Ferrante Sanseverino, IV principe di Salerno

Ultimo principe di Salerno. III. duque de Villahermosa, Italian condottiero.

4° Principe di Salerno,15° Conte di Marsico, Barone di Sanseverino e del Cilento dal 1508 sotto tutela del suocero. Signore di San Gabriele, Patrizio Napoletano; Capitano Generale delle fanterie italiane all’assedio di Tunisi e in Lombardia nel 1544. Nel 1553 dichiara di fronte al Senato di Venezia e all’Imperatore Carlo V di voler rinunciare ai suoi stati. Dichiarato ribelle, Carlo V pose fine al principato di Salerno nel 1553; Filippo II di Spagna concesse Sanseverino ai Gonzaga nel 1556. I suoi beni vennero confiscati per tradimento. Visse in esilio in Francia, dove divenne ugonotto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrante_Sanseverino

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrante_Sanseverino

Biography

Born in Naples, he was the son of Roberto Sanseverino and a noble girl from a Salerno family. Fernando Sanseverino was the last of the Sanseverino Princes of Salerno.

He fought for Emperor Charles V in Germany and France. He took part to Charles' incoronation in Bologna (1530), and was also present at the conquest of Tunis in 1535.

He was one of the imperial leaders in the fourth war against Francis I of France and fought at the battle of Ceresole (1544). Returning to Naples, he went to short terms with the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Toledo, due to his opposition to the institution of Holy Inquisition tribunals in the Kingdom of Naples. He therefore moved to France at the court of King Henry II, embracing the Huguenot creed. His Italian fiefs were given to the Gonzaga.

Ferdinando Sanseverino died at Avignon, in France, in 1568.

Main accomplishments

He organized a naval attack of French ships against Naples and Salerno, but it failed due to the intervention of the Turk fleet.

He was an a passionate supporter of contemporary theatre, and had one built within his palace in Naples.

His refusal to accept the Inquisition inside his possession in Salerno created a break between him and the Spanish government in southern Italy. Mainly as a consequence of this, Fernando Sanseverino was forced to exile in France.

His legacy in the Principality of Salerno was to bring to the southern italian city (and the surrounding area) the ideas of the Italian Renaissance. He brought to Salerno Torquato Tasso for some years.