Ferdinand I of Naples
Ferdinand I, also known as Ferrante, was king of Naples from 1458 to 1494.
The only son, albeit illegitimate, of Alfonso the Magnanimous, he was one of the most influential and feared monarchs in Europe at the time and an important figure of the Italian Renaissance. In his thirty years of reign, he brought peace and prosperity to Naples. Its foreign and diplomatic policy aimed at assuming the task of regulating the events of the peninsula in order not to disturb the political balance given by the Treaty of Lodi, to affirm the hegemony of the Kingdom of Naples over the other Italian states and to tighten through its diplomats and marriages of his numerous legitimate and natural children, a dense network of alliances and relationships with Italian and foreign sovereigns, earned him the fame and the nickname of "Judge of Italy", in addition to being recognized as a generous patron.
He issued various social laws that in fact undermined the excessive power of the Barons, favoring small artisans and peasants. This work of modernization and the resistance he put up against them led to the outbreak of the famous revolt, which was subsequently suffocated.
Ferrante was forced to prove his worth several times before obtaining the throne of Naples. Not only as governor, but also as a military man, as he was forced to recapture his own kingdom, against all conspirators, and during his rule, the kingdom was under constant attack from powers such as the Ottoman Empire, France, the Republic of Venice, and the Papal States. It can be said that, in general, almost his entire life was spent in war.
Recognized as one of the most powerful political minds of the time, Ferrante was gifted with great courage and remarkable political skills. Completely Italianized, he surrounded himself with numerous artists and humanists, completed the paternal building works in the city of Naples, and erected new impressive buildings that still adorn it today.
The skills of Ferrante and his diplomats, skilled in weaving alliances in order to achieve Neapolitan hegemony in the system of Italian states, the fruits of the sovereign's economic strategy with the introduction of the art of silk and printing, politics of promotion and cultural attraction, the severe exercise of power through the repression of the conspiracy of the barons led the Kingdom of Naples, with intellectuals of the caliber of Pontano, Panormita, and others, to participate as a protagonist in Humanism and the Renaissance. At that time it possessed the most powerful navy in the western part of the Mediterranean.
Biography
The paternal inheritance
Youth
Ferdinand was born on 2 June 1424 in Valencia. His mother, Gueraldona Carlino, was probably a woman of Neapolitan origin who in December 1423 had accompanied Alfonso on his return to Spain, where she later married a certain Gaspar Reverdit of Barcelona.In order to ensure a good future for his illegitimate son, his father Alfonso had called him to Naples. At the behest of the king, on 26 July 1438 the governor de Corella, the bishop Borgia, and the young Ferrante, with their entourage of young Catalan gentlemen, set sail from Barcelona for Italy. Alfonso's purpose was to prepare his only son, albeit illegitimate, for the role of heir to the kingdom he was conquering. The whole company landed in Gaeta on 19 August, where Ferrante was reunited with his father, whom he hardly knew.
A strong emotional bond soon developed between father and son, as Alfonso appreciated the young man's acute intelligence and courage, while Ferrante showed complete reverence for his parent. Alfonso, on 9 September 1438, created Ferrante a knight on the Maddaloni field where René of Anjou-Valois, challenged to battle, did not appear.
In Naples he had as teachers Valla, Panormita, Borgia, and Gabriele Altilio, who taught him for many years. He also had as tutor Paris de Puteo who taught him law. When the Sacro regio consiglio, judicial ''authority'' of the kingdom, was established by Alfonso, he was assigned the position of president.
Following the death of his uncle Peter, in April 1439 Ferrante was appointed lieutenant general of the kingdom. On February 17, 1440, King Alfonso, by his own authority, legitimized and declared his son his heir to the throne of Naples, and then, in January 1441, he secured the approval of the parliament of the barons of the kingdom that he had summoned in Benevento and which was then transferred to Naples. Still in parliament, Alfonso, worried about the succession, promoted a petition, in which the barons, knowing they were doing the king a great pleasure, proposed to establish Don Ferrante as his future successor, with the title of Duke of Calabria, usually given to the first-born of the king of Naples. Then Onorato Caetani, with the consent of all, kneeling before the king, begged him to create as Duke of Calabria and his future successor Don Ferrante, and the King with a cheerful face made him answer these words by the secretary:
After this, Don Ferrante Duke of Calabria and successor of the kingdom was shouted with great joy and, on March 3, 1443, the king, accompanied by his son and baronage, went to the Monastery of the Nuns of San Ligoro, where the mass was celebrated with public solemnity and where Alfonso gave the sword in Ferrante's right hand, the flag in his left hand, and placing the ducal circle over his head, ordered everyone to call him Duke of Calabria.
File:Adorazione_dei_magi_don_ferrante_di_Napoli.jpg|thumb|Don Ferrante of Naples depicted as one of the Magi in the Adoration of the Magi by Marco Cardisco, Civic Museum of Castel Nuovo, Naples
The recognition of the rights of succession Ferrante was sealed by the Papal bull Regnans in altissimis issued by Pope Eugene IV in July 1443, and later confirmed in 1451 by Pope Nicholas V. Ferrante in 1444 married the heiress Isabella of Taranto, daughter of Tristan of Clermont and Catherine of Taranto, designated heir of Prince Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo of Taranto, his maternal uncle, who had no children. Isabella was also the niece of Queen Mary of Enghien who, having married Ladislaus I of Anjou, had therefore been queen of Naples, Sicily and the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1406 to 1414.
War with Florence
In June 1452, King Alfonso declared war on Florence, at the request of the Republic of Venice, to divert Florence from helping Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan. Alfonso sent Ferrante with 6,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry. Alfonso arranged with Venice to attack Florence while Venice attacked Milan.Ferrante led this army through Abruzzo and was lovingly received throughout the kingdom. In Tuscany, the Duke's army encamped at the Abbey of San Galgano. Then the Florentines raised the flags of King Charles VII of France, and urged that former king René reconquer Naples.
At this time there was an outbreak of disease in the Neapolitan army; Duke Federico of Urbino and many other captains fell ill. Ferrante moved the army to Pitigliano.
On 1 September Ferrante was informed that Foiano had already been taken. When winter came, the war in Tuscany ended. Alfonso negotiated peace and signed a league with Venice and Siena. On 9 April 1454, Venice and Milan signed the Peace of Lodi.
Ferrante returned to Naples via Abruzzo. When he reached the borders of the Kingdom, he discharged the Duke of Urbino and the other captains.
On 28 August 1454 he entered Naples, where he was received under a very rich baldachin with infinite joy by all the citizens.
On 15 February 1455, Cardinal Domenico Capranica came to Naples on behalf of Pope Nicholas V, to ask Alfonso to join the Italic League, an alliance of the major princes and potentates of Italy. Alfonso agreed, and thus established friendship with Milan and Florence as well as Venice and the Papacy.
The arduous Coronation
As established by his father, Ferrante succeeded him on the throne of Naples in 1458, at the age of 35. When he came to power, he had to face many problems: Charles, Prince of Viana, incited the Neapolitans to acclaim him king, the barons pushed King John of the Crown of Aragon to conquer the kingdom, and after the latter's refusal, they resorted to John of Anjou, son of René, who claimed the kingdom of Naples. The Pope demanded, moreover, that the kingdom be devolved to his Holy See. Ferrante had to overcome all these powerful enemies to keep the kingdom strong.Charles of Viana the "claimant"
Charles, Prince of Viana, the son of King John II of Aragon, claimed that the illegitimate status of Ferrante precluded his ascension to king. While in Naples, through numerous Catalan and Sicilian barons, he conspired to gain the crown, but both the Neapolitan people and many barons, remembering the oath and promises made to Alfonso and to Ferrante, who had not only been legitimized by his father, but also declared legitimate successor by the Holy See, proclaimed: "Long live Re Ferrante our legitimate King" as Ferrante then rode through the city. When the Prince of Viana saw this display, he boarded a ship in Naples, abandoning his supporters, and fled to Sicily, with the Catalan barons who had not had fiefs in the kingdom from Alfonso.The Apparent Coronation
Although he had overcome this obstacle, Ferrante still did not feel safe, since he did not yet have Callixtus III on his side, even though he had been his teacher and friend of his father before becoming Pope. The following day he sent ambassadors to the Pope to confirm the investiture of the kingdom, through the following letter.After having sent the ambassadors to Rome, Ferrante wanted to anticipate the investiture. After leaving Castel Nuovo he went to the cathedral of the city on horseback, accompanied by the barons of the kingdom, where he was received with applause by Cardinal Rinaldo Piscicello, Archbishop of the city, who, accompanied by the clergy, met with him in front of the church choir and immediately after they went to the stairs of the high altar, where kneeling, the Te Deum was sung. The cardinal blessed the new sovereign with a pontifical blessing and proclaimed him King of Naples. After the coronation the trumpets began to sound, while the people shouted: "Long live the King Ferrante". He then rode, accompanied with great magnificence by the baronage and the people towards the seven offices of the Kingdom, then returned to Castel Nuovo. Finding it closed, according to the rite he then called the castellan Arnaldo Sanz, and said to him: "Open", and he replied: "Are you King Don Ferrante thirsty, son of the happy memory of King Don Alfonso?" The King replied: "I am that." The Castellano then asked the barons if the new king was Don Alfonso's son and they all said yes. The Castellano then, in front of all the people, handed the keys of the castle to Ferrante, who returned them to him and ordered to keep the fortress well. After this, the people continued to shout: "Long live the King Don Ferrando".