Alexander Agricola and Ferrante I of Naples

Abstract

Five letters written by Ferrante I, king of Naples, and one written by Piero de' Medici indicate that the composer Alexander Agricola 1) was definitely in the employ of Charles VIII before coming to Florence in Sept. 1491; 2) left Florence at the end of Apr. 1492; 3) visited Naples in May-June 1492; and 4) returned to France after his Florentine-Neapolitan sojourn, staying at the French court at least until early Sept. 1493. In addition, Ferrante I desired to hire Agricola for the Neapolitan court at a salary of 300 ducats per annum. Ferrante, however, retracted the offer, probably because of the precarious political situation that Naples faced. Finally, it may be that Agricola was the Alessandro 'Alemanno' who was present at the Aragonese court of Naples in 1456, this being an identification that would necessitate changing the generally accepted birth date of Agricola from 1446 to circa 1440 or earlier. In all, the six letters serve to fill in precisely 17 months in Agricola's biography, May 1492 to Sept. 1493. (Author)