The Renaissance

Ferdinand I of Naples ......................

(1423–1494)

King of Naples. Also known as Ferrante,
Ferdinand was born in Valencia, Spain, as
the illegitimate son of Alfonso V the Mag-
nanimous, the king of Aragon who also
ruled in Naples. As a youth Ferdinand was
recognized as the Duke of Calabria, the
customary title for the successor to the
throne of Naples. On the death of Alfonso
in 1458, Ferdinand succeeded his father,
despite the determined opposition of Pope
Calixtus III, who sought to place a mem-
ber of his own family on the throne of
Naples. The opposition ended when Calix-
tus III died and was succeeded by Pope
Pius II, who supported Ferdinand’s rights
as king. Ferdinand was challenged by
nobles who chafed under his strict limita-
tion of their rights in his kingdom. To op-
pose him, these nobles allied with the An-
gevins, a French dynasty that had an
ancient claim to the throne of Naples. Jean
of Anjou, heir to the Angevin dynasty, rode
into Italy to press his claim, but his army
was defeated in 1462 at the Battle of Troja,
an event that confirmed Ferdinand’s au-
thority and legitimacy.

Ferdinand had a reputation as a treach-
erous and utterly ruthless intriguer. Con-
trary to custom, he took vengeance on Ja-
copo Piccinino, a mercenary captain who
had served against him; after promising
him safe conduct to his court, Ferdinand
had Piccinino thrown out of a high win-
dow to his death. Ferdinand ordered many
of his other opponents imprisoned; after
their deaths, it was whispered, he had their
bodies embalmed and collected into a
dungeon for his personal viewing. In the
early 1490s, the newly enthroned King
Charles VIII of France used this reputa-
tion for evil as an excuse to begin plan-
ning a campaign to conquer Naples for

the Angevin dynasty and make himself

master of one of the wealthiest merchant

cities in Europe. By the time the French

forces arrived at the walls of Naples in

early 1495, however, Ferdinand was dead;

although his son Alfonso II capitulated,

the French were eventually driven out of

Italy and the Aragonese dynasty survived.

SEEALSO: Charles VIII; Ferdinand II of

Aragon; Naples

Castile) ........................................... Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of

(Ferdinand V of Castile)

(1452–1516)

King of Aragon who, by marriage to

Queen Isabella of Castile, established the

kingdom of Spain. Ferdinand was also the

king of Sicily and Naples. The son of John

II of Aragon, he was born in Sos. John

granted Ferdinand the kingdom of Sicily

in 1468 and the kingdom of Naples in

1503. Following his marriage to Isabella in
      1469, the couple agreed to consolidate
      their authority in Castile in 1474, an act
      that brought all of Spain outside of the
      Moorish kingdom of Granada under a
      single monarchy. Ferdinand and Isabella
      sought to establish Catholicism as a domi-
      nating force in the new kingdom, estab-
      lishing the Spanish Inquisition to root out
      heresy and false conversion on the part of
      the Jews and Moors. In 1492, Spain ex-
      pelled all Jews who would not convert. In
      the same year, Granada was conquered,
      bringing theReconquista, or Christian re-
      conquest of Moorish Spain, to a successful
      conclusion.
      The conquest of Granada allowed Fer-
      dinand and Isabella to support the voyage
      of Christopher Columbus in the fall of


1504. Seeking a westerly route to the East
      Indies, Columbus instead discovered an
      entirely new hemisphere, where Spain was

Ferdinand II of Aragon (Ferdinand V of Castile)