Naples

Primary culture

Neapolitan (Latin)

Capital province

Napoli (121)

Government

Feudal Monarchy

State religion

Catholic

Technology group

Western

Neapolitan ideas

Traditions:

+10% Trade efficiency

+10% Institution spread

Consolidate the Royal Domain

+10% Goods produced modifier

Academia Pontaniana

−5% Technology cost

Encourage City Living

−10% Development cost

Crush the Power of the Barons

+10% Morale of armies

Expand the Arsenale

−10% Ship cost

City of Artists

+1 Yearly prestige

The Lazzaroni and the Monarchy

+1 Yearly legitimacy

Ambition:

+20% National manpower modifier

For the area, see Naples (area).

After the Sicilian Rebellion of 1282, the Neapolitan King Charles of Anjou lost control of the island to Peter III of Aragon. With only the territories in mainland Italy to his name, the Kingdom of

Sicily became forfeit and its King adopted the title: the Kingdom of Naples.

When Queen Joan I died childless, the Neapolitan Kingdom fell into a constant state of civil war; with cousins of all kinds of claims and titles to their name fighting for control of the Kingdom. Alfonso V of Aragon settled this dispute with blood, driving out all other pretenders and uniting the Crown of Aragon with the Kingdom of Naples.

In 1444, the Kingdom of Naples is a captive in a very delicate situation. They remain under union with the Crown of Aragon, but the Aragonese claim to the throne is weak and the question of who truly belongs on the throne is something of an ongoing dispute. With blood ties to the Kingdom of France, the Neapolitan Succession Crisis has become a matter of great tension between Aragon and France.

To the north,

the Papal State controls Rome and much of Central Italy. Meanwhile, the Italian Peninsula is shattered into small realms such as

Florence and city-states like

Lucca and

Bologna. To the south,

Tunis remains a large threat to the economic stability of the Kingdom, as the marauding pirates often raid the coastline of Naples and disrupt Italian maritime trade. However, the question still remains: how will Naples break free from the iron grasp of Aragonese rule and reunite the Two Sicilies.

Naples is the one of the strongest powers in Italy when the game begins, occupying the entirety of mainland Italy south of the Papal State. They begin the game in 1444 in a personal union under Aragon.

The Kingdom of Naples, officially named the Kingdom of Sicily, was founded by Norman conquerors in the 12th century. The island of Sicily was conquered by Aragon in 1284 (ruled as a separate kingdom known as Trinacria), and the peninsular kingdom in 1442. However, the union ended in 1458 as Naples was given to the king's younger brother in an agreement with the pope, with Sicily proper remaining under Aragonese control, as it is in the game. The French House of Anjou provoked the Italian Wars of the late 15th and early 16th centuries by pressing a historic claim to the crown of Naples, ultimately leading to the peninsula coming under the domination of the Spanish Habsburgs. It became an Austrian possession as a result of the War of the Spanish Succession, but was later reconquered by the Spanish, under whose control it remained until it returned independent in 1734. After the chaos of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1816, there was the formal union of the Kingdom of Naples with the Kingdom of Sicily into the new Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The Kingdom ended in the 19th century, with the unification of Italy.

Events[edit]

Main article: Neapolitan events

Decisions[edit]

Naples can form the nation of Italy.

Form Italian Nation

As the heart of the Renaissance, our nation is blossoming culturally. We have just entered the beginning of what looks like a prolonged artistic rebellion, especially in the field of architecture and literature. The cultural evolution is not aiding our country in maintaining peace within our borders however. Our country is continuously stricken by foreign states seeking power and territorial gain.


Potential requirements Italy does not exist. The country: is not the Holy Roman Empire or the Papal State has a primary culture in the Latin culture group. is not a colonial nation. has not yet enacted this decision. If the country is AI-controlled then it: can not be a former colonial nation. must own at least 15 cities. can not be a custom nation.	Allow The country: has an administrative technology of at least level 10. is not a subject nation other than a tributary state. is not at war. owns its core provinces: Genoa (101), Milan (104), Firenze (116), Roma (118), owns at least 20 core provinces in Italy (region)

Effects The country: becomes Italy. moves its capital to Roma (118). gets a permanent claim on every province of Italy (region) that it does not own. gains 25 prestige. If the country: is a member of the Holy Roman Empire but not the emperor or an elector then all its provinces are removed from the HRE. the emperor gets the event ‘Italy breaks out of the Empire’. the emperor gets the opinion modifier “Left the Holy Roman Empire” towards Italy, worth −150 with a yearly decay of 1. is a duchy then Italy becomes a kingdom. does not have custom ideas then Italy gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’.

Strategy[edit]

Naples will probably get his independence when Aragon gets the event to choose to respect his late king's Will to grant Naples independence as his second son , Ferrando as king , or keep it under Aragonese rule against the late king's Will. If not Naples can easily get supported his independence by the great powers of Europe , such as France or Austria.

After independence, it's up to the player to choose where to expand. There are many options available due to Naples' size. If Naples joins the HRE, attempting to become Emperor is an option, although this has to be done before the shadow kingdom event to prevent the triggered modifier for staying in the empire. Another option is colonizing the new world. One could easily snap up a ton of North America as Naples but funneling trade to Genoa requires power in the Bordeaux node. A better expansion option may be Africa, trade from West Africa may be pulled across the Sahara to Tunis and on to Genoa. This path of expansion requires Exploration ideas, which can be dropped after bridging the provinces south of Fezzan. Another path could be to expand into Italy and reap the riches of others, in this case claiming across sea zones to attack Siena, Genoa or Ferrara could be a good idea if The Papal State has good allies. A French alliance is quite common with Naples so this could assist in Neapolitan endeavors. Releasing nations to diplomatically vassalize to prevent high aggressive expansion (such as Modena and Parma, or even Avignon if the player is fast enough) might be a good idea. Naples may consider expanding eastward through Ragusa or Serbia into the Balkans and Hungary, outside of the HRE and lead the crusade against the Ottomans, it is recommended to only start to do this after forming Italy, as it will be difficult beforehand. Blocking off the Ottomans from their Balkan territories from the straits is an effective way to siege out quite a bit of their richer provinces, including their capital. Taking lands and releasing Byzantium is quite an effective way of gaining more cores. The Indian path is also easy to achieve provided Naples has swept through North Africa to the Mamluks faster than the Ottomans can get to them or Naples has already taking Suez from the Ottomans. On the other hand, if you want to form Italy your main problem will be defeating the Papal States. Break your alliance with Castile if necessary and ally the Pope's rivals ( France is best if they have rivalled the Pope which is common). Moving your capital across the Strait of Sicily to Palermo may be advisable in this scenario to prevent losing warscore from losing your capital. Another path could be to cross the Adriatic Sea to defeat and vassalise Serbia and Bosnia and then expand further into Hungary. If doing this be careful not to provoke the wrath of the Ottomans.