Alphonso, king of Arragon, the implacable enemy of René of Anjou, who
was a kind of titular king of Naples, laid siege to the capital of that
country. This René is a character somewhat associated with our national
historical recollections, being the father of Margaret of Anjou, one
of the most remarkable of our queens. Alphonso was pressing the siege
warmly, when a mason, named Anello, informed him that he was acquainted
with an aqueduct by which it would be possible to penetrate to a house
close to the gate of Capua; and if a number of soldiers and officers
were introduced into that house, they could easily render themselves
masters of that gate. The king determined to make the attempt, and
appointed two companies of infantry for the service. Anello, stimulated
by the hope of a great reward, placed himself at their head and
conducted them to the _regard_ (opening) of the aqueduct, more than
a mile from the city. They proceeded in single files, with large
lanterns, and armed with cross-bows and partizans. Whilst Alphonso
drew nearer to the walls to watch the event of this expedition, Anello
and his troop followed the aqueduct till it brought them to the house
of a tailor, near the gate of St. Sophia, where they issued by means
of a dry well, to the amount of forty. Not daring to force the guard,
they were compelled to terrify the wife and daughter of the owner of
the house, in order to keep them quiet. Whilst they were so engaged,
the tailor came home, and, surprised at seeing his house filled with
soldiers, he turned sharply round and ran out, exclaiming, “The enemies
are in the city!” The forty adventurers then, judging they could no
longer hesitate, attacked the guard of the gate of St. Sophia; but
they met with such resistance, that René had time to come up, when
he killed part of them and forced the rest to retreat. Alphonso, not
seeing the signal agreed upon, imagined that the enterprise had failed,
and was returning to his camp, when he heard the noise of a conflict
carried on in the city, and retraced his steps towards the walls.
René had reinforced the guard and placed the gate of St. Sophia in
safety; but three hundred Genoese charged with the defence of that of
St. Januarius, abandoned their post the moment they heard the enemy was
in the city. A gentleman named Marino Spezzicaso, a partisan of the
house of Arragon, threw down several cords from the walls, by means of
which, Pierre de Cardonna, general of the army of Alphonso, climbed up
the walls, and was soon followed by a great number of his bravest men.
Whilst he was traversing the streets, shouting the war-cry of Arragon,
he met an officer named Brancazzo, going on horseback to join King
René. He stopped him, made him prisoner, took from him his horse, and
mounting it, led on a party of Arragonese to attack René. That prince,
on beholding him, believed that the enemy really had possession of
the city, and, listening to nothing but the dictates of his courage,
he attacked the advancing troop and put them to flight. But they soon
rallied and returned to the charge. René, obliged to give way to
numbers, opened with his sword a passage for himself to the New Castle.
So the king of Arragon made himself master of Naples by means of an
aqueduct, as Belisarius had done when he took it from the Goths, ten
centuries before. René, being without hope or resources, embarked for
Provence, whilst Alphonso entered Naples in triumph, in imitation of
the ancient Romans--in a chariot drawn by four white horses. All paid
homage to his good fortune and his valour, and the kingdom of Naples
was reunited to that of Sicily, from which it had been separated a
hundred and sixty years.