Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan

A medal depicting Isabella

Isabella of Aragon (Italian: Isabella d'Aragona; 2 October 1470 – February 11, 1524), also known as Isabella of Naples, was the daughter of King Alfonso II of Naples and Ippolita Maria Sforza. From 1489 to 1494, she was the Duchess consort of Milan, and from 1499 to 1524 the suo jure Duchess of Bari and Princess of Rossano. After her brother Ferdinand II's death, she was the heir of the Brienne claim to the title King of Jerusalem.

She married her first cousin, Gian Galeazzo Sforza, who at the time was the Duke of Milan. However, his uncle Ludovico Sforza was the de facto ruler.

With Gian Galeazzo Sforza she had one son and two daughters:

• Francesco, who was taken to France by the French King Louis XII in 1499,
• Bona, who married King Sigismund I of Poland,
• Ippolita Maria.

Isabella also outlived Francesco, who was killed in 1512 by falling from his horse. Of her three children, only Bona survived her.

In 2012, anthropologists excavated the body of Isabella of Aragon, and concluded that she had syphilis. Her teeth had a high level of mercury, which was used (ineffectively) to treat syphilis, and had given a black color to the tooth enamel, most of which had been removed by abrading. They concluded that she was poisoned by her own medicine. ^[1][2]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Isabella of Aragon, Duchess of Milan

16. Ferdinand I of Aragon               8. Alfonso V of Aragon                       17. Eleanor of Alburquerque               4. Ferdinand I of Naples                             9. Giraldona Carlino                       2. Alfonso II of Naples                                   10. Tristan de Clermont, Prince of Taranto                       5. Isabella of Clermont                             22. Raimondo del Balzo Orsini, Prince of Taranto               11. Caterina del Balzo Orsini                       23. Mary of Enghien, Countess of Lecce               1. Isabella of Aragon                                         24. Giovanni Sforza               12. Muzio Sforza                       25. Elisa Petraccini               6. Francesco I Sforza, Duke of Milan                             13. Lucia da Torsano                       3. Ippolita Maria Sforza                                   28. Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan               14. Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan                       29. Caterina Visconti               7. Bianca Maria Visconti                             30. Ambrogio del Maino               15. Agnese del Maino

References

1. Ann Gibbons (13 December 2013). "The Thousand-Year Graveyard". Science 342 (6164): 1306–1310. doi:10.1126/science.342.6164.1306.
2. Fornaciari G. (2006). "The Aragonese mummies of the Basilica of Saint Domenico Maggiore in Naples". Med Secoli 18 (3): 843–64. PMID 18175625.

External links

• Bust of Isabella di Aragona by Francesco Laurana at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna