Editing Ferdinand I of Naples (section)

=== The Angevin-Aragonese War (1460-1464) ===
[[File:Regno di napoli, ferdinando I, oro, 1458-1494, 01.JPG|thumb|Gold coin with the crowned effigy of Ferrante I, king of Naples]]
In order to increase their power, the princes of Taranto and Marino Marzano, [[Rossano|prince of Rossano]], asked the King to return Antonio Centelles, Marquis of [[Crotone]], Giosia Acquaviva, Duke of [[Atri, Abruzzo|Atri]], and [[Giulio Antonio Acquaviva]], Count of [[Conversano]], their relatives, to his state. Despite some initial refusals, the King wanted to please them. These united barons decided to urge King John of Aragon to come and conquer the kingdom that belonged to him by legitimate succession after the death of his brother Alfonso V, but King John refused. On the other hand, King Ferrante, having understood the intention of the barons, immediately sent Turco Cicinello and Antonio d'Alessandro to Spain to pray John not to lack love for his nephew the king, since he could say that the Kingdom of Naples was more his than the kingdoms of the Crown of Aragon.

These Ambassadors did not encounter much difficulty in propitiating the king, as even though he wanted to conquer Naples, he did not have the necessary military forces. However, they had great difficulty in settling another plague, because Queen [[Maria of Castile|Maria]], who was the wife of King Alfonso V, died in [[Catalonia]] and left her dowries, amounting to four hundred thousand ducats, to the heir John II. King John claimed that the money should be taken from the treasury that Alfonso had left to the kingdom of Naples and the ambassadors agreed to give it to him in ten years.

Meanwhile, seeing his plan fail, the prince of Taranto attempted another enterprise with the help of the barons and above all of Marino Marzano, who hated Ferrante mortally because the rumor had spread that the king had committed incest with his Eleonora Marino's sister and wife. They decided to call in 1459 [[John II, Duke of Lorraine|John]], Duke of Anjou, son of King [[René of Anjou|René]], who was still in [[Genoa]], to convince him to undertake the enterprise of conquering the throne of Naples. The latter, having received the embassy of the invitation from Marco della Ratta, immediately had galleys and ships armed.

On the other hand, the Prince of Taranto, who as [[Constable|Grand Constable]] of the kingdom controlled the entire army, recruited commanders who depended on him and bribed them to embrace his cause. While trying to suppress the first revolts in [[Apulia]] and Abruzzo, Ferrante received the notice that the Duke John with twenty-two galleys and four large ships had appeared in the marina di [[Sessa Aurunca|Sessa]], between the mouth of the [[Garigliano]] and the [[Volturno]]. The Duke John was received by the Prince of Rossano and immediately pushed his army to the [[port of Naples]], invading a large part of [[Terra di Lavoro]]. He then went to [[Province of Foggia|Capitanata]] where he found the Barons and the Peoples on his side: [[Lucera]] immediately opened the doors to him and Luigi Minutolo gave him back the [[Lucera Castle|Castle]], so did [[Troia, Apulia|Troia]], [[Foggia]], [[San Severo]], [[Manfredonia]] and all the Castles of [[Gargano|Mount Gargano]]. [[Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Ercole d'Este]], who had been made Governor of the Capitanata by Ferrante, seeing all the lands of his jurisdiction rebel, at the behest of his brother [[Borso d'Este, Duke of Ferrara|Borso]] went to serve the duke. The Duke of [[Melfi]], the Count of [[Avellino]], the Count of [[Buccino]], the Lord of [[Torremaggiore]] and the Lord of Santobuono all passed into the pay of John. The Prince of Taranto who was in [[Bari]] went as far as [[Bitonto]] to meet the duke and took him to Bari, where he was received with a royal apparatus.

In the meantime, Marino Marzano was trying to assassinate the king through traps and betrayals. The most important attack was the Torricella bite: Marino Marzano deceived the Catalan Gregorio Coreglia, who had been Ferrante's tutor, confiding in him that he wanted to make peace with the sovereign and ask for his grace. Having reported this message to the king, it was decided that the two should meet in a small church located in the place called Torricella near [[Teano]] on 29 May 1460 and it was set as a condition that each could bring two companions. Therefore, Ferrante brought with him Coreglia himself and Giovanni Ventimiglia, Count of [[Montesarchio]], who, with a past as a man of arms over the years, was among the advisors of Ferrante, while Marino was accompanied by two leaders of the time: Deifobo dell'[[House of Anguillara|Anguillara]], who, at the head of an army had previously forced Ferrante's troops to retreat from [[Venafro]] to [[Calvi, Campania|Calvi]], and Giacomo da Montagano, known in the chronicles as a very dangerous and ready-handed man, who had dropped into Terra di Lavoro on [[Christmas Eve]] to join the army of John of Anjou.

When Marino's attempt to lead Ferrante to a more sheltered place failed, citing as an excuse not to be seen by the French, camped on the Rocca di Teano. The two began to talk and an altercation arose. Deifobo, stating that he too wanted to reconcile with the sovereign, moved to meet him in order to attack him. However, Ferrante, seeing the dagger that he was hiding in his hand, drew his sword and faced the two conspirators alone, as the count and Coreglia were held at bay from Montagano. The King got the better of them, and before his troops arrived, he managed to wound them and put them to flight. In the excitement of the battle, the dagger that had fallen from Anguillara's hand was picked up by a soldier of Ferrante and it was discovered that he was poisoned, since, having touched a dog, he instantly fell dead. This event was then represented in the first, top left, of the six bas-reliefs impressed on the bronze door after the Arc de Triomphe in [[Castel Nuovo]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nobili-napoletani.it/Ordine-Ermellino.htm#(2)|title = Ordine dell'Ermellino}}</ref>
[[File:Abboccamento della Torricella.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the meeting of the Torricella of 1460, on a leaf of the bronze door of the [[Castel Nuovo]] in [[Naples]], commissioned by Ferrante]]

The whole [[Province of Salerno|Principato Citra]], [[Basilicata]], and [[Calabria]] up to [[Cosenza]] raised the Angevin flags, and the rest of Calabria was rebelled by the Marquis of Crotone. It is said that at that point Queen Isabella of Chiaramonte, wife of Ferrante, seeing her desperate husband, disguised as a monk with her confessor, went to visit her uncle Prince of Taranto and begged him to keep her queen as he once had her, so much so that the prince moved away from hostilities.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref>{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|pp= 331–334}}.</ref>

John managed to reach the walls of Naples and would have even entered if the prudence of Queen Isabella, who had the whole city armed in the absence of her husband, had not prevented him from entering.<ref name="Ornata de Loro Rispettivi Ritratti">{{cite book|title=Biografia de Re Di Napoli: Ornata de Loro Rispettivi Ritratti, Volume 10|year= 1825|editor=N. Gervasi|author=Nicolò Morelli|location=Naples}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Morelli|1825|p= 224}}.</ref>

Ferrante was initially defeated by the Angevins and the rebel barons in the battle of Sarno on 7 July 1460. On that occasion, he was saved by the intervention of military troops, "provisioned" and "conscripts", of the city of [[Cava de' Tirreni]], which were headed by the captains Giosuè and Marino Longo. These troops, arrived in Foce di Sarno, descended from the mountain and attacked the Angevins who, surprised and unable to determine the extent of the attack, were forced to retreat, giving King Ferrante the possibility of opening up through [[Nola]], the escape to Naples. Fortunately for him, that battle did not have a decisive outcome, indeed the sovereign obtained further aid from the Duke of Milan Francesco Sforza.

==== The retaliation of Ferrante ====
The Duke of Milan entered the war in aid of Ferrante also for fear of the claims that the [[Charles, Duke of Orléans|Duke of Orleans]] had on the [[Duchy of Milan|State of Milan]]. Therefore, he sent his brother [[Alessandro Sforza]] and [[Roberto Sanseverino d'Aragona|Roberto Sanseverino]], Count of [[Caiazzo]], who was the son of his sister, to the king, both to advise him and also to foster a reconciliation between the king and the barons. The arrival of the Count of Caiazzo greatly raised the fate of the war, because being a relative of the [[Roberto Sanseverino, Prince of Salerno|Count of Marsico and San Severino]], he negotiated with him to return loyal to the king, managing in the end to convince him. The count gladly accepted the privileges that the king offered him, including the concession of the city of Salerno with the title of Prince, to be able to mint coins, and many other privileges. The Count of Marsico, who from that moment was called Prince of Salerno, immediately sent a messenger to Pope Pius II for the acquittal of the oath he had made to Duke John when he made him his Knight. From this episode many other barons followed his example, rejecting the [[Ordre du Croissant]] of which John had honored them as Knights. Pope Pius II, with the bull of January 5, 1460, absolved from the oath all those who had taken the Ordre du Croissant from John and undid this Confraternity. The agreement between the Prince of Salerno and the King overturned the war in favor of Ferrante because it opened the way for him to reconquer Calabria, since the lands of the Prince of Salerno from [[Mercato San Severino|San Severino]] to Calabria belonged to him, to the Count of [[Capaccio Paestum|Capaccio]], to the Count of [[Lauria]], or to other followers of his lineage. The prince of Salerno then went with Roberto Orsini to conquer it. He managed to take Cosenza, which was sacked, [[Scigliano]], Martorano, [[Nicastro]], [[Bisignano]], and in a short time almost the whole province returned to the king.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref>{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|pp= 334–335}}.</ref>

Meanwhile, Pope Pius II sent his nephew Antonio Piccolomini to help the king with 1000 horses and 500 foot soldiers, managing to reconquer the Terra di Lavoro. At the same time the Duke of Milan sent a new aid, with which he managed to reconquer many lands in Abruzzo. In the meantime, the king went to Lucera in Apulia, where Duke John lived, and who with a large army, was waiting for the Prince of Taranto. Many cities surrendered to Ferrante, such as San Severo, Dragonara, many lands of Mount Gargano, and finally [[Monte Sant'Angelo|Sant'Angelo]]. The king went down to the underground church of that famous [[Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo|sanctuary]]; he found a great deal of silver and gold, not only what had been donated for the great devotion to the sanctuary; but also what had been brought by priests from the nearby lands. Having noted it, he took it, promising after the victory to return everything; and with that silver he immediately had that coin called "Li Coronati di S. Angelo" struck, which benefited him a lot in this war.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref>{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|p= 335}}.</ref>

[[Skanderbeg|Gjergj Kastrioti]], nicknamed Skanderbeg, came to help King Ferrante from [[Albania]] with numerous ships, 700 horses, and 1000 veteran infantrymen. He was a very famous man at that time for his campaigns against the [[Ottoman Empire|Turks]] of [[Mehmed the Conqueror|Mehmed II]], who reciprocated the help of Alfonso the Magnanimous who, years earlier, when the Turks had attacked him in Albania where he ruled, had rescued him. His coming was so effective that he made his enemies wary of attacking him.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref name="Biancardi 1737-2">{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|p= 336}}.</ref>

Ferrante went to meet Skanderbeg, welcomed him in celebration, and for several days gave him a grateful rest in Bari. Skanderbeg then had his soldiers gathered and raised their spirits by inspiring him with gratitude for the Aragonese and rekindling in them the love of glory.

[[Jacopo Piccinino]], who commanded the allied army and observed its discomfort, demanded and obtained a truce. However, because he foresaw an unhappy end, he decided not to maintain the truce. Skanderbeg, having known this, told him that the next day he would engage him in battle and Skanderbeg, having arrived in Bari, joined Ferrante who had set up his camp in [[Orsara di Puglia|Orsara]], in Apulia. The following day they came to arms and the Albanian, animated by the example of their leader and the King, fully defeated the enemy army, and Piccinino and John of Anjou were forced to flee. In this battle, four thousand enemies fell, and a thousand others remained prisoners with twenty-five flags and the victors, rich in the spoils of the vanquished, celebrated the triumph for 8 days. When Ferrante returned to Naples, the inhabitants welcomed him with lively cheers and renewed the sacrament of fidelity.

In the [[Terra di Bari]] only [[Trani]] remained on the Angevin side, which the ambitious Sicilian Fusianò was appointed by Ferrante to govern it and with the order to defend it. Seeing the kingdom in disorder, he took advantage of it to become master of the city, even starting to extort the inhabitants of the neighboring villages. However, the appearance of Skanderbeg in the area of Trani was enough for the downfall of such a rogue and he was pardoned by the King, therefore not being punished. Inanto, the gratitude that bound him to the Skanderbeg was not silent in Ferrante's heart and, wanting to give him a sign, he gave him to his own and perpetual heritage Trani, [[Siponto]], and [[San Giovanni Rotondo]], a city in Puglia and therefore opposite Albania.<ref name="Nicolò Morelli-1849" />

The [[Bartolomeo Roverella|Cardinal Roverella]], Apostolic Legate, who was in Benevento, managed to bring the side of Ferrante Orso Orsini and, after this episode, even the Marquis of Cotrone and the Count of Nicastro reconciled with the king.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref name="Biancardi 1737-2"/>

[[Alfonso II of Naples|Alfonso]], Duke of Calabria, Ferrante's eldest son, who was less than 14 years old, was sent by his father under the protection of Luca Sanseverino to subdue Calabria.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref name="Biancardi 1737-2"/>

The king, on the other hand, managed to defeat his enemies in Capitanata, took Troia, and entirely subdued that province. Some barons, seeing the defeats of the Angevins, decided to surrender to the king, as did Giovanni Caracciolo, Duke of [[Melfi]], among other things.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli"/><ref name="Biancardi 1737-2"/>

[[File:Castel_Nuovo_(9)_(15583503425).jpg|thumb|left|Depiction of the [[battle of Troia]] in 1462 on a leaf of the bronze door of the [[Castel Nuovo]] in [[Naples]], commissioned by Ferrante]]
The fate of the war turned in Ferrante's favor on 18 August 1462 in Puglia with the [[battle of Troia]], where King Ferrante and Alessandro Sforza inflicted a definitive defeat on their adversaries. After the battle, the ranks of Ferrante's enemies constantly fell apart.

Only the Terra di Lavoro remained to be subdued beyond the Volturno and Abruzzo, where the Duke [[John II, Duke of Lorraine|John]] had fortified himself. The Prince of Rossano, on the other hand, was at war in Sora, where the Pope's army, urged by Ferrante for the assault, did not want to move, claiming that the Pope had not sent him to help the king, as there was no more need given that the Duke of Anjou was exhausted by the war, but that they had been sent only because the Pope demanded that the [[Duchy of Sora]], the county of [[Arpino]], and that of Celano having once been the territory of the [[Papal States|Church]], were returned to him. In order not to get involved in new disputes, he decided to give the county di Celano to Antonio Piccolomini, nephew of the Pope and his son-in-law, with the condition that he recognize the king as supreme lord.

Pope Pius then died, and with the same condition he gave the Duchy of Sora to Leonardo della Rovere, nephew of [[Pope Sixtus IV|Pope Sixtus]]. Returning to the war, finally the Prince of Rossano capitulated, and through Cardinal Roverella, the peace treaty was concluded with some conditions, including a new parental bond: Ferrante had to grant Giambattista Marzano, son of Marino, his own daughter [[Beatrice of Naples|Beatrice]], who was immediately sent to Sessa by her aunt Eleonora as a sign of peace.

Marino was subsequently imprisoned by Ferrante, who had already taken possession of all his fiefdom. The [[Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo|Prince of Taranto]], seeing the situation degenerate because of the king, who was reaching him to conquer it, asked him for peace. Ferrante did not refuse it and sent [[Antonello Petrucci]]o, his secretary, with Cardinal Roverella, the Pope's legate, to negotiate the conditions of the armistice with the Prince's ambassadors. Among the conditions of the armistice, there was that the prince was expelled from Puglia and the Duke John from all his fiefs. The [[Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo|Prince]] retired to [[Altamura]] where he died shortly after, not without the king's suspicion of poisoning.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli" /><ref>{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|pp= 336–337}}.</ref>

On November 16, the death of Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, [[Principality of Taranto|Prince of Taranto]], deprived the Angevin front of its most influential boss and financier. With his death, the original plan of Alfonso V of Aragon to make Taranto the pivotal principality in his and his heirs' hands was realized. The Apulian fiefdom was inherited by his wife Isabella and became a fundamental strength for Ferrante's resources.<ref name="test1" />

==== The last Angevin stronghold ====
In September 1463 Duke John, abandoned by his allies, agreed with the king to go on the [[Ischia|island of Ischia]]. After subduing Apulia, [[L'Aquila]], and Abruzzo, Ferrante faced only the reconquest of Ischia, the last Angevin bulwark, where the Duke of Anjou had retired, and which was defended by the brothers Carlo and Giovanni Toreglia; these with eight galleys infested the [[Gulf of Naples]] to such an extent that King Ferrante asked for the intervention of his uncle John II of Aragon, who sent him Galzerano Richisens with numerous Catalan galleys. In the spring of 1464 John of Anjou, having seen himself isolated and defeated, left with two galleys for [[Provence]].

After the Catalan army came, which he was no longer in need of, Ferrante gave a great gift to General Toreglia and sent the army back. When Duke John left the kingdom, he left a good memory to some peoples and nobles thanks to his numerous virtues, so many knights followed him to the [[Kingdom of France|France]], including Count Nicola di Campobasso, Giacomo Galeota, and Rofallo del Giudice. The Duke John arrived in Provence and was called by the [[Catalans]], who had rebelled against King John II of Aragon, an event for which Ferrante very rejoiced, as if the Duke John, his father René, and the King of Aragon were engaged in waging war with each other and would not have constituted a danger to Naples. Meanwhile, the [[County of Barcelona]] had rebelled against King John and had called King René to govern him. Ferrante, warned of the war, sent some militias to Catalonia to help his uncle.<ref name="Le vite de Re di Napoli" /><ref>{{harvnb|Biancardi|1737|pp= 338–339}}.</ref>