La dote di Beatrice d’Aragona. Nuove fonti per la storia delle relazioni di Mattia Corvino con Napoli (1474–1476)

Abstract

The aim of the present paper is to reconstruct the history of Hungarian–Napolitan relations in the period (1474–1476) preceding the marriage (1476) between Matthias Corvinus (1443–1490) and Beatrice of Naples (1457–1508), and the negotiations leading to the marriage contract and the dowry agreement, on the basis of newly discovered sources in Spanish archives. One set of sources is preserved in the so-called mixed Valencian origin (Varios de Valencia) documents in the “Órdenes Militares” section of the Archivo Histórico Nacional de Madrid, and the other set of documents is in the series of Patronato Real of the Archivo General de Simancas. These sources were previously published in two issues of Történelmi Szemle (review of the Institute of History of the Research Centre for the Humanities: ‘Unpublished Charters from the Legacy of Beatrice of Naplesʼ, Történelmi Szemle 59, 2017: 491–523, and ‘The Dowry of Queen Beatrix of Aragon: New Sources about the Neapolitan Connections of King Matthias Corvinus (1474–1476)ʼ, Történelmi Szemle 63, 2021: 605–630). The newly discovered sources allow us to clarify the chronology and composition of the Neapolitan envoys’ visits between 1474 and 1476, in other words, to reconstruct in detail the history of the negotiations that led to the alliance between King Matthias Corvin and Ferdinand I of Naples and the dynastic relationship.