Giovanni Antonio Orsini del Balzo, known as Giannantonio, was born in Lecce on 9 September 1401, eldest son of Raimondello, Prince of Taranto, Soleto and Galatina and Maria d’Enghien, Countess of Lecce. Upon the death of his father, she did not immediately inherit his titles since his mother was involved in the defense of Taranto against the King of Naples Ladislaus of Anjou-Durazzo, a dispute which ended with the wedding between the two contenders. The marriage was not particularly happy for the Apulian heroine and for her children, born from her previous marriage with Raimondello, forced to live in Naples in a sort of golden prison. Upon Ladislao’s death without heirs, which occurred in 1414, her sister Giovanna II succeeded her on the throne and initially prohibited her sister-in-law and her children from regaining possession of their Apulian fiefdoms, keeping them under her control. However, the sovereign’s fluctuating and contradictory policy allowed Maria to regain possession of the County of Lecce in 1415. Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo managed to regain the Principality of Taranto a few years later: on 4 May 1421. In the meantime he had contracted marriage in 1417 with a niece of Pope Martin V, Anna Colonna, with whom he had no children, but on the other hand he had several natural daughters.
Meanwhile, Joanna II, having no direct heirs, perhaps driven by rivalries between the factions of her advisors, initially appointed Alfonso V of Aragon, heir to the throne of Sicily, as her successor, then changed in favor of Louis III of Anjou, and then rename Alfonso. These changes determined a series of internal conflicts, which Giovanni Antonio initially did not want to join, waiting to identify the potential winner of the dynastic dispute. The Prince of Taranto, in fact, not content with being the most powerful feudal lord of the kingdom, aimed at controlling the whole of Puglia and in particular Bari. However, when he was sure of the party to choose, he sided with Alfonso. The favorable opportunity presented itself in 1431 after the death of Ruggero Sanseverino, a family enemy of the Orsini Del Balzo, and the succession of his son Antonio. Giovanni Antonio, in fact, militarily attacked his rivals, taking possession of their fiefdoms. After some attempts at conciliation by Joanna II, which ended in as many failures due to the obstinacy of the Prince of Taranto, who was declared a rebel, the word passed to arms.
The offensive was launched in the summer of 1434 by Captain Jacopo Caldora, who was soon joined by Louis III of Anjou, returning from France who, at the head of 2,000 knights and a disproportionate number of infantry, invaded Puglia. from the north. In the meantime, Alfonso of Aragon, sailing from Sicily towards Catalonia, suspends the journey to rescue his ally, sending 2,000 horses and a thousand infantry, and orders the movement of Captain Nicolò Fortebraccio’s forces, which were stationed at the gates of Rome , in the direction of Taranto. However, this action will prove useless, due to the looting and devastation perpetrated by the soldiers. In the meantime, Giovanni Antonio tries to gather around him all the barons hostile to the sovereign, including his cousins Guglielmo and Francesco Del Balzo. These alliances, however, did not prevent the Caldora armies from spreading into the province of Capitanata, favored by the defensive tactics of Giovanni Antonio, who preferred to retreat to Taranto rather than move against the enemy, to face him on the ground. His brother Gabriele saves him and, having closed himself in Ascoli Satriano, together with the Lombard captain Rufino Gallofo, slows down the advance of the royal forces, until the betrayal of the captain himself allows the enemy to take over the square. At this point the royal armies are divided into two columns: the first, under the orders of Caldora, takes Andria, Bitonto, Ruvo and Corato in rapid succession, while the second, commanded by Louis III, conquers Laterza. Having reached the walls of Altamura, Caldora attempted to take it with a grueling siege which had no effect, so it diverted to Castellaneta which fell after a long series of assaults. The dominions of Giovanni Antonio, barricaded with his family members in Taranto, were now reduced to the cities of Taranto, Lecce, Gallipoli, Ugento, Altamura, Minervino, Oria, Brindisi, Gravina, Cirignano and Canosa.
From Laterza and Castellaneta the two columns move towards Taranto, however the powerful fortifications of the city convince Caldora and Louis of Anjou to head towards Lecce, the second city of Giovanni Antonio’s dominions, less defended but which would still have dealt a severe blow to the prince rebel. Having arrived near the city, the royal forces, 30 thousand strong, laid siege to it, establishing their headquarters near the abbey of San Nicolò and Cataldo. The siege lasted for 11 days then, unexpectedly, the besiegers retreated due to a serious illness that struck Louis III, leading to his death on 15 November. Caldora, left alone, falls back on Bari and retreats, disinterested in the dispute and leaving the field open to the Prince of Taranto and Count of Lecce.
On 2 February 1435 Joanna II, the last Angevin sovereign, died, leaving the kingdom in chaos and anarchy, while with the accession to the throne of Alfonso of Aragon, Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, his brother Gabriele, his mother Maria d’ Enghien and his cousin Jacopo Del Balzo saw their fiefdoms reconfirmed, in addition to the titles of Duke of Bari and Grand Constable of the Kingdom that the new sovereign bestowed on the Prince of Taranto.
Having retired to Taranto, in 1459 Orsini del Balzo placed himself at the head of a rebellion of barons hostile to the new king Ferrante of Aragon, son of Alfonso, who moreover was his nephew-in-law having married his niece, in favor of Giovanni d’ Anjou-Valois, son of Rene. However, after some defeats he reconciled with the sovereign, but the latter had him strangled by a certain Paolo Tricarico in the castle of Altamura on 15 November 1463. His dominions thus passed to the Royal State Property.
Cosimo Enrico Marseglia
Born in Lecce, the city where he lives. He attended regular courses at the Italian Army Military Academy in Modena and at the TRAMAT Weapon Application School at the Cecchignola military citadel in Rome, and served as an Army officer at the 3rd Maneuver Logistics Battalion in Milan, the Military District of Lecce and the Logistics Battalion of the Pinerolo Brigade in Bari. After eight years in effective permanent service, he left his military career, dedicating himself to jazz music and theatre. He currently collaborates with the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Salento, as an expert in Military History, and since 2009 he has been the official commissioner of the Military Corps of the Italian Red Cross. He writes for L’Autiere, official organ of the ANAI (National Association of Italian Drivers), Sallentina Tellus (Magazine of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre), for L’Idomeneo (Magazine of the Association of Homeland History) and for other newspapers . He has already published Les Enfants de la Patrie. The French Revolution and the First Empire lived on the battlefields (2007), The Military Scourge. The Art of War in Giovan Battista Martena, 17th century artilleryman (2009), Battles and events of arms in Puglia. The region as a theater of conflict from antiquity to the contemporary age (2011), Devoto ad Hippocrates. Rodolfo Foscarini CRI medical officer between research and the great war (2015), Marseglia. Story of a family through the centuries (2016), Contention for Naples. Puglia and the Kingdom of Naples in the wars between Spain and France between the 15th and 16th centuries (2024). for Edit Santoro, and Attacco a Maruggio. 13 June 1637. Chronicle of a day of Turkish piracy in the European political-social context (2010) for Apulus, the latter together with Dr. Tonino Filomena. He obtained a University Diploma in Strategic Sciences from the University of Modena and Reggio.
Sponsored Link
