Lucrezia d'Alagno (c. 1430 – September 23, 1479) was a noblewoman with whom King Alphonso V of Naples had fallen in love. Lucrezia was daughter of Nicholas d'Alagno and Covella Toraldo. Her father, of

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

tan origin, was lord of

Torre Annunziata Torre Annunziata (; ) is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is located on the Gulf of Naples, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. History The city was destroyed in the Vesuvius eruption of 7 ...

. Alfonso gave Lucrezia and her family lands, titles, and wealth. In 1461, Lucrezia acquired, for example, the Castello del Caiazzo for fifteen thousand ducats through the intercession of Alfonso. In 1442 she received the island of

Ischia Ischia ( , , ) is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Although inhabited since the Bronze Age, as a Ancient G ...

. Lucrezia in turn entrusted the island's governance to her brother-in-law, Giovanni Torella. The king also asked for an

annulment Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning alm ...

to his marriage with

Maria of Castile Maria of Castile (14 September 1401 – 4 September 1458) was Queen of Aragon and Naples as the spouse of Alfonso V of Aragon. Maria acted twice as the regent of Aragon during the reign of her spouse, as he was absent during most of his reign; ...

, but Pope Callistus III refused it. Lucrezia nevertheless served as de facto queen at the Neapolitan court as well as an inspiring patron to the circle of scholars and poets who surrounded Alfonso, including Antonio Beccadelli and

Giovanni Pontano Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503), later known as Giovanni Gioviano (), was a humanist and poet from Cerreto di Spoleto, in central Italy. He was the leading figure of the Accademia Pontaniana after the death of Antonio Beccadelli in 1471, and the ...

. Hopes that Maria would die and make the marriage between Lucrezia and the king possible were dashed when Alfonso himself died in 1458. She died poor and nearly forgotten in 1479.

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Lucrezia d’Alagno

Lucrezia Alagno, Lucrezia d' 15th-century Italian women 1430s births 1479 deaths {{Italy-bio-stub