FREDERICK I OF ARAGON, King of Naples. - Born to Ferrante I and Isabella of Chiaromonte, probably on 16 Oct. 1451. His father destined him for diplomatic and military missions, among them the one aimed at supporting Charles the Bold against Louis XI (1474) and at procuring for Frederick himself the Burgundian inheritance by means of a marriage with Mary, the duke's daughter. The plan failed, and Frederick, who had nonetheless taken part in the battle of Grandson (2 March 1476), abandoned the Bold's camp. He married instead Anne of Savoy, niece of the king of France, and, having been widowed of her, Isabella del Balzo (1486).
During the conspiracy of 1485 he refused to accept his father's throne, offered to him by the barons, and managed to escape the net that had been spread for him. When Alfonso succeeded to the throne (25 Jan. 1494) and Charles VIII's offensive against the Kingdom began, Frederick served with unhappy success as commander of the fleet in Ligurian waters (battle of Rapallo, 14 Sept. 1494). After Alfonso's abdication and the other brief reign of Ferrante II, he in turn became king (7 Oct. 1496). He succeeded in reconquering Gaeta and in subduing the ever-rebellious barons. He hoped, with the help of the Catholic King, to resist Alexander VI, who had formed an alliance with Louis XII and had excommunicated him on 15 Dec. 1499; his hopes were disappointed by the Treaty of Granada (11 Nov. 1500). Lacking other allies, Frederick had no course left but to treat with the French (25 July 1501); and in the following Sept. he abandoned his Kingdom, renouncing it in favor of Louis XII and receiving in compensation the county of Maine. He died at Montils-lès-Tours on 9 Nov. 1504. During his exile he had found comfort in the friendship of Sannazaro, who had generously followed him.
Bibliography4 works
Carlo de Frede