Street List
Largo Alfonso d'Aragona
When his father was crowned king in 1458, he himself became Duke of Calabria.
Nephew of Giovanni Antonio Del Balzo Orsini, Prince of Taranto, he inherited some estates in Apulia and, upon his mother’s death, also inherited her feudal possessions, including the right to the throne of Jerusalem. In September 1465, in Naples, he married Ippolita Maria Sforza, daughter of Francesco Sforza.
From a very young age, he took part in several wars, earning a reputation as an excellent commander.
The capture of Otranto by the Turks in August 1480 forced him to return from Tuscany to Naples and then to the Terra di Puglia, specifically to Brindisi, where he settled in order to plan the city’s liberation. To this end, he organized a large army of about 15,000 men and 3,000 cavalrymen, and in April 1481, together with the other forces, he set out on the expedition to free the city.
In May 1481, Sultan Mehmed II died, and his son Bayezid II significantly reduced the deployment of forces for the war in Italy. On that occasion, Alfonso decided to take advantage of the favorable conditions by increasing pressure on Otranto.
The Turks attempted to resist, continuing to use their artillery against the besiegers. The turning point came in July 1481, when reinforcements arrived for a new and decisive assault, following direct pressure from the Pope. After a desperate resistance, the Ottoman army was forced to accept defeat, handing the city back on 10 September 1481. The scene that met the eyes of the survivors (about 300) was devastating: Otranto had been reduced to a heap of rubble.
Alfonso returned triumphantly to Naples on 25 October 1481. Upon his father’s death in 1494, he was crowned King of Naples and Jerusalem; however, shortly thereafter—on 23 January 1495—he abdicated in favor of his son Ferrandino. He then fled to Sicily as Charles VIII entered the Kingdom, reaching Naples on 22 February 1495. Alfonso died in Messina a few months later.