Seizing the Regno : Relics and the Politics of Aragonese Expansion in the Fifteenth‐Century Mediterranean

Abstract

On 2 June 1442, Alfonso V of Aragon seized the throne of Naples after twenty years of violence, rivalry and warfare between the houses of Anjou and Trastámara over control of the Italian Regno . Over the span of his sixteen‐year reign, Alfonso used Naples as a tool to build his reputation as a new Roman and Imperial ruler in the Italian south. To explore the role of empire building in Aragonese Naples, this article will focus on Alfonso's representation as an imperial ruler in his use of relics – particularly the stolen relics of Saint Louis of Toulouse and the Holy Chalice – in Alfonso's attempts to lay claim to the Italian  Regno . Relics were a pivotal piece in Alfonso's position as a ruler in Naples, Valencia and across the Mediterranean Sea. This article will suggest that Naples – as well as the full Crown of Aragon – was in the process of becoming a maritime empire by the mid‐fifteenth century, with relics and religious objects being a pivotal piece of this history. In using Alfonso as a guide, this article will consider late medieval conceptions of empire and statehood through the rise of Aragonese rule in the Italian Regno .