Ferdinand I of Naples

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Ferdinand I of Naples : biography

June 2, 1423 – January 25, 1494

Ferdinand I of Naples should not be confused with Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies, a latter king of Naples.

Ferdinand I (June 2, 1423 – January 25, 1494), also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494. He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon by his mistress, Giraldona Carlino.

Marriages and children

Ferdinand married twice.

  • First to Isabel de Claremont in 1444. Isabel was daughter to Tristan, Count di Copertino and Caterina Orsini. She died in 1465. They had six children:
    • Alphonso II of Naples (November 4, 1448 – December 18, 1495).
    • Eleanor of Naples (June 22, 1450 – October 11, 1493). She was consort to Ercole I d’Este, Duke of Ferrara and mother to Isabella d’Este and Beatrice d’Este. The later daughter was consort to Ludovico Sforza.
    • Frederick IV of Naples (April 19, 1452 – November 9, 1504).
    • John of Naples (June 25, 1456 – October 17, 1485). Later Archbishop of Taranto, then Cardinal, and Archbishop of Esztergom (1480–1485) until his death.
    • Beatrice of Naples (September 14/November 16, 1457 – September 23, 1508). 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 (December 16, 1461 – October 26, 1486).
  • Second to Joanna of Aragon (1454 – January 9, 1517). 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 (died 1516) and a half sister of the unfortunate Prince Charles of Viana (1421–1461), John II’s son by his first marriage. Joanna and Ferdinand I were married on September 14, 1476. They had two children:
    • Joanna of Naples (1478 –married 1496 – August 27, 1518). Queen consort to Ferdinand II of Naples (1469–1496), who, as the son of Ferdinand I’s son Alfonso II of Naples (1458 – king 1494 – 1495 in Messina), was also her half-nephew. No issue.
    • Charles of Naples (1480–1486).

Ferdinand also had a number of illegitimate children:

  • By his mistress Diana Guardato:
    • Ferdinando d’ Aragona y Guardato, 1st Duke of Montalto, who married 1st, Anna Sanseverino, 2nd, Castellana de Cardona
    • Maria d’Aragona. Later consort to Antonio Todeschini Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi, a nephew of Pope Pius II and brother of Pope Pius III.
    • Giovanna d’ Aragona. Later consort to 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. Later wife to Gian Giordano Orsini.
  • By his mistress Giovanna Caracciola:
    • Ferdinand d’Aragona, Count of Arsena.
    • Arrigo d’Aragona, Marquess of Gerace.
    • Cesare d’Aragona, Marquess of Santa Agata.
    • Leonor d’Aragona.
  • Lucrezia d’Aragona, daughter of either Giovanna Caracciola or Eulalia Ravignano, was consort to Onorato III, Prince of Altamura.

Biography

In order to arrange a good future for Ferdinand, King Alfonso had him married in 1444 to a feudal heiress, Isabella of Taranto, who besides being the elder daughter of Tristan di Chiaramonte (Tristan de Clermont-Lodeve), 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 Queen Mary of Enghien (mother of Giovanni and Catherine), who had been Queen consort of Naples (Queen of Jerusalem and Sicily) in 1406-14.

Ferdinand’s wife was the heiress presumptive of remarkable feudal possessions in Southern Italy.

He used the title King of Naples and Jerusalem (Ferdinand I of Naples). In accordance with his father’s will, Ferdinand succeeded Alfonso on the throne of Naples in 1458, when he was 35 years old, but Pope Calixtus III declared the line of Aragon extinct and the kingdom a fief of the church. Calixtus died before he could make good his claim (August 1458), and the new Pope Pius II recognized Ferdinand’s titles. John of Anjou, in an attempt to profit from the discontent of the Neapolitan barons, decided to try to regain the throne of his ancestors that had been lost by his father René. He therefore invaded Naples.