Ferdinard V of Castile “the Catholic”
Part of The Encyclopedia of Southern Italy.
Ferdinard V of Castile “the Catholic”: (II of Aragon; III of Naples; II of Sicily). b. Mar. 10, 1452, at Sos, Aragon; d. Jan. 23, 1516, in Madrigalejo. King of Aragon, Castile, Spain, Naples, and Sicily. He was the son of John II (king of Navarre and Aragon) and Juana Henriquez. In 1468, he was declared by his father as king of Sicily (and co-king of Aragon). On Oct. 19, 1469, he married Prince Isabella of Asturias, sister and heiress of King Henry IV of Castile. Upon Henry’s death (Dec. 12, 1474), Ferdinand and Isabella were proclaimed joint sovereigns of Castile. In 1494, when the kingdom of Naples was overrun by the French king Charles VIII, Ferdinand sent an army under his captain, Gonzalvo de Cordova, to successfully expel the French and restore the Aragonese dynasty to power. This action gave the Spaniards an advantage in southern Italy when, in 1500, Ferdinand made a secret treaty with the French king Louis XII to divide Naples between them. The outcome was a foregone conclusion since Naples could not hope to stand against an alliance of the two most powerful states of the day. Almost immediately after the conquest had been completed, the two partners began to quarrel. Over the course of time, the Spanish army under Gonsalvo de Cordova successfully drove the French out of the kingdom of Naples. Ferdinand was thus secured in his claim to the Neapolitan crown. With Ferdinand’s accession, the Regno became little more than an ancillary part of the Spanish Empire.