Ferdinando Sanseverino
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Ferdinando (Ferrante) Sanseverino, prince of Salerno (January 18, 1507 - 1572) was an Italian condottiero.
[edit] Biography
Born in Naples, he was the son of Roberto Sanseverino.
He fought for Emperor Charles V in Germany and France. He took part to Charles' incoronation in Bologna (1530), and was also present at the conquest of Tunis in 1535.
He was one of the imperial leaders in the fourth war against Francis I of France and fought at the battle of Ceresole (1544). Returning to Naples, he went to short terms with the Spanish viceroy Pedro de Toledo, due to his opposition to the institution of Holy Inquisition tribunals in the Kingdom of Naples. He therefore moved to France at the court of King Henry II, embracing the Huguenot creed. His Italian fiefs were given to the Gonzaga.
He organized a naval attack of French ships against Naples and Salerno, but it failed due to the intervention of the Turk fleet.
He was an a passionate supporter of contemporary theatre, and had one built within his palace in Naples.
Ferrante Sanseverino died in Avignon in 1568.
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