War over Naples, 1459-1462



A.) Prehistory of the War

King Alfonso V. of Aragon in 1442 had added the Kingdom of Naples to the Aragonese possessions; however, the previous Angevin dynasty still had significant support among the kingdpm's nobles. The Kingdom of Naples since 1458 was ruled by King Ferdinand (Ferrante), illegitimate son of King Alfonso V. of Aragon. He ruled with a strong hand, attempting to strengthen the position of the crown against the (largely pro-Angevin) barons.


B.) The Rebellion

The rebels called in Jean d'Anjou, Duke of Lorraine, son of expelled King Rene of Naples, of the Angevin dynasty, whom they pleaded allegiance to. Jean d'Anjou and his supporters controlled Apulia, temporarily held the city of Naples. They were victorious in the Battle of Sarno 1460, but were decisively defeated in the Battle of Troja 1462; Jean d'Anjou left Italy, and the barons agreed to recognize King Ferrante. King Ferrante had been supported by Duke Alessandro Sforza of Milan and by legendary Albanian chieftain Skanderbeg


C.) Legacy

King Ferrante remained distrustful of the barons and continued to pursue a policy which aimed at strengthening royal authority at the expense of the barons, who, in turn, conspired to revolt again (Conspiracy of the Barons, 1485-1487).




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Ferdinand I., King of Naples, from Columbia Encyclopedia, from Wikipedia
Johann II., Herzog von Lothringen (Jean II., Duke of Lorraine), from Genealogie Mittelalter, in German
Battaglie Medieoevali (Medieval Battles), Medioevo Italiano - Epoca di Principati (Italian Middle Ages - Era of Principalities); Italian language listing
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on March 6th 2004, last revised on November 16th 2004

Click here to go Home
Click here to go to Information about KMLA, WHKMLA, the author and webmaster
Click here to go to Statistics