At the death of Louis of Anjou, Alfonso was in
Sicily after making expeditions
against the island of Gerba (1432) and
Tripoli (1434), he went against
Gaeta and besieged by land and sea, and they began the work of expropriation by the besiegers, with the use of bombardments. The Genoese, financially exhausted by the continuous wars of Duke
Filippo Maria Visconti, made a last effort and armed a fleet of 12 ships, two ships, three galleys and a galleon with 2,400 men on board, and the navy was entrusted to
Biagio Assereto. The expedition was conducted in secret and sailed past
Recco and
Portofino in a southerly direction, carefully preparing to face Aragon's numerically superior fleet of 31 ships. Assereto knew that
Francesco Spinola had been wounded and that the resistance was at its lowest level. Sure of victory, with a fleet that doubled the Genoese in number of ships, and of greater size,
Alfonso V and many nobles accompanied the fleet, leaving behind
Peter of Aragon with the galleys. The Genoese, who had only experienced sailors and soldiers, used the fog and set off fireworks, making the Catalans believe that they were dispersing, causing disorder in the Aragonese fleet, filled with people unaccustomed to fighting at sea, which made the task difficult for sailors and soldiers.
Alfonso V was defeated and taken prisoner together with the infants
John and
Henry and a good part of the Aragonese nobility, and only one ship was able to escape, causing 600 deaths and 5,000 prisoners sent by
Filippo Maria Visconti to the duke of Milan and lord of Genoa. A ransom of 30,000
ducats was demanded,
Maria of Castile summoned the Courts of Montsó to obtain funds to release them. The queen's mother,
Eleanor of Alburquerque, died of grief at the imprisonment of her children shortly after hearing the news.
Alfonso V and the
Duchy of Milan agreed to mutual support for the
Treaty of Milan, in the demand for the throne of
Naples and in the dispute against the
Sforza and the
Papacy. Alfonso was released in October. Milan's change of alliances revolted the Genoese at Christmas 1435, killing the Milanese governor.
Peter of Aragon, brother of Alfonso and who had escaped defeat, finally took
Gaeta on March 25, 1435, where Alfonso entered on February 2, 1436, and the same year, to
Terracina. Alfonso, who left
Capua with the fleet, quickly took over most of the
Kingdom of Naples and appointed the
condottiero Francesco Piccinino as commander of his forces in the kingdom to fight against the
Papal States. In 1437, the
siege of Naples began from the
Castel Nuovo and the
Castel dell'Ovo, defended by
Antonio Caldera, who resisted and had to lift the siege due to the attack of the papal forces in April 1437, commanded by
Joan Vitellesco de Cornetto who besieged
Capua where they met with those of Caldera, taking advantage of the fact that Alfonso had begun the siege of
Aversa, which he had to raise to help Capua, and the
Angevins retreated to
Naples. Vitellesco was defeated at the Battle of
Volturno and Antonio Caldora at the Battle of
Pescara by Andrea Matteo Acquaviva II,
Francesco Piccinino and Sebastian d'Amicis, while
Giovanni Antonio, Prince of
Taranto was captured at the Battle of
Montefusco by Cornetto, who took
Avellino and
L'Aquila. In 1437, the princes of Taranto and
Caserta switched to the
Angevin side, while
Antonio Colonna, the prince of
Salerno, switched to the Aragonese. At the end of 1437 a truce was established until March 1438, which was broken by the Angevins on
Christmas Day and shortly afterwards
René of Anjou obtained the freedom of
Philip III of Burgundy for 200,000 gold doubles, managing to strengthen Naples and focusing on consolidating Abruzzo to establish a base to attack the Catalans, and sending Caldora to
Calabria, but he returned when his own possessions were attacked. Taking advantage of Renat's absence, Alfonso again laid siege to the capital, where in October 1438 infant
Peter died, and the following summer the
Castel Nuovo, which the Aragonese had preserved, had to surrender. But shortly afterwards, Alfonso occupied
Salerno and
Aversa, and defeated the Angevins at the battle of La Pelosa, and in January 1441 he conquered
Benevento. At the end of that year he laid siege to
Naples again and occupied
Cosenza and
Bisignano. Alfonso became
king of Naples, as he wished with the Aragonese victory at
Naples on June 2, 1442, from where
René of Anjou fled with a galley, although
Ramon de Boïl i Montagut still fought in
Abruzzo against
Francesco I Sforza.
Eugene IV and
Alfonso the Magnanimous negotiated a settlement of their differences in the spring of 1443, resulting in a
formal agreement at Terracina on 14 June 1443. Under the terms of this treaty, Eugene recognized Alfonso as king of Naples and of his son
Ferdinand as successor, consolidating the conquest of the
Kingdom of Naples, in exchange for the recognition of Eugene as
pope, and withdrawing support for
Amadeus VIII of Savoy and the
Council of Basel. == Aftermath ==