 The church was founded by poet Jacopo Sannazaro, on land donated to him by King Frederick I of Aragon in 1497.In 1526, Sannazaro authored a poem in Latin hexameter titled "De partus Virginis" (Childbirth of the Virgin) that helped give the church its name.The church was completed shortly before the poet died in 1530, it was donated to the monks of Santa Maria dei Servi.