Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ARAGONESE ANGST
Taking control of Naples in 1442, Alfonso of Aragon - dubbed Il Magnanimo (The Mag-
nanimous) - did much for Naples, promoting art and science and introducing institutional
reforms. What he couldn't do was live down the fact that he'd overthrown the popular
Angevins.
In 1485 the city's barons took up arms against Alfonso's successor, Ferdinand I. Within a
year, however, the ringleaders had been executed (in the Sala dei Baroni inside Castel
Nuovo) and peace restored. In 1495 King Charles VIII of France invaded. Fiercely opposed
by the Neapolitan masses, the French monarch was forced out four months later and re-
placed by Aragonese Ferdinand II.
After Ferdinand II's death in 1496, the mutinous barons crowned Ferdinand's uncle, Fre-
derick, as king. This angered everyone: the Neapolitans, the French and the Spanish had all
wanted Ferdinand II's widow Joan to succeed him. The upshot was the joint
Franco-Spanish invasion of 1501. Frederick tried to hang on to power, but, facing almost
total opposition, he skulked off, leaving Naples to the Spanish. Thus King Ferdinand of
Spain became King Ferdinand III of Naples.
