ABSTRACT
It must have been a bittersweet satisfaction when, on February 21, 1481, Ferrante’s son Alfonso of Calabria rewarded Jacopo Sannazaro with a generous recompense for his services at court, including the composition of a farsa.1 And although Alfonso’s chronicler Joampiero Leostello (?–1493) did not forget to mention how Sannazaro’s skills as a poet, actor and expert of antiquities were much appreciated at the prince’s residence in Castel Capuano, it is hard to believe that these acknowledgments were completely satisfactory for the member of a once prominent aristocratic family of Lombard descent solidly installed in the Neapolitan nobiltà di seggio.2 King Ferrante, as discussed in the previous chapter, had indeed used his court and intermarriage as methods for assimilating the Neapolitan nobility. In doing so, however, the king was faced with the difficult task of coming to terms with ancient animosities, resentments and disappointments; the result of almost two centuries of dynastic conflicts that deeply affected the fortunes of the kingdom’s aristocracy, and of Sannazaro’s family in particular. A sense of nostalgia for the royal predecessors from the Anjou and Durazzo families, along with a widespread attachment to old privileges gained or lost during their dominations, encouraged many Neapolitan citizens to express at least a sense of detachment from Ferrante and his administrative staff, often perceived as a power elite largely composed of nouveaux riches and foreigners.3
