{{Short description|Italian polity}} {{Multiple issues|{{Refimprove| date = June 2017}} {{One source|date=November 2019}}}} {{coord missing|Italy}} [[File:Palazzo Ducale Cantelmo di Atina.JPG|thumb|[[Ducal Palace of Atina|Ducal palace of the Cantelmo]] in [[Atina, Lazio|Atina]], showing fortifications]] [[File:Palazzo Ducale di Atina.JPG|thumb|Front façade of the ducal palace in Atina]]

The '''Duchy of Alvito''' was a fiefdom of the [[Kingdom of Naples]], in [[southern Italy]].

==Rule of the Cantelmo== The Cantelmo family, of French origins, arrived in Italy in the 13th century around the time the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]] conquered Naples (1266). From the Angevins, the Cantelmo received several castles and fiefs around [[Alvito, Lazio|Alvito]] in what is now the [[Comino Valley|Valcomino]], dominated by the numerous fiefs of the powerful regional monasteries (such as [[Monte Cassino]] and [[Abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno|San Vincenzo al Volturno]]), as well as by the rival family of the Counts of Aquino. Rostaino and his successors tried unsuccessfully to extend their control over the whole region in the 14th century. They sided with Queen [[Joan II of Naples]] but were defeated by the troops of [[Charles III of Naples|Charles of Durazzo]]. In a document of 1384, Giacomo IV is mentioned as "lord of the lands of Alvito".

During the turmoil caused by the succession of [[Ladislaus of Naples]], the Cantelmo sided with his rival, [[Louis II of Anjou]]. [[Rostainuccio Cantelmo|Rostainuccio]] ("little Rostaino") was defeated and captured by Jacopo Orsini at [[Pereto]] in Abruzzo in 1369, and Alvito was granted by Ladislaus to [[Andrea Tomacelli]], brother of the [[Duchy of Sora|Count of Sora]] and of [[Pope Boniface IX]]. Alvito was soon returned to the Cantelmo, and [[Giacomo V Cantelmo|Giacomo V]], Rostainuccio's son, was the first ruler of Alvito to bear the title of [[count]]. He likely obtained the title as a [[dowry]] from his wife, Elisabetta d'Aquino. After Giacomo's death the county was expanded by his son [[Antonio Cantelmo|Antonio]], who acquired [[Gallinaro]], [[Fontechiari]], [[Arce, Italy|Arce]], [[Popoli]] (this from his brother Francesco, who had died heirless), and other lands in the Abruzzo and Valcomino. Antonio's rule was troubled by the turmoil and succession crises of the Kingdom of Naples in the early 15th century, and he lost his lands repeatedly. His son [[Nicolò Cantelmo|Nicolò]] was able to establish his rule more firmly by backing the successful [[Alfonso V of Aragon]] in his conquests of 1443. Alfonso created Nicolò [[Duke of Sora]], and in this capacity he stripped his brother Onofrio of the County of Popoli in Abruzzo. Nicolò also obtained the position of royal counselor in 1452 and, just before his death, his title was raised to Duke of Alvito.

Nicolò's son [[Piergiampaolo Cantelmo|Piergiampaolo]] inherited Sora and Alvito, while another son, [[Piergiovanni Cantelmo|Piergiovanni]], inherited Popoli. Piergiampaolo soon annexed his brother's Abruzzese lands and, after siding against the new king, [[Ferdinand I of Naples|Ferdinand I]], in the revolt of 1460, captured the territories of Montecassino, Arce, and the fiefs of the [[Colonna family|Colonna]] in Abruzzo. He also took part in the sieges of [[Sulmona]] and [[L'Aquila]], but was in turn besieged and defeated by [[Napoleone Orsini (condottiero)|Napoleone Orsini]] at Sora. As a result, he was forced to cede Sora, [[Arpino]], [[Casalvieri]], [[Isola del Liri]], and [[Fontana Liri]] to the [[Papal States]] in 1463. His duchy was downgraded to a county, the title being assigned to Piergiovanni. At the same time, Alvito and Sora were given the right to mint ''[[cavallo (coin)|cavalli]]'' (a type of coin). Piergiampaolo organized a second plot against Ferdinand, but was again defeated and had to abandon hopes in returning to Alvito. Exiled to France, he returned with the invading army of [[Charles VIII of France]] during the [[First Italian War|War of 1494–95]]. With his brother, Sigismondo II of Sora, he re-conquered most of his lands. He was able to resist the Neapolitans after the French retreat, but in 1496 Sora fell to [[Frederick I of Naples]], followed in 1496 by Alvito, captured by general [[Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba|Gonzalo de Córdoba]]. This put an end to the Cantelmo rule.

==Royal demesne== [[File:Portrait de Jeanne d'Aragon, by Raffaello Sanzio, from C2RMF retouched.jpg|thumb|Isabella de Requesens, regent of Alvito for her son Ferrante. Portrait by [[Raphael]] and [[Giulio Romano]], c. 1518, now in the [[Louvre]].]] The Valcomino became a [[royal demesne]]. In 1497 [[Gioffre Borgia]], son of [[Pope Alexander VI]], was invested with the title Count of Alvito. During the [[Italian War of 1499–1504|War of 1499–1504]], when [[Louis XII of France]] tried to conquer Naples, Gioffre sided with the French, but captured by [[Prospero Colonna]] he sided with the [[Catholic Monarchs|Spanish]], which caused a rebellion in Alvito. He sent the ''[[condottiero]]'' [[Fabrizio Colonna]] to stabilise his lands, to which he finally returned in 1504. After the death of his wife, [[Sancha of Aragon, Princess of Squillace|Sancha of Aragon]], he lost the rights to the county, which were given in 1507 to the Spanish general [[Pietro Navarro]].

In 1515, after Pietro had embraced the French cause, Alvito was conferred on the viceroy [[Ramón de Cardona|Ramón (Raimondo) de Cardona]], who did not live there but rather administered it through a governor. The county was inherited by Ramón's son Folch (or Ferrante), under the regency of his mother, [[Isabella de Requesens]]. She was able to exploit the ongoing [[Italian Wars|Franco-Spanish wars]] to acquire the nearby [[Duchy of Somma]]. Ferrante was succeeded in 1571 by his sons Loise (1572–74) and Antonio (1574–92), who let Alvito decline under ruthless local governors. Despite the acquisition of the [[Duchy of Sessa]], in 1592, the county was ceded to Matteo di Caua for 100,000 [[ducat (coin)|ducats]]. It was sold a second time to the [[Milan]]ese nobleman Matteo Taverna, who acquired it with money from [[Tolomeo II Gallio]], nephew and namesake of the [[Tolomeo Gallio|Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio]]. In the end Tolomeo obtained full rule in Alvito, receiving the title of Duke in 1606 from [[Philip III of Spain]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOkOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95|title=The lake of Como|last=Lund|first=T. W. M.|date=1910|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=9785876966353|pages=95|language=en}}</ref>

The [[Gallio family]] held the duchy until 1806, when feudalism was suppressed in the Kingdom of Naples.

==See also== *[[Duchy of Sora]]

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvito, Duchy of}} [[Category:Italian states]] [[Category:States and territories established in 1454]] [[Category:History of Lazio]] [[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1806]] [[Category:Dukedoms of Italy]] [[Category:History of the Kingdom of Naples]]