Ettore Fieramosca

Ettore Fieramosca (* 1476 in Capua , † 1515 in Valladolid ) was an Italian condottiere .

Life

Fieramosca entered the service of the Neapolitan King Ferdinand II in 1492 , for whom he fought in the Italian wars against the invading French Charles VIII . In 1497 he distinguished himself with his brother Guido near Fermo , where he defended the castle of Offidia.

In 1502 he fought against the French under Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna in Apulia . When a French commander, Charles de la Motte , made ironic and derogatory comments about the Neapolitan soldiers, Ettore Fieramosca challenged the French to a duel ( Disfida di Barletta ). On February 13, 1503, 13 French knights competed against as many Italian knights. The Italians won the bitter fight under the leadership of Fieramosca. Charles de la Motte surrendered during the fight. In April 1503 Fieramosca took part in the Battle of Cerignola , which the French lost, together under the Spaniard Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba y Aguilar . The French commander, the last Duke of Nemours, was also killed. After the victory, Ettore Fieramosca was made Count of Miglionico and received some feudal territories.

When Napoleon's troops conquered the Kingdom of Naples in 1805 , they destroyed a monument in Barletta that had been erected to commemorate Ettore Fieramosca's victory. It was restored in 1846.

literature

During the Italian unification ( Risorgimento ) Ettore Fieramosca was idealized many times. The Italian writer and politician Massimo d'Azeglio glorified him in 1833 in the novel Ettore Fieramosca o la disfida di Barletta .

Film adaptations

Fieramosca's life has been filmed several times in Italy.

Silent films

• 1909: Ettore Fieramosca - Director: Ernesto Maria Pasquali
• 1915: Ettore Fieramosca - directed by Domenico Gaido, Umberto Paradisi

Sound films

• 1938: Storms over Morreale with Gino Cervi - Director: Alessandro Blasetti
• In 1975 Bud Spencer played the character of Ettore Fieramosca in the comedy Hector, the Knight Without Fear and Blame . The events of the Disfida di Barletta very freely form the background of the film. In the end there is a duel between the French and the Italians, which the Italians under Hector's leadership decide for themselves.