Ferdinand II of Naples

Ferdinand II or Ferrante II of Naples (26 August, 1469 - September 7, 1496), sometimes known as Ferrandino, was King of Naples from 1495 to 1496. He was the grandson of Ferdinand I, and son of Alphonso II and heir of the Brienne claim to kingdom of Jerusalem.

Alphonso, finding his tenure of the throne uncertain on account of the approaching invasion of Charles VIII of France and the general dissatisfaction of his subjects, abdicated in his son's favour in January 1495. The 24 year old new king tried to resist, but the French troops had already occupied much of the northern territories of the Kingdom. The Neapolitan troops on the Liri and Garigliano rivers were obliged to retreat when the fortesses of Capua and Gaeta fell. The treason of a party in Naples rendered it impossible to defend the city against the approach of Charles VIII, who entered Naples on February 20 1495. In the capital, only Castel dell'Ovo resisted, defended by Alfonso d'Avalos.

Ferdinand fled to the castle at Ischia with an escort of 14 galleys, together with the royal family, the general Innico d'Avalos and the poet Jacopo Sannazaro. The commander of the islands fortress had already an agreement with the French, and opposed to the King's entrance: when the two met, Ferdinand killed him personally and had his body thrown in the sea. Later Ferdinand moved to Messina, where he joined his cousin Ferdinand II, king of Sicily and Spain.

In the meantime, Alexander VI formed a coalition against Charles, made up of Emperor Maximilian, Venice, Milan and Spain. When the French king left Naples with most of his army, Ferdinand disembarked at Seminara in Calabria, forcing his way up to Naples. Blocked by French garrisons at Palmi, he decided to return at Naples by sea, and was again at Ischia (which had victoriously pushed back the French attacks) on July 7, 1496. The same day he was again in Naples: the citizens, irritated by the terrible conduct of their conquerors during the occupation of the city, received him back with enthusiasm.

With the aid of the great Spanish general Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, he was able completely to rid his state of its invaders shortly before his death, which occurred in 1496, a little over a year after his accession.

He married his half-aunt Giovanna of Naples in 1496, shortly before his death (she was the daughter of his grandfather Ferdinand and his second wife, Joanna of Aragon; Giovanna, born in 1478, a late child of a second marriage, was actually younger than Ferdinand). He thus had no heirs, and was therefore succeeded by his uncle Frederick.

His successor in the Kingdom of Naples was his uncle (his grandfather's and Isabella di Chiaramonte's second son) Frederick of Calabria, who became king Frederick IV of Naples.

ee also

*Italian Wars
*History of Naples
*List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily

References

*1911

External links

* [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dphaner/HTML/people/p00000qa.htm#I12656 Genealogy entry for Ferdinand II]