Naples Divided: France and Spain Sign Treaty of Granada

Louis XII of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon signed the Treaty of Granada on November 11, 1500, agreeing to divide the Kingdom of Naples between themselves and jointly overthrow its ruling Aragonese dynasty. The treaty was negotiated in secret, without the knowledge of King Frederick IV of Naples, who had considered both France and Aragon his allies. The agreement assigned the northern portion of the kingdom, including Naples itself, to France, while the southern provinces of Apulia and Calabria went to Aragon. French and Spanish forces invaded in 1501, and Frederick, caught between two armies and abandoned by potential supporters, surrendered and was exiled to France. The conquest was swift but the alliance collapsed almost immediately. The treaty had drawn the boundary between the French and Aragonese zones vaguely, and disputes over tax revenues from contested border provinces erupted within months of the invasion. By 1502, French and Spanish troops were fighting each other across southern Italy. The Spanish general Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, known as the Great Captain, defeated French forces decisively at the battles of Cerignola and Garigliano in 1503, expelling France from southern Italy entirely and securing the Kingdom of Naples for the Spanish crown. Spain would hold Naples for the next two centuries. The Treaty of Granada proved that dividing conquered territory between rival powers without precise terms and enforcement mechanisms breeds conflict rather than stability, a lesson that would be repeated in colonial partitions for centuries to come.