Diomede Carafa ( – 17 May 1487) was a

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

nobleman, soldier, diplomat and political theorist of the

Carafa family The House of Carafa or Caraffa is the name of an old and influential Neapolitan aristocratic family of Italian nobles, clergy, and men of arts, known from the 12th century. History The House of Carafa is a cadet branch of the noble House of C ...

Life

Carafa was born in either 1406 or 1408, the youngest son of Antonio Malizia Carafa and Caterina Farafalla. Like his father, he was a staunch supporter of the

House of Aragon House of Aragon may refer to: *the branch of the Jiménez dynasty that ruled Aragon as kings between 1035 and 1162 *the House of Barcelona, which ruled Aragon between 1137 and 1410, united Aragon and Catalonia and ruled Sicily from 1282 until 1409 ...

. When Queen Joan II broke with her named heir, King

Alfonso V of Aragon Alfonso the Magnanimous (139627 June 1458) was King of Aragon and King of Sicily (as Alfonso V) and the ruler of the Crown of Aragon from 1416 and King of Naples (as Alfonso I) from 1442 until his death. He was involved with struggles to the t ...

, Carafa followed Alfonso back to Spain. Nothing is known of what he did there, but he returned with Alfonso in 1442, when the latter conquered the kingdom. In February 1465, he was given a

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...

Maddaloni Maddaloni (Campanian: ) is a town and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, about southeast of Caserta, with stations on the railways from Caserta to Benevento and from Caserta to Naples. Main sights The city is at the base ...

with the title of count. The manuscript Reg. lat. 812 in the

Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library ( la, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana, it, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City. Formally es ...

, containing

Frontinus Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. 40 – 103 AD) was a prominent Roman civil engineer, author, soldier and senator of the late 1st century AD. He was a successful general under Domitian, commanding forces in Roman Britain, and on the Rhine and Danube ...

' ''Stratagems'', was copied for Carafa by Pietro Ippolito da Luni. Carafa died on 17 May 1487 and was buried in the Chapel of the Crucifix in

San Domenico Maggiore San Domenico Maggiore is a Gothic, Roman Catholic church and monastery, founded by the friars of the Dominican Order, and located in the square of the same name in the historic center of Naples. History The square is bordered by a street/alle ...

. His tomb was the work of renowned sculptors ,

Tommaso Malvito Tommaso Malvito (died 1508) was an Italian sculptor, known particularly for his work on funerary monuments in Naples at the turn of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. He was born in Como (Lombardy) in the late 15th century, and was a pupil of ...

and

Domenico Gagini Domenico Gagini ( Bissone, c. 1425–30 - Palermo, 29–30 September 1492) was a Swiss-Italian sculptor who was active in Northern as well as Southern Italy.Hanno-Walter Kruft. "Gagini." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University P ...

Works

Carafa wrote thirteen ''Memoriali'' in vernacular Neapolitan, some of which are

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

and only one of which was published in his lifetime. They offer advice on finances, military matters and etiquette directed at members of the royal family and court. The surviving ''memoriali'' are: *''Memoriale ad Alfonso d'Aragona duca di Calabria'' (1467), military advice to Alfonso, Duke of Calabria. *''Memoriale in nome di Ferdinando primo re di Napoli ad Arrigo di Siviglia e di Toledo'' (1470), written in the name of

Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinando Trastámara d'Aragona, of the Naples branch, universally known as Ferrante and also called by his contemporaries Don Ferrando and Don Ferrante (2 June 1424, in Valencia – 25 January 1494, in Kingdom of Naples, Naples), was the only so ...

Henry IV of Castile Henry IV of Castile ( Castilian: ''Enrique IV''; 5 January 1425 – 11 December 1474), King of Castile and León, nicknamed the Impotent, was the last of the weak late-medieval kings of Castile and León. During Henry's reign, the nobles became ...

*''Memoriale alla serenissima regina de Ungheria'' (1476), practical advice for Ferdinand's daughter

Beatrice Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...

on the occasion of her marriage to King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

of Hungary *''Memoriale a Francesco d'Aragona'' (1476), written for Beatrice's brother, *''Memoriale'' (1478), written for Beatrice's other brother, Cardinal Giovanni d'Aragona, on the occasion of his Hungarian legation *''Memoriale per il capitano prudente'' (1479), more advice for the duke of Calabria following the Pazzi conspiracy *''Memoriale a Federico d'Aragona'' (1479), written for Alfonso's brother

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

on the occasion of his move to France to marry

Anne of Savoy Anne of Savoy, Princess of Squillace, Altamura, and Taranto (1 June 1455 – February 1480) was the first wife of King Frederick IV. She died 16 years before he succeeded to the Neapolitan throne, so she was never queen consort. Anne was a member ...

*''Memoriale et recordo de quello have da fare la mulglyere per stare ad bene con suo marito et in che modo se have ab onestare'', written at an unknown date for an unknown woman on the proper habits of a new wife for a happy marriage The military ''Memoriali'' to Alfonso and Francesco were published by F. Campanile at Naples in 1608 under the title ''Gli ammaestramenti militari del signor Diomede Carafa''. The ''Memoriale'' to Beatrice was translated into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Colantonio Lentulo Colantonio is a general contractor headquartered in Holliston, Massachusetts. The firm offers preconstruction, general contracting, and construction management services with specialization in academic, affordable housing, municipal, and historica ...

. A deluxe manuscript of the Latin version was copied by and illustrated by

Cola Rapicano Cola Rapicano () was an Italian illuminator, working in Naples during the second half of the 15th century. The earliest mention of Cola Rapicano stems from 1451, and in a document from 1456 he is described as an illuminator. Very little is know ...

. Between 1472 and 1476, Carafa wrote a ''I doveri del principe'', a treatise dedicated to Eleanor, Duchess of Ferrara. labels this work ''Memoriale sui doveri del principe''. His last work, ''Libro delli precepti o vero instructione delli cortesani'', was written in 1479 for his son, Giovanni Tommaso Carafa.

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{Refend 1400s births Year of birth uncertain 1487 deaths House of Carafa 15th-century Neapolitan people 15th-century Italian nobility 15th-century Italian diplomats Diplomats from Naples Military personnel from Naples Nobility from Naples