Ferdinand of Naples suffered a near-total defeat that temporarily cost him his kingdom and triggered a two-year struggle for dynastic survival.
Key Facts
- Date
- 7 July 1460
- Also known as
- Battle of Nola
- Ferdinand's escape force
- Only 20 men
- Angevin reinforcement commander
- Jacopo Piccinino
- Papal/Milanese defeat nearby
- Near San Fabiano, 27 June 1460
- Conflict ultimately resolved
- Battle of Troia, 18 August 1462
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Dissatisfied Neapolitan barons rejected Ferdinand's rule and supported the Angevin dynastic claim of John of Anjou, duke of Lorraine, to the throne of Naples. John's military position was bolstered when Jacopo Piccinino defeated papal and Milanese forces under Alessandro Sforza and Federigo of Urbino near San Fabiano shortly before the main engagement.
On 7 July 1460, Angevin forces under John of Anjou met Ferdinand's army in the plain at the mouth of the Sarno River in Campania, south of Mount Vesuvius. The battle ended in a decisive Angevin victory; Ferdinand's army was routed and the king himself escaped with only twenty men.
Ferdinand's position appeared desperate after the defeat, but he secured crucial support from Pope Pius II, the duke of Milan, the Albanian lord Skanderbeg, and the king of Aragon. This coalition enabled him to defeat John of Anjou decisively at the Battle of Troia on 18 August 1462 and in a naval action off Ischia in 1465, ultimately securing Aragonese control of Naples.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Ferdinand I of Naples.
Side B
1 belligerent
John of Anjou, Duke of Lorraine, Jacopo Piccinino.