Giosia Acquaviva

Giosia Acquaviva († August 22, 1462 in Cellino Attanasio ) was a southern Italian nobleman at the time of the battles for the successor to Queen Joan II ; he was the 6th Count of San Flaviano (1446–1461) and the 6th Duke of Atri .

family

Giosia Acquaviva was the third son of Andrea Matteo I. Acquaviva († 1407), 2nd Duke of Atri, and Caterina Tomacelli, daughter of Giovannello Tomacelli, Margrave of Ancona , and Angela Gaetani; he was thus a great-nephew of Pope Boniface IX. (Pietro Tomacelli).

In his first marriage he married a daughter of Ardizzone da Carrara, Count of Ascoli, and Antonia Sforza (an illegitimate daughter of Muzio Attendolo Sforza ), in his second marriage a daughter of Jacopo Caldora , Duke of Bari . In his third marriage on November 28, 1428, he married Antonella Migliorati, daughter of Ludovico Migliorati, Lord of Fermo , Count of Manoppello , and Bellafiore da Carrara († 1462). His two sons are from this marriage:

• Giulio Antonio (X February 7th 1481 during the siege of Otranto ), 1462 7th Duke of Atri and 7th Count of San Flaviano, 1464 1st Duke of Teramo
• Gianantonio († murdered 1503), in French service

Life

In 1408 the massacre of the Melatini family took place in Teramo, with which the Acquaviva family avenged the death of Giosia's father. In 1414 - when King Ladislaus died - he had more than 100 armed men under his command. In 1419 he took part in the coronation of Queen Johanna II , for which he fought the following year against the pretender Ludwig von Anjou , from whose people he was captured in Aversa .

After the death of Braccio da Montone (June 5, 1424), he occupied Teramo, where he was elected governor of the city for life, after which Queen Johanna confirmed control of the city to him in July, but not for life. In the year he put an end to the disputes in Teramo between the families of the Melatini and the Antonelli by having some executed (Melatini) and entrusting the supervision of the city to the others in his name.

From 1426 he tried to get into the possession of Ascoli Piceno , initially with the help of Jacopo Caldora, his father-in-law, from whom he also bought some castles (Montesisto, Castiglione, Buccia and Casalitto) in 1430. After the death of Queen Johanna II (February 2, 1435), he sided with the pretender Alfonso of Aragón against René of Anjou and was captured by the Genoese in the Battle of Ponza . After he paid the ransom, he was released in February 1436. Further battles for Ascoli Piceno, Pescara and Teramo followed, until he was forced in August 1438 to conclude an alliance contract with Alessandro Sforza , which he broke in mid-1440. For the next few years he defended Abruzzo against the Sforza, even when Alfonso of Aragón entered Naples in February 1443 after defeating René of Anjou, so that he could not take part in the Neapolitan general parliament, which Alfonso held shortly afterwards. Around the same time (around 1443) he became the 6th Duke of Atri through the death of his nephew Andrea Matteo II. Acquaviva, as well as lord of Bellante, Troia, Roseto, Padula, Forcella, Canzano, Monte Pagano and others. a.

In 1444 he allied himself with Francesco Sforza and subsequently resumed the battles for Teramo and Ascoli Piceno until the Sforza were forced to withdraw from the Kingdom of Naples in August 1445. In December there was a reconciliation with King Alfons. On July 22nd, 1446 he confirmed the possession of the duchy and the county of San Flaviano with Cellino, Bisento, Castagna, Penna, Aviano, Roseto, Forcella, Fanzano, Castelvecchio, Trasmondo, Notaresco, Montone, Tortoreto, Corropoli, Musano, Turano, San Omero, Ripacone, Vallato and Troia, but not owned by Teramo.

In 1456 he was elected to the Order of the Golden Fleece , but refused to join after King Alfonso had objected to it (the background of the nomination was the intention of the Burgundians to crusade, for which they needed the support of Naples, which Alfons again no longer at this time wanted to grant). In 1458, after the death of King Alfonso, he refused to pay homage to Ferdinand 's illegitimate son and joined the Neapolitan nobles who supported John of Anjou , who had come to the country after the death of Alfonso. He gradually lost his castles in the ensuing battles, was repeatedly forced to an armistice and finally died of the plague on August 22, 1462 in Cellino , while the castle was besieged by his enemies.

Web links

• Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 1 (1960), online at [1]