_. It was written by
Nicolas Leoniceno, and dedicated to the Count Francesco de la
Mirandola.

The kingdom of Naples, through the frequent uncertainty which attended
the succession to the throne, as well as the suzerainty assumed and
misused by the Popes, had been for centuries a standing cause of discord
in Italy. The dynasty which Charles now hoped to dispossess was Spanish.
After the death of Joanna II. in 1435, Alfonso, King of Aragon and
Sicily, who had no claim to the crown beyond what he derived through a
bastard branch of the old Norman dynasty, conquered Naples, expelled
Count Rene of Anjou, and established himself in this new kingdom, which
he preferred to those he had inherited by right. Alfonso, surnamed the
Magnanimous, was one of the most brilliant and romantic personages of
the fifteenth century. Historians are never weary of relating his
victories over Caldora and Francesco Sforza, the coup-de-main by which
he expelled his rival Rene, and the fascination which he exercised in
Milan, while a captive, over the jealous spirit of Filippo Maria
Visconti.[1] Scholars are no less profuse in their praises of his
virtues, the justice, humanity, religion, generosity, and culture which
rendered him pre-eminent among the princes of that splendid period.[2]
His love of learning was a passion. Whether at home in the retirement of
his palace, or in his tent during war, he was always attended by
students, who read aloud and commented on Livy, Seneca, or the Bible. No
prince was more profuse in his presents to learned men. Bartolommeo
Fazio received 500 ducats a year for the composition of his histories,
and when, at their conclusion, the scholar asked for a further gift of
200 or 300 florins, the prince bestowed upon him 1,500. The year he
died, Alfonso distributed 20,000 ducats to men of letters alone. This
immoderate liberality is the only vice of which he is accused. It bore
its usual fruits in the disorganization of finance.

[1] Mach. _Ist. Fior._ lib. v. cap. 5. Corio, pp. 332, 333, may
be consulted upon the difficulties which Alfonso overcame at
the commencement of his conquest. Defeated by the Genoese near
the Isle of Ponza, and carried a prisoner to Milan, he
succeeded in proving to Filippo Visconti that it was more to
his interest to have him king of Naples than to keep the French
there. Upon, this the Duke of Milan restored him with honor to
his throne, and confirmed