Enrico "Arrigo" d'Aragona (birth date unknown – 1478) was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples, Ferrante I of Aragon. Despite the circumstances of his birth he was well regarded by his father and granted the title of Marchese (Marquis) of Gerace[1] in 1473. He was the father of Luigi (The Cardinal of Aragon) and Giovanna (The Duchess of Amalfi).

Biography

Enrico was an illegitimate son of the King of Naples Ferrante I of Aragon and Giovanna Caracciolo. In May 1473 he was granted by his father the fief of Gerace, which recently had been freed from the dominion of the Caracciolo family and had become a state-owned city.

He married Polissena Ventimiglia.[2] They had four children, Caterina, Luigi, and Giovanna and Carlo (twins born posthumously).[3] Enrico is known for the dramatic circumstances of his death.[4] He died after eating poisonous mushrooms in the Castle of Terranova da Sibari, where he had gone, as a guest of Marino Correale of Grotteria, to collect taxes for the King of Naples. Other people died along with him, while his brother Cesare, Marquis of Santa Agata, who also ate the mushrooms, survived.[5]

He was succeeded as Marquis of Gerace, by his son Luigi (1474 - 1519), who in 1492 renounced the title to become Protonotary apostolic. Carlo, Enrico's posthumous son, then succeeded Luigi. Later, Luigi became a cardinal.[6]

Giovanna married Alfonso Piccolomini, who became Duke of Amalfi in 1493. He was killed in 1498, stabbed in a fight with the Count of Celano, Carlo Sanframondi. Five months later, in March 1499, his son, also called Alfonso, was born and immediately invested as the Marquis of Amalfi as his father's only heir, with Giovanna as Regent.[7][8]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Arden Early Modern Drama, John Webster, ed. Leah S. Marcus, A&C Black (2009) The Duchess of Malfi, p. 16
  2. ↑ See Crupi, Pasquino, Rimatori del XV secolo: Roda, Coletta, Maurello, Soveria Mannelli: Rubbettino Editore (2002) p. 89. Also Giurato, Simona, La Sicilia di Ferdinando il Cattolico. Tradizioni politiche e conflitto fra Quattrocento e Cinquecento (1468-1523), Soveria Mannelli: Rubettino, (2003) p.130
  3. ↑ Marcus, Duchess (2009) p.16
  4. ↑ See Gambino, Sharo (editor), Lamento per la morte di don Enrico d'Aragona (1478) di Joanne Maurello, Chiaravalle Centrale: Frama Sud, 1983
  5. ↑ See Gambino, Lamento (1478)
  6. ↑ See Giurato, La Sicilia (2003)
  7. ↑ See Forker, Charles R., Skull beneath the Skin: The Achievement of John Webster, Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale, IL., 1986, p.115.
  8. ↑ See "The Duchess of Amalfi", The Home friend, SPCK, 1854, pp.452 ff.
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