La corte di Ippolita Sforza, Duchessa di Calabria, nelle corrispondenze diplomatiche tra Napoli e Milano

• Main Author: Veronica Mele
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Casa de Velázquez 2015-11-01
• Series: Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez
• Subjects: diplomatic reports; dowry; information networks; integration; management of the Household; recruitment
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/mcv/6548

Ippolita Sforza’s diplomatic and private correspondence sets her court apart from the other Renaissance women’s courts. Firstly, the political alliance between Naples and Milan assured her the immense privilege of having all the personnel recruited in the Duchy of Milan at her service. The court of the Duchess of Calabria thus constituted a species of Lombard enclave in Naples. Nevertheless, it never grew to be part of the kingdom’s political, cultural and economic fabric. When King Ferdinand arbitrarily dismissed his daughter-in-law’s entire court for their inability to govern the ducal household, Ippolita surrounded herself with a new entourage, among them the Lombard ambassadors residing at the Neapolitan court. That way she launched upon a new international diplomatic role. It was not until reaching maturity and motherhood that she chose political allies and notables from the Aragonese government as a means to preserve the Neapolitan throne for her eldest son Ferrandino.