Essential Chronology of the History of Naples

Mainland southern Italy and Sicily were conquered independently by various Norman knights, the former from the Byzantines and Lombards, the latter from the Saracens, in the course of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries.
They were formed into the Kingdom of Sicily, with its capital at Palermo, under Count Roger II of Sicily (1130).
This kingdom was conquered successively by the Hohenstaufens (Swabia) and the Angevins (Anjou and Provence ); Charles I of Anjou moved the capital to Naples.
Under the Angevins, and thereafter, the mainland is known as 'Sicilia citra Farum' (i.e., Sicily on this side of the lighthouse marking the straits of Messina), but comes often to be called the Kingdom of Naples; the island of Sicily is known as 'Sicilia ultra Farum' (beyond the lighthouse).
The revolt known as the Sicilian Vespers (1282) separated the island from the mainland and placed it under Aragonese rule; after the conquest of Naples by Alfonso of Aragon (1435-42) the island and the mainland came again under a single ruler, but on Alfonso's death (1458) they were again separated; the conquest of Naples by Ferdinand of Aragon (1501-04) once more placed them under a single ruler, but administrative union in the form of the 'Kingdom of the Two Sicilies' was not carried through until 1816.

G.van Wittel La Darsena of Naples

The Normans

1059
Treaty of Melfi; Pope Gregory VII legitimizes conquests by Robert Guiscard and his Norman associates under papal suzerainty

1130-1154
Roger II, previously count of Sicily, claims kingship of Sicily, Apulia, and Capua (1130); overcomes opposition of Pope Innocent II by defeating and capturing the pope. His successors are William I, the Bad (1154-1166) and William II, the Good (1166-1189)

1186
Constance, aunt of William II, marries Henry, heir of Frederick Barbarossa; on William's death she is his heiress (1189)

The Hohenstaufens

1189-1197
Emperor Henry VI claims the Sicilian throne in the right of his wife; he is opposed by Tancred of Lecce (d. 1194)

1198-1250
Frederick of Hohenstaufen (b.1194; later Emperor Frederick II)

1198
Queen Constance before her death places Frederick under the guardianship of Pope Innocent III; rivalry among German-Sicilian administrators

1208
Emperor Otto of Brunswick makes a claim to Sicily, opposed by the pope; Frederick of Hohenstaufen takes over government (but leaves for Germany, 1212)

1220
Frederick returns to Sicily having become Emperor Frederick II (he pretends to leave for Jerusalem, 1227, and actually leaves, 1228)

1229
Pope Gregory IX claims Sicily in Frederick's absence, but he returns and re-establishes his authority

1231
Frederick II proclaims the Constitutions of Melfi (the Liber Augustalis), organizing the government of the Kingdom of Sicily under an apparatus of royal control (he leaves again for Germany, 1235)

1236
Frederick II begins a series of campaigns in northern Italy that drain the resources of Sicily (he returns to Apulia, 1249, and dies there)

1250-1254
Emperor Conrad IV; he names his illegitimate half-brother Manfred as vicar in Sicily and Italy

1254-1266
Manfred assumes power in his own right after Conrad IV's death; (he is crowned at Palermo, 1258, and extends his influence to northern Italy)

1262
Charles of Anjou accepts Pope Urban IV's offer of Sicilian kingship

1266
Battle of Benevento; Manfred defeated and killed by Charles

1268
Conradin (son of Conrad IV) leads an expedition to reclaim Sicily; at the battle of Tagliacozzo he is defeated by Charles and executed at Naples

NAPLES FROM THE ANGEVINS TO THE HAPSBURGS

The Angevins

1266-1285
Charles I

1268
Battle of Tagliacozzo; defeat and execution of Conradin; Charles secures his control over the kingdom

1282
The Sicilian Vespers; Peter III of Aragon takes control of Sicily

1285-1309
Charles II, the Lame

1302
Peace of Caltabellotta; Aragonese control of Sicily is accepted

1309-1343
Robert, the Wise, hostage of Aragon ( married Jolanda of Aragon ), supports the Guelf faction against the Papacy ,patron of Literature and Art

1343-1382
Joanna I; she marries her cousin Andrew of Hungary (younger brother of Louis the Great of Hungary)

1345
Andrew of Hungary murdered with the connivance of Joanna I

1347-48
Invasion of Louis of Hungary; Joanna flees to Avignon; she obtains permission (1348) to marry Louis of Taranto (d.1362); Louis of Hungary meets resistance, withdraws

1350
Second invasion of Louis of Hungary fails(peace treaty, 1351)

1363
Joanna marries James of Majorca (d.1375)

1372
Peace with Frederick IV of Sicily; he is recognized as 'King of Trinacria' (terms accepted by Pope Gregory XI only after modification, 1374)

1376
Joanna marries Otto of Brunswick

1380
Joanna disinherits Charles of Durazzo, names Louis of Anjou as her heir

1382
Revolt by Charles of Durazzo; Joanna imprisoned and strangled

The Angevins of Durazzo

1382-1386
Charles III of Durazzo; he is opposed by Louis of Anjou (d.1384)

1385
Charles III returns to Hungary, where he is killed (1386)

1386-1414
Ladislas

1386-93
Regency of Queen Mother Marguerite; conflicts with Louis II of Anjou (1386-1400) who holds the city of Naples

1399
Ladislas successfully occupies the city of Naples

1407
Ladislas occupies Rome which Pope Gregory XII cannot hold

1411
Renewed conflict with Louis II of Anjou; Ladislas forced to withdraw from Rome but then reoccupies it

1414
Sudden death of Ladislas in Rome ends Neapolitan bid for hegemony in Italy

1414-1435
Joanna II

1414-15
In first months of Joanna's reign power is exercised by the Queen's favourite, Pandolfo Alopo, as chamberlain

1415
Joanna marries James de la Marche; he executes Alopo (1415) but soon rouses opposition from the Barons and is confined (1416); on his release he leaves the country (1419)

1417
Sergianni Caracciolo becomes the Queen's favourite; Pope Martin V is at first favourable

1419
Caracciolo alienates the condottiere Muzio Attendolo Sforza and Pope Martin V

1420
Joanna is attacked by Louis III of Anjou, Martin V, Sforza; defended by Caracciolo with the assistance of Alfonso of Aragon and the condottiere Braccio da Montone

1421
Joanna adopts Alfonso of Aragon as her heir

1423
Alfonso and Braccio quarrel with Caracciolo; Caracciolo has Joanna adopt Louis III of Anjou as her heir, make peace with Martin V

1431
Caracciolo, having made enemies among the nobility, is assassinated. Alfonso of Aragon gains influence

1433
Joanna again adopts Alfonso of Aragon as her heir

1433-34
Louis III campaigns to take over the kingdom, but dies (Nov. 1434)

1435
Joanna on her death (Feb.) bequeaths the kingdom to René of Anjou (brother of Louis III)

The Aragonese

1435-1458
Alfonso I of Aragon, the Magnanimous

1435-42
Conflict with the forces of René of Anjou

1442
Alfonso occupies the city of Naples; arranges for his illegitimate son Ferrante to succeed him there (while his brother John succeeds in Aragon and Sicily); Pope Eugenius IV comes to terms (1443)

1458-1494
Ferrante (Ferdinand I)

1458-64
Conflict with the forces of René, then John of Anjou

1480-81
Turkish occupation of Otranto

1485
The Great Barons Conspiracy (Francesco Coppola Count of Sarno,Antonello Sanseverino Prince of Salerno, Pietro Guevara Marchese del Vasto , Pirro del Balzo Prince of Altamura , in the Angevin interest, with support from the Pope; Ferrante (1486) makes terms with some of the barons, arrests and later executes the ringleaders , makes terms with the Pope

1494-1495
Alfonso II

1495
Confronted with French invasion, Alfonso abdicates, retires to Messina (Jan.), dies (Dec.)

1495-1496
Ferrandino (Ferdinand II)

1495
Ferrandino retreats to Sicily before the French (Feb.)

1495
Charles VIII of France occupies Naples (Feb.-May)

1495
Ferrandino returns to the mainland (July) and regains control of the kingdom but dies (Oct. 1496)

1496-1501
Frederick of Altamura (uncle of Ferrandino)

1500
Secret Treaty of Granada between Ferdinand of Aragon and Louis XII of France for the conquest and partition of Naples (Nov.)

1501
Joint Franco-Spanish invasion; Frederick of Altamura is forced into exile (Aug.; he dies in France, 1504; but his son the Duke of Calabria takes up residence in Spain)

1501-1516
Ferdinand the Catholic, of Aragon

1503-04
Following disagreements between the French and Spanish conquerors of the kingdom, hostilities break out and the French are driven out (they abandon their claim by treaty, 1505)

1503-07
Gonsalvo da Cordova acts as the king's lieutenant in Naples{ Viceroy } (his most important successor under Ferdinand is Raymond of Cardona, 1509-22)

1516
On the death of Ferdinand, Naples, with Spain, is inherited by his grandson Charles of Hapsburg (Charles I of Spain, after 1519 Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire)

SICILY UNDER ANGEVIN AND ARAGONESE RULE

Angevin conquest, revolt, Aragonese intervention

1266-1282

Charles of Anjou becomes king as a result of his victories on the mainland; makes Naples his capital rather than Palermo

1282
The 'Sicilian Vespers', a popular uprising against the French in which many are massacred; Peter III of Aragon, inheritor of the Hohenstaufen claims in Sicily and South Italy as the husband of Manfred's daughter, lands on the island with an armed force

1282-1285
Peter III is crowned as Peter I of Sicily, refuses homage to the pope

1285-1295
James I (second son of Peter) becomes King of Sicily while his elder brother Alfonso III inherits the Crown of Aragon

1291
On the death of Alfonso III James I of Sicily becomes also James II of Aragon (to 1327); returning to Aragon, he places his younger brother Frederick in charge of Sicily

The Independent Monarchy

1296-1337
Frederick II (younger brother of James I), on James coming to terms with Pope Boniface VIII and abdicating the kingship of Sicily (1295), with the backing of the Sicilian Estates declares himself an independent king; he is excommunicated by the Pope and war against Naples follows

1302
Treaty of Caltabellotta, with Charles II of Naples; Frederick's position is reluctantly acknowledged, but the Angevins will continue to make attempts to dislodge the Aragonese from Sicily

1337-1342
Peter II

1342-1355
Louis, inheriting the throne at the age of four, is unable to establish a strong government and accepts a tributary relationship to the papacy. Baronial clans (especially the Chiaramonte and the Ventimiglia) quarrel for power

1355-1377
Frederick III, the Simple. Intermittent war against Naples continues

1372
Naples and the papacy come to terms with Frederick as a tributary King of 'Trinacria'

1377-1402
Mary of Aragon (daughter and heiress of Frederick III); government is effectively taken over by the heads of four baronial families who style themselves 'vicars'

1390
Mary is taken to Aragon and married to Martin 'the Younger' (grandson of John II of Aragon); they return with a military force (1392), defeat the opposing barons, and rule jointly until Mary's death (1402). Martin repudiates the treaty of 1372 and rules as King of Sicily

1402-1409
Martin I, the Younger (widower of Mary of Aragon) rules alone

1409-1410
Martin II, the Elder (Martin I of Aragon, father of Martin the Younger) inherits Sicily after his son's death

Union with Aragon

1410
On the death of Martin the Elder, Sicily though subject to disorder remains in union with Aragon, and is ruled by the kings of the House of Trastamara (1412-1516) and then by the Hapsburgs; mainland Naples is also in union with Aragon under Alfonso the Magnanimous (1435-1458) and again under Ferdinand the Catholic (from 1501 on), but the island will be governed separately from the mainland until 1816