Alfonso V
King of Aragon
(1394–1458)

Other names: the Magnanimous

Biographical

Alfonso V, King of Aragon 1416–58†
Alfonso I, King of Sicily 1416–58†
Alfonso, King of Sardinia 1416–58†
Alfonso I, King of Naples 1443–58†
Alfons IV, Conde de Barcelona 1416
Titular King of Jerusalem 1443–58†
Infante of Aragon 1412
Duque de Girona 1414
Knight of the Golden Fleece 1445

Alfonso was a prominent figure of the early Renaissance. Queen Joanna II of Naples adopted Alfonso and named him her heir in 1420 in exchange for his assistance against Louis III of Anjou. Naples was liberated in 1421, but Joanna subsequently changed her allegiance and favoured Louis, later designating his son, René of Anjou, as her heir.   Alfonso conquered Naples between 1442 and 1443. He also claimed the title of King of Jerusalem through his descent from Constance of Sicily, and b conquest, but neither he nor his heirs could use the title officially because it had been granted by the papacy to the House of Anjou. This changed in 1510, when Pope Julius II granted the title to Ferdinand II of Aragon. In 1435, while Alfonso was a prisoner of Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, he persuaded Visconti to release him by arguing that Milan would benefit from an Aragonese victory in Naples. Alfonso supported men of letters whom he trusted to preserve his reputation for posterity and had a strong interest in classical literature. During his campaigns, he carried works by Livy or Caesar with him, and his court writer Panormita claimed that Alfonso recovered from an illness after having several pages of Quintus Curtius read to him. Alfonso also encouraged scholarly disputes at his court, including Latin exchanges between visiting scholars. He did not establish any major new institutions or foundations and, after his conquest of Naples in 1442, governed through his mercenary soldiers and men of letters. His Spanish possessions were administered for him by his brother John, who inherited them, along with Sicily and Sardinia, while his bastard son Ferrante received Naples..
Place of birth: Villaverde, near Medina del Campo
Place of marriage: Valencia
Place of death: Naples

Son of Fernando I, King of Aragon and Leonor of Castile, he was married in 1415 to María of Castile, with no issue

Alfonso had natural issue by Giraldona Carlino