

In the meantime, however, Ferrante was able to get the Pope to break out of the league against Naples by betrothing his daughter Sanchia of Aragon to the son of Pope Jofré Borgia , giving him the title of Prince of Squillace and guaranteeing further fiefs. When Ferrante died on January 25, 1494, his son tried to be enfeoffed with Naples by the Pope very quickly. It soon became trade, and as early as March the Pope took the oath of allegiance from the Duke of Calabria , which Alfons had been until then - as well as the payment of 200,000 gold ducats and a few other fiefs for the Pope's children as prescribed in the bull of enfeoffment. In May, the official coronation celebrations took place in Naples, as well as the wedding between Jofré and Sanchia. In this situation - Charles VIII had meanwhile decided not to attack Naples with a fleet but to march across the country with his army - Alfonso tried, with the express approval and support of the Pope, to win the Turkish Sultan Bayezit II as assistance. The Sforza, who naturally received Karl's changed plans with little enthusiasm, now tried to come to an understanding with Alfons, which Alfons simply ignored.

In August 1494 Charles set out for Italy with 40,000 men. In October he met the seriously ill Gian Galeazzo Sforza in Pavia, who had apparently been poisoned on Ludovico's orders and died a few days later. On New Year's Eve, he entered Rome as a conqueror, after waiting for this date, which his astrologers had advised him to be favorable - Rome was originally included in early December. (The Romans, in turn, interpreted the fact that parts of the city fortifications had previously collapsed without enemy influence as a bad omen.)

The troops sent by Alfonso under the command of his son Ferrandino to support the Pope had withdrawn without a fight. While the situation in Rome worsened in January - the opponents of the Pope wanted Karl to convene a council and remove the Borgia Pope - Alfonso lost his head and abdicated in January 1495 in favor of his son, fled to Sicily, where he retired to a monastery and died shortly afterwards in Messina.

Situation of Naples

In the meantime Ferrandino was very affable as the new ruler and quickly achieved such great popularity that it would soon help him regain the throne.

When Charles finally moved on to Naples after reaching an agreement with the Pope, Ferrandino boarded a galley on February 22, 1495 and retired to Spain. Karl was initially hailed as a liberator when he entered Naples, but the mood quickly changed as the occupying troops in the region had to provide for themselves. When Ludovica Sforza also renounced his allegiance to the French king and in March brought about a “Holy Defense League” under the accession of Emperor Maximilian with the Spaniards and the Pope, Karl decided in May 1495 to withdraw. Pursued by an army of the League, the French rushed home, but were arrested on July 6, 1495 at Fornovo di Taro near Parma . The battle ended with terrible losses on both sides, but the French managed to secure their retreat. On July 7th, Ferrandino (German: Ferdinand II ) returned to Naples as king, the guest performance of the Valois family on the Neapolitan throne was thus over for the time being. But already in October 1496 Ferrandino died without heirs, and as contemporaries mockingly remarked, obviously while trying to father an heir. On his deathbed he decreed that his uncle Federico d 'Altamura should succeed him as King Frederick I of Naples .

In view of Alfonso's short reign, it is difficult to judge. Like all rulers of his time, he was undoubtedly a typical Renaissance prince - the magnificence of the Neapolitan court was famous far beyond the borders of Italy. For a long time, Alfonso was considered a "monster" on the royal throne - especially by the chroniclers of his French opponents. Philippe de Commynes , a diplomat and advisor to the French king, described him as the most voluptuous, cruel, voracious and vicious ruler of his time. Contemporaries, however, who did not belong to the enemy camp, described him as educated, knowledgeable, pious, hardworking and conscientious. His abilities as a military leader and his physical resilience were particularly admired. In fact, his father Ferdinand (Italian: Ferrante) had taken great care in his upbringing, and his teachers included famous humanists such as Antonio Beccadelli , known as il Panormita, and Giovanni Pontano .

However, Alfonso had the misfortune to find the Kingdom of Naples as the plaything of the European powers. The childless Neapolitan ruler Johanna II initially had Alfonso V of Aragon, his grandfather, but later Ludwig III. appointed by Anjou as heir and thus called two of the royal houses striving for European hegemony at the time, who subsequently fought their battles with constantly changing allies in Italy ( Italian wars ). After Johanna's death, Pope Kalixt III. cast a covetous eye on the kingdom. The first Borgia Pope wanted to entrench the papal fiefdom of his own family, which is why he refused to enfeoff Alfonso's father, Ferrante ( Ferdinand I ), who was born out of wedlock . Only his quick death and the election of Enea Silvio Piccolomini, a friend of Ferrante's father, as Pope Pius II made the enfeoff possible. But where Alfonso's father showed persistence and energy, Alfonso fell into indecision. Since Ferrante did not want to stand idly by the disempowerment of his son-in-law, the Duke of Milan, Alfonso “inherited” Ludovico Sforza, the usurper of the ducal hat, a cunning and unscrupulous opponent who would stop at nothing. The 1492 as Alexander VI. Rodrigo Borja (Italian: Borgia), elected Pope, took up his uncle Kalixt's plans again and hoped to emerge from the dispute between the French and the Spaniards as the laughing third party.

progeny

With his first wife Hippolyta Sforza he had the following children:

He had two children with his second wife Troggia Gazella:

literature

Web links

Commons : Alfons II (Naples)  - collection of images, videos and audio files
predecessor Office successor
Ferdinand I. King of Naples
1494–1495 		Ferdinand II.
personal data
SURNAME Alfonso II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Alfonso II of Naples (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Naples
DATE OF BIRTH November 4, 1448
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1495
Place of death Messina