Giovanni d'Aragona (1456–1485) (called the Cardinal of Aragona) was an

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Biography

D'Aragona was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

on June 25, 1456, the son of

Ferdinand I of Naples Ferdinand I (2 June 1424 – 25 January 1494), also known as Ferrante, was king of Naples from 1458 to 1494. The only son, albeit illegitimate, of Alfonso the Magnanimous, he was one of the most influential and feared monarchs in Europe at the ...

and his wife

Isabella of Clermont Isabella of Clermont ( – 30 March 1465), also known as Isabella of Taranto, was queen consort of Naples, Queen of Naples as the first wife of King Ferdinand I of Naples, and a feudatory of the kingdom as the holder and ruling Princess of the ...

. He became a protonotary apostolic on July 12, 1465. On November 10, 1477, he was named

apostolic administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of the see of Taranto, a post he held for the rest of his life. In the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistor ...

of December 10, 1477,

Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV, ; born Francesco della Rovere; (21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death in 1484. His accomplishments as pope included ...

made him a

cardinal deacon A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. C ...

. He received the deaconry of

Sant'Adriano al Foro Sant'Adriano al Foro was a church in Rome, formerly in the Curia Julia in the ''Forum Romanum'' and a cardinal-deaconry (a titular church for a Cardinal-deacon). The church The Church of Sant'Adriano al Foro (Italian for St. (H)Adrian at ...

on December 12, 1477. The pope sent him the

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in Naples three months later. He served as apostolic administrator of the see of Badajoz from January 20, 1479, to May 14, 1479. On April 10, 1479, the pope named him legate ''a latere'' to the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

; he left

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for his legation on January 31, 1480, and returned on August 31, 1480. On January 14, 1480, he opted for the order of

cardinal priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

s and his deaconry of Sant'Adriano al Foro was raised ''pro illa vice'' to '' titulus''. On November 14, 1481, he was named apostolic administrator of the metropolitan see of Cosenza, a post he held for the rest of his life. He was in Naples from April 23, 1482, until August 30, 1483, when he returned to Rome. He became apostolic administrator of the metropolitan see of Salerno on January 13, 1483, and of the metropolitan see of Esztergom on December 20, 1483, and held both of those offices until his death as well. On September 10, 1483, he was named

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

to Hungary and Germany. He returned to Rome on August 19, 1484, in order to participate in the papal conclave of 1484 that elected

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

. His father, the king of Naples, then named him governor and

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of the

Province of Bari The province of Bari (; ; ) was a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Bari. It has an area of , and a total population of 1,594,109 (2005). On 1 January 2015 it was replaced by the Metropolitan City of Bari. Lis ...

. In early October 1485, his father despatched him on a mission to the pope. He arrived in Rome in the midst of a serious epidemic and soon died of

fever Fever or pyrexia in humans is a symptom of an anti-infection defense mechanism that appears with Human body temperature, body temperature exceeding the normal range caused by an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, s ...

on October 17, 1485. He is buried in

Santa Sabina The Basilica of Saint Sabina (, ) is a historic church on the Aventine Hill in Rome, Italy. It is a titular minor basilica and mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Preachers, better known as the Dominicans. Santa Sabina is the oldest ex ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aragona, Giovanni d' 1456 births 1485 deaths 15th-century Italian cardinals Clergy from Naples Sons of kings