For the prince known by this name between 1825 and 1830, see Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies. For the head of the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies from 1934 to 1960, see Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria.
Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria, Prince of Taranto, (Spanish: Fernando de Aragón, Duque de Calabria, Principe de Taranto) (15 December 1488, Andria, Apulia - Valencia, Spain, 26 October 1550) was a Neapolitan aristocrat of royal Aragonese - Neapolitan blood, son of king Frederick IV of Naples, (Naples 19 Apr 1452 - king 1496 - in prison Plessis-lès-Tours, France, 9 Nov 1504), who played a significant role in the Mediterranean politics of the Crown of Aragon in the early 16th century. He should not be confused with his famous contemporary, relative and namesake King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
Ferrante I of Naples, Ferrante of Aragon-Naples y Carlino (illegitimate son of the King of Aragon Alfonso V with Giraldona Carlino, 1423 - king of Naples 16 August 1458, his father recognized as such after his military conquest in February 1443 - 25 January 1494), made provisions for the eldest of his 6 children, described as king Alfonso II of Naples y Chiaromonte, having married twice, first , in 1444, Isabella de Chiaromonte , a "Guilhem dei Chiaromonte - Orsini di Balzo" offspring . It was, then,a marriage between a male of the Counts of Cupertino and a woman from the Princes of Taranto. Isabella died on 24 March 1465 having 6 males/females with Ferrante I.
In September 1476, some 11 years later, Ferrante I was persuaded by his Spanish uncle, King Juan II of Aragon, also king of Sicily, to marry Juan II daughter, hence Ferrante I cousin, usually described as Joanna of Aragon, (Barcelona, Spain, 1454 - Naples, Italy, 1517). While Ferrante I was then, 1476, some 53 years old, his new wife would be only 22, and he would be, moreover, associated to the naval power capacities of the Aragon-Catalonia Crown and the Sicilian kingdom, too.
When Ferrante I died on 25 January 1494, aged over 70, with his widow, Spanish born Queen Dowager Joanna, the sister of king Ferdinand II of Aragon, also king of Sicily and king of Castile, jure uxoris, since 1474, the "Aragonese family kings" power extended to Sardinia, Sicily kingdom, Naples kingdom, over 50% of the actual Italy, and some 80-85% of actual Spain, a European power group rather mighty for the time, ends of the XV Century.
Thus, Ferrante I became in 1476, brother in law of the king of Castile, jure uxoris, since 1474 and king of Sicily and king of Aragon after 1479.
The eldest child of the 6 males/females of king Ferrante I with Isabella de Chiaromonte was named Alfonso II of Naples, (Naples, Italy, 4 Nov 1448 - Messina, Italy,18 Dec 1495), and in other words, he only survived some 23 monts, under 2 years, to his father. He was reputed to be high-handed when trying to crush a revolt of the Neapolitan nobility after he started to rule the kingdom.
Married to a "Sforza - Visconti" female, Ippolita Maria Sforza, from the last duke of Milan, Francesco Sforza, they got three males/females, Isabella, (1470–1524), Pietro, (1471 - 1491], and
Ferrante II of Naples y Sforza , (Naples, Italy, 26 Aug 1469 - Naples, Italy, [5/7] Oct 1496 ). He married, aged 27, (Naples, 1496, year he died, too)) his youngest than him aunt, 17 years old Giovanna of Naples, (Naples 15 Apr 1479-Naples 27 Aug 1518), daughter of FERRANTE I King of Naples & his second wife Infanta doña Joanna of Aragon.
Therefore, by October 1496, after a king lasting only some 10 months , there was the need for a new king of Naples. The throne would have to go to Ferrante II of Naples uncle, the brother of king Alfonso II of Naples, namely, Frederick IV of Naples, (Naples, Italy, 19 Apr 1452 - in prison, Plessis-lès-Tours 9 Nov 1504)
In other words, Frederick IV succeeded his nephew Ferrante II.
It is said, that as a consequence of Charles VIII invasion, and the abdication in January 1495 of king Alfonso II of Naples, (Naples, Italy, 4 Nov 1448 - abdicate in his son Ferrante II of Naples, January 1495, Messina, Italy 18 Dec 1495), there was an agreed partition of the kingdom of Naples between Charles VIII of France and king Ferdinand II of Aragón, February 1495, with an switch of Ferdinand II of Aragón] politics when his sister Joanna of Aragon, Dowager Queen of Naples, arranged the marriage in 1496 of her 17 year old daughter Giovanna of Naples, niece of the Aragonese king Ferdinand II, to Ferrante II, aged 27.
But when Ferrante II uncle, Frederick IV, occupied the Neapolitan throne after October 1496, there was a truce or agreement, in the year 1500, described as Treaty of Granada, between Ferdinand II of Aragon and Louis XII of France, some sort of conquest and partition of the Kingdom of Naples between Spaniards and French, apparently, imprisoning and destituting, September 1501, Frederick IV.
The invasion of king Charles VIII of France successor, king Louis XII of France in what where supposed to be parts previously assigned in the Spanish-French negotiations to the Spaniards in the South of the Kingdom, mainly Apulia and Calabria, was one of the reasons why Ferdinand II sent Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, (1453–1515), to battle against the French, wipe out a part of Frederick IV nobility, Frederick IV being imprisoned and abducted to France by the French around September 1501.
Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, who had received money and honors by the Aragonese - Neapolitan king Ferrante II had to send back to Spain as prisoners, Ferdinand, Duke of Calabria and Prince of Taranto, aged around 15, and plotting and calculating son of the Spanish born, and immoral, Pope Alexander VI, a.k.a. Rodrigo Borgia, Cesare Borgia.
Duke Ferdinand II of Calabria was imprisoned at Atienza, province of Guadalajara, Spain, while Cesare Borgia was custodied at Xativa, province of Valencia. Cesare was killed in battle at Viana, Navarre.
He was, subsequently, at Xativa, from 1512-1523 under Ferdinand II of Aragon till the king death in 1516 and then, till 1523, under Ferdinand II grandson king Charles I of Spain, a.k.a. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor fearing his plotting to recapture the throne of Naples.
He became Viceroy of Valencia, by right of his first wife, Germaine of Foix, 1526–1540, where he established a lively court which promoted theatre and music.
He married firstly, Seville, August 1523, as her third husband, Germaine de Foix, widow firstly of his royal gaoler king Ferdinand II of Aragon "el Católico" and secondly of Johann Markgraf von Brandenburg-Ansbach.
She was daughter of Jean V de Foix-Grailly, Vicomte de Narbonne, Comte d'Étampes & his wife Marie d'Orléans [Valois] ([1490/93], and died in Liria, Spain, 15 Oct 1538. It is known that in her 1538 will, aged around 50, she asked for protection for the future of her daughter, as she is the daughter of the Emperor, too. The king Charles I of Spain, a.k.a. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, born at Ghent, now in Belgium, 1500, therefore then aged 38, was a widower since 1531 with two legal children , female/male, and several "illegitimate" children, males/females, perhaps as a very young bachelor or briefly married or as a widower, but this encounters with Germaine, 12 years older than he was, a notorious happy drinker and eater who became a very overweight lady indeed in due time, had escaped the attention of many earlier biographers.
He married, secondly (Feb 1540) as her second husband, doña Mencía de Mendoza, Marchioness of Zenete, widow of Heinrich III Graf von Nassau, daughter of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar de Mendoza, Marqués de Cenete & his wife doña María de Fonseca y de Toledo (Jadraque 30 Nov 1508-4 Jan 1554, buried at Valencia). She was then the daughter of an "illegitimate" son, Rodrigo, the son of Catholic Cardinal Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, 5th son of notorious literary nobleman Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana, born 1398. This 5th son,Pedro, who used a different name than his father, Inigo, was named around, while alive, as "The Third King of Spain". Fernando of Calabria had one possible illegitimate son by an unknown mistress:
An alliance of Kings Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon (Frederick's cousin) had continued the claim of Louis's predecessor, King Charles VIII of France, to the thrones of Naples and Sicily, and in 1501 they deposed Frederick, and Naples initially went to Louis, but by 1504 a new war led to Naples' seizure by the Crown of Aragon.
Ferdinand was then taken prisoner by Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, and was moved to Barcelona as a hostage. Nevertheless he gained the friendship of Fernando II of Aragon and later that of Charles V, to the point that the latter managed the marriage of Ferdinand of Calabria with Germaine de Foix in 1526 (she had been second wife of Ferdinand II, Charles V's maternal grandfather), and designated them as joint viceroys of Valencia. As such, they became renowned for their patronage of artistic and literary works.
Bernadette Nelson, The court of Don Fernando de Aragón, Duke of Calabria in Valencia, c.1526–c.1550: music, letters and the meeting of cultures. Oxford University Press. Early Music, Volume 32, Number 2, May 2004 , pp. 194–224(31)