Kingdom of Naples research assistance?
My father is on an email list for people whose families are from Italy, Region Campania, Province Avellino, town of Greci. Someone posted this information regarding the surname “Boscia” in Italy in the 1400s:
That name was one of 22 Albanese soldiers that were allies of the Kingdom Naples which was controlled by Spain. They stopped the French from invading north and west of the area in the 1460s. Hence they were awarded Greci from King Ferdinand of Spain. They were very skilled fighters. We did not come to Greci to escape the Turks unlike other villages.
Based on the information from Wikipedia (I know, but I’m at work!):
1494: King Ferrante of Naples died
1494: Charles VIII of France invaded Italy to claim the throne of Naples, starting the Italian Wars
Charles gathered a large army of 25,000 men (including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries), including the first siege train to include artillery, and invaded Italy. Easily subduing Florence, the French reached Naples in February 1495 and captured it without a siege or pitched battle
(Fighting continues off & on)
1501: Charles VIII agrees to partition the Kingdom with Ferdinand II of Aragon (he was cousins w/King of Naples)
R. Ritchie, Historical Atlas of the Renaissance is the main cited source on Wikipedia. I’ll have to look for it.
So the timing, at the very least, is a few decades off.
As for the Ottoman connection, I’d always been told that Greci was formed from refugees fleeing the Ottomans who were taking over modern-day Albania. That timing checks out – Mehmed II was “acquiring” that area from 1460-1480. Oldtimers in Greci spoke Arbereshe. The Wikipedia article on Arbereshe people does mention that they were preferred mercenary soldiers of Italy, among other nations.. that statement, of course, doesn’t have citation.
Also:
The invasion of Greece by the Ottoman Turks in the 15th century forced many Arbëreshë to emigrate to the south of Italy. Indeed, in 1448, King Alfonso V of Aragon, known as Magnanime (1396-1458), King of Naples, wanting to repress a rebellion of Italian lords, called on his ally, Gjergj Kastrioti i Krujës, known as “Skanderbeg”, head of the Albanian Alliance. Several clans of Arbëreshë and Albanians were deployed to subdue the rebellion. Alfonso of Aragon rewarded them by giving them land in the province of Catanzaro.
At the very least, the person in the email has some dates & possibly places confused. I’d really like some more information on the Kingdom of Naples’ mercenaries. Any ideas on where I can find it?
Oh! Just found this link too Rediscovering my Albanian roots. More info on how/when Greci was founded.
