Battle of Ponza (1435)

Battle of Ponza
Part of Aragon's Conquest of Naples

The surrender of Alfonso V of Aragon
DateAugust 5, 1435[1][2]
LocationIsland of Ponza, Tyrrhenian Sea
Result Decisive Genoese victory[3][4][5][6]
Belligerents
Duchy of Milan
Republic of Genoa
[3][4][5][6][7]		 Crown of Aragon
[2][4][5][7]
Commanders and leaders
Filippo Visconti
Biagio Assereto
Jacopo Giustiniani
[3][4][7][8][9]		 Alfonso V of Aragon
King of Aragon  (POW)
John II of Aragon
King of Navarre  (POW)
Henry of Aragon
Prince Infante  (POW)
[2][3][5][9][10]
Strength
Genoese fleet:
3 galleys
13 vessels
2,400 soldiers
[10][11][12]		 Aragonese fleet:
11 galleys
14 vessels
6,000 soldiers
[10][11][12]
Casualties and losses
90 killed[8] 600 killed[8]
~ 100 Aragonese nobles
captured [1][10]
13 vessels lost[3][4]

The Naval battle of Ponza was fought in early August 1435, when the Duke of Milan dispatched a Genoese fleet, in order to relief the town of Gaeta,[13] which was currently being besieged by the King of Aragon.[14]

Conflict

Joan II, Queen of Naples, died on the 2nd of February 1435,[1] and by her will bestowed Rene d'Anjou with the crown of Naples.[14] However, Alfonso, king of Aragon and Sicily, whom Queen Joan II had primarily adopted, claimed the succession, on the ground of this first adoption.[1] Thus the successionist war between the House of Anjou and the House of Aragon over the Kingdom of Naples ensued.[12][13]
At this critical moment Rene d'Anjou was currently imprisoned in the Duchy of Burgundy[15] and Alfonso of Aragon lost no time in stirring up his partisans in the Kingdom of Naples, whilst he himself sailed from Sicily with a large fleet to besiege Gaeta.[14]
Gaeta itself was garrisoned by the Genoese[4] who shortly after Queen Joan's death dispatched Francesco Spinola with 800 infantry.[5][16] The Duke of Milan (to whom the Republic of Genoa had lately submitted)[1] sided with the House of Anjou[16] and dispatched a Genoese fleet[13] in July under Biagio Assereto in order to relief Gaeta.[16] Alfonso immediately sailed against the Genoese fleet[12] with superior numbers.[15] The two fleets met near the island of Ponza and after a long and gallant conflict,[15] which lasted for ten hours,[13] the Genoese were completely victorious.[6] The royal galley of Aragon was compelled to strike,[15] and Alfonso V, King of Aragon was captured.[2]

Aftermath

The siege of Gaeta was lifted,[12] and the return of the Genoese fleet was met with a triumphant reception at Genoa.[10] The King and all the noble Aragonese prisoners were then brought to Milan before the Duke,[16] and with this one strike the war seemed already over.[9]
However the King of Aragon managed to persuade the Duke of Milan to his side and against Rene d'Anjou, and was set at liberty with all other prisoners.[1] The Genoese were so utterly exasperated by the Dukes decision[4] that they started to rebel against him, drove out the Milanese garrison and overthrew his rule on the 27th of December, 1435.[1]

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Simonde de Sismondi, Jean-Charles-Léonard (1832). A History of the Italian Republics. Philadelphia.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 de Madrazo, Pedro (1839). Recuerdos y bellezas de España: Cataluña. Barcelona.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Zurita, Jerónimo (1579). Segunda parte de los Anales de la Corona de Aragon: Book 14. Zaragoza.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Burchett, Josiah (1720). A Complete History of the Most Remarkable Transactions at Sea. London.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Ersch, Johann Samuel (1847). Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste: 3. Section. Leipzig.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 de Cherrier, Claude Joseph (1858). Histoire de la Lutte des Papes et des Empereurs: Vol.III. Paris.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Schlosser, Friedrich Christoph (1849). F. C. Schlosser's Weltgeschichte für das Deutsche Volk: Vol.IX. Frankfurt a.M.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Canale, Michele Giuseppe (1864). Nuova Istoria della Repubblica di Genova: Vol.IV. Florence.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Gregorovius, Ferdinand (1988). Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter: Book 1-6. Munich.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 von Stramberg, Christian (1858). Denkwürdiger und nützlicher Rheinischer Antiquarius: Vol.VII. Koblenz.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Troyli, Placido (1753). Istoria generale del Reame di Napoli. Naples.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 Leo, Heinrich (1829). Geschichte von Italien: Vol.III. Hamburg.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 von Meerheimb, Richard (1865). Von Palermo bis Gaëta. Dresden.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (1843). The Biographical Dictionary: Vol.II. London.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Col. Proctor, George (1844). The History of Italy. London.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Ersch, Johann Samuel (1854). Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste: 1. Section. Leipzig.

See also

Coordinates: 40°54′00″N 12°58′00″E / 40.9000°N 12.9667°E