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Charles I of Sicily

 
Charles I of Sicily

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Charles I of Sicily



 
 
Charles I (21 March 1226 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily
List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily

The following is a list of monarchs of Sicily....
 by conquest from 1266, though he had received it as a papal
Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
 grant in 1262 and was expelled from the island in the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers

The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I of Naples, who had taken control of the island with Papacy support in 1266....
 of 1282. Thereafter, he continued to claim the island, though his power was restricted to the peninsular possessions of the kingdom, with his capital at Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
 (and for this he is usually titled King of Naples after 1282, as are his successors). Charles was the youngest son of Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII of France

Louis VIII the Lion reigned as list of French monarchs from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut....
 and Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile

Blanche of Castile , wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, kings of Castile, and of Leonora of Aquitaine....
, and hence younger brother of Louis IX of France
Louis IX of France

Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was List of French monarchs from 1226 to his death. He was also Counts of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet and the son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile....
 and Alfonso II of Toulouse.






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Charles I (21 March 1226 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily
List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily

The following is a list of monarchs of Sicily....
 by conquest from 1266, though he had received it as a papal
Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
 grant in 1262 and was expelled from the island in the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers

The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I of Naples, who had taken control of the island with Papacy support in 1266....
 of 1282. Thereafter, he continued to claim the island, though his power was restricted to the peninsular possessions of the kingdom, with his capital at Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
 (and for this he is usually titled King of Naples after 1282, as are his successors). Charles was the youngest son of Louis VIII of France
Louis VIII of France

Louis VIII the Lion reigned as list of French monarchs from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut....
 and Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile

Blanche of Castile , wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, kings of Castile, and of Leonora of Aquitaine....
, and hence younger brother of Louis IX of France
Louis IX of France

Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was List of French monarchs from 1226 to his death. He was also Counts of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was a member of the House of Capet and the son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile....
 and Alfonso II of Toulouse. He conquered the Kingdom of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
 and began to acquire lands in the eastern Mediterranean. However, the War of the Sicilian Vespers
War of the Sicilian Vespers

The 'War of the Vespers' started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles I of Sicily in 1282 and finally ended with the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302....
 forced him to abandon his plans to reassemble the Latin Empire
Latin Empire

The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire after their sack of Constantinople in 1204 and ended in 1261....
.

By marriage to Beatrice
Beatrice of Provence

Beatrice of Provence was the first wife and Queen of Charles I of Sicily.The youngest daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy, Beatrice was married on January 31, 1246 to Charles I of Sicily, Count of Anjou and Maine, the youngest brother of King Louis IX of France....
, heiress of Raymond Berengar IV of Provence
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence

Ramon Berenguer IV , Count of Provence and Forcalquier, was the son of Alfonso II, Count of Provence and Garsenda of Sabran, heiress of Forcalquier....
, he was Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1246. In 1247, his brother Louis IX made him Count of Anjou
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou

The title Count of Anjou was first granted in the ninth century to Ingelger, a viscount who held land around Orl?ans and Angers. His descendants, who included some List of English monarchs, continued to hold these titles and property until the French monarchy gained control of the area....
 and Maine
List of Counts and Dukes of Maine

This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine , with their capital at Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the Crown lands of France....
, as appanages of the French crown. By conquest and self-proclamation, he became King of Albania
Kingdom of Albania

The Kingdom of Albania refers to the Regnum Albaniae, which was established by Charles I of Naples in the territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271....
 in 1272 and by purchase King of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christianity kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, Israel, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
 in 1277. By the testament of William II of Villehardouin
William II of Villehardouin

William II of Villehardouin, was the last Villehardouin Principality of Achaea and ruled the principality at the height of its power and influence....
, he inherited the Principality of Achaea
Principality of Achaea

The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade....
 in 1278.

Early life

Charles was born in 1226, shortly before the death of his father, King Louis VIII
Louis VIII of France

Louis VIII the Lion reigned as list of French monarchs from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II of France and Isabelle of Hainaut....
. Like his immediate older brother, Philippe Dagobert (who died in 1232 aged 10) he did not receive a county as appanage
Appanage

An apanage or appanage is the grant of an estate, titles, offices, or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign, who under the system of primogeniture would otherwise have no inheritance....
, as had his older brothers. Shortly after the death of Philippe Dagobert, his other brother, John Tristan, Count of Anjou and Maine, also died. Charles became the next in line to received the Counties, but was formally invested only in 1247. The affection of his mother Blanche seems largely to have been bestowed upon his brother Louis; and Louis tended to favour his other younger brothers, Robert of Artois and Alphonse of Toulouse
Alphonse of Toulouse

Alfonso or Alphonse was the Count of Poitou from 1225 and Counts of Toulouse from 1247.Alphonse was a son of Louis VIII of France, King of France and Blanche of Castile....
. The self-reliance this engendered in Charles may account for the drive and ambition he showed in his later life.

Marriage and children

Charles was wedded to Beatrice of Provence
Beatrice of Provence

Beatrice of Provence was the first wife and Queen of Charles I of Sicily.The youngest daughter of Raymond Berenguer IV of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy, Beatrice was married on January 31, 1246 to Charles I of Sicily, Count of Anjou and Maine, the youngest brother of King Louis IX of France....
 on 31 January 1246, in Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence

Aix or Aix-en-Provence , to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a communes of France in southern France, some north of Marseille....
. Beatrice was the youngest daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence

Ramon Berenguer IV , Count of Provence and Forcalquier, was the son of Alfonso II, Count of Provence and Garsenda of Sabran, heiress of Forcalquier....
 and Forcalquier, who had died on 19 August 1245 by his wife Beatrice of Savoy
Beatrice of Savoy

Beatrice of Savoy , was the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and Marguerite of Geneva. Beatrice married on 5 June 1219 Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence....
. As his elder three daughters had all married kings and received substantial dowries, Raymond settled his entire inheritance upon Beatrice, making Charles Count of Provence and Forcalquier. They had the following children:
  1. Louis (1248, Nicosia
    Nicosia

    Nicosia, known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is located at . Located on the River Pedieos and situated almost in the centre of the island, it is the seat of government as well as the main business centre....
    )
  2. Blanche (1250 – July 1269), married 1265 Count Robert III of Flanders
    Robert III of Flanders

    Robert III of Flanders , also called Robert of Bethune and nicknamed The Lion of Flanders was Count of Nevers 1273-1322 and Count of Flanders 1305-1322....
  3. Beatrice of Sicily
    Beatrice of Sicily

    Beatrice of Sicily was the Empress consort of Philip of Courtenay, titular Latin Empire of Constantinople....
     (1252–1275), married 15 October 1273 at Foggia
    Foggia

    Foggia is a city of Puglia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy"....
     to Philip of Courtenay
    Philip of Courtenay

    Philip I of Courtenay was titular Latin Empire 1273–1283. He was the son of Baldwin II of Constantinople and Marie of Brienne.In his youth, his father was forced to mortgage him to Republic of Venice merchants to raise money for the support of his empire, which was lost to the Empire of Nicaea in 1261....
    , titular Emperor of Constantinople
    Latin Empire

    The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire after their sack of Constantinople in 1204 and ended in 1261....
  4. Charles II of Naples
    Charles II of Naples

    Charles II, known as "the Lame" , was List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily, titular Kings of Jerusalem, and Prince of Salerno....
     (1254 – 1309)
  5. Philip of Sicily (1256 – 1 January 1277), titular King of Thessalonica
    Kingdom of Thessalonica

    The Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands....
     from 1274, married 28 May 1271 to Isabella of Villehardouin
    Isabella of Villehardouin

    Isabella of Villehardouin was the elder daughter of William II of Villehardouin, Principality of Achaea, and of his second wife Anna, the third daughter of Michael II Komnenos Doukas, the despot of Despotate of Epirus....
  6. Robert (1258–1265)
  7. Elizabeth of Sicily
    Elisabeth of Sicily (1261–1300)

    Elisabeth of Sicily was the youngest child of Charles I of Naples and his first wife Beatrice of Provence. Her maternal grandparents were Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy....
     (1261 – c. 1300), married bef. September 1272 to Ladislas IV of Hungary


After the death of Beatrice, he married Margaret of Burgundy
Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of Sicily

Margaret of Burgundy , was the second wife of Charles I of Sicily, and by marriage Queen consort of Sicily.The second daughter of Eudes of Burgundy and Maud of Dampierre, Marguerite was Countess of Tonnerre by inheritance from 1262 until her death....
 in 1268. Their only daughter, Margaret, died in infancy.

Accession in Provence

Upon his accession as Count of Provence and Forcalquier in 1246, Charles rapidly found himself in difficulties. His sisters-in-law felt cheated by their father's will, and his mother-in-law the Dowager Countess Beatrice of Savoy claimed the entire County of Forcalquier and the usufruct of Provence as her jointure
Jointure

Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the death of her husband for the life of the wife at least, if she herself be not the cause o determina...
. Furthermore, while Provence was technically a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy
King of Burgundy

The following is a list of the Kings of Kingdom of Burgundy....
 and hence of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early modern Europe under a Holy Roman Emperor....
, in practice it was free of central authority. The recent counts had governed with a light hand, and the nobilities and cities (three of which, Marseille
Marseille

"Marseille" is the second-largest city of France and forms the third-largest aire urbaine, after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population recorded to be 1,516,340 at the 1999 census and estimated to be 1,605,000 in 2007....
, Arles
Arles

Arles is a city in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rh?ne Departments of France, of which it is a Subprefectures in France, in the former Provinces of France of Provence....
, and Avignon
Avignon

Avignon is a Communes of France in the Vaucluse Departments of France in southeastern France with an estimated mid-2004 population of 89,300 in the city itself and a population of 290,466 in the aire urbaine at the 1999 census....
 were Imperial cities technically separate from the county) had enjoyed great liberties. Charles, in contrast, was disposed towards a rigid administration; he ordered inquests in 1252 and again in 1278 to ascertain his rights Charles broke the traditional powers of the great towns (Nice, Grasse, Marseille, Arles, Avignon) and aroused considerable hostility by his punctilious insistence on enjoying his full rights and fees. In 1247, while Charles had gone to France to receive the Counties of Anjou and Maine, the local nobility (represented by Barral of Baux
Barral of Baux

Barral of Baux vas Viscount of Marseilles and Lords of Baux. He was the son of Hugh III of Baux, Viscount of Marseilles, and Barrale.Barral came to oppose the Albigensian Crusade, and invaded the Comtat Venaissin in 1234 in support of Raymond VII of Toulouse....
 and Boniface of Castellane) joined with Beatrice and the three Imperial cities to form a defensive league against him. Unfortunately for Charles, he had promised to join his brother on the Seventh Crusade
Seventh Crusade

The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 50,000 gold bezants was paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, were captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Al-Muazzam Turanshah supported by the Bahri dynasty Mamluks led by Faris ad-Din A...
. For the time being, Charles' only recourse was to compromise with Beatrice, allowing her to have Forcalquier and a third of the Provençal usufruct.

Rich Provence provided the funds that supported his wider career. His rights as landlord were on the whole of recent establishment, but his rights as sovereign entitled him to revenues on the gabelle
Gabelle

The gabelle was a very unpopular tax on salt in France before 1790. The term gabelle derives from the Latin term gabulum .In France, Gabelle was originally applied to taxes on all commodity, but was gradually limited to the tax on salt....
s
(mainly salt), from alberga (commutation of gîte
Gîte

A g?te, is a France holiday home that is available for rent. G?tes are usually fully-furnished and equipped for self-catering. Many owners choose to handle their own rentals and you can find these by searching online on the multitude of gite listing sites or by checking with the local tourist information office....
) and cavalcata (commutation of the duties of military service) and quista ("aids") (Baratier 1969). From the Church, unlike his brothers in the north, he received virtually nothing. Charles' agents were efficient, the towns were prosperous, the peasants were buying up the duties of corvée
Corvée

Corv?e is labour, often but not always unpaid, that persons in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform, unless commuted in some way, such as by a cash payment; sometimes this was an option of the payer, sometimes of the payee, and sometimes not an option....
 and establishing self-governing consulats in the villages: Provence flourished.

Seventh Crusade and return

Charles sailed with the rest of the Crusaders from Aigues-Mortes
Aigues-Mortes

Aigues-Mortes is a commune in France in the Gard Departments of France in southern France.The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved....
 in 1248, and fought gallantly at Damietta
Damietta

Damietta, Damiata, or Domyat is a harbor and the capital of the governorate of Domyat Governorate, Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo....
 and during the fighting around Mansourah. However, his piety does not seem to have matched that of his brother (Jean de Joinville
Jean de Joinville

Jean de Joinville was one of the great chroniclers of Middle Ages France.Son of Simon de Joinville and Beatrice d'Auxonne, he belonged to a great noble family from Champagne....
 relates a tale of Louis catching him gambling on the voyage from Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 to Acre) and he returned with his brother Alphonse in May 1250. During his absence, open rebellion had broken out in Provence. Charles moved with his characteristic energy to suppress it, and Arles, Avignon, and Barral of Baux had surrendered to him by June 1251. Marseille held out until July 1252, but then sued for peace. Charles imposed a lenient peace, but insisted on the recognition of his full panoply of comital rights, and acknowledgement of his suzerainity by Marseille.

Wider ambitions

In November 1252, the death of his mother Blanche of Castile
Blanche of Castile

Blanche of Castile , wife of Louis VIII of France. She was born in Palencia, Spain, the third daughter of Alfonso VIII of Castile, kings of Castile, and of Leonora of Aquitaine....
 caused him to go north to Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 and assume the joint regency of the kingdom with his brother Alphonse. While in Paris, he was approached by envoys from Pope Innocent IV
Pope Innocent IV

Pope Innocent IV, born Sinibaldo Fieschi, was pope from June 28, 1243, to December 7, 1254....
. Innocent was then seeking to detach the Kingdom of Sicily from the Holy Roman Empire (in the person of Conrad IV of Germany
Conrad IV of Germany

Conrad IV was Kingdom of Jerusalem , of King of Germany , and of King of Sicily ....
), and offered it to Charles, after his brother-in-law Richard, Earl of Cornwall had declined it. Alphonse, however, was cool to the idea; and King Louis forbade it outright. Balked, Charles took up the cause of Margaret II of Flanders against her son, John I, Count of Hainaut in the War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault
War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault

The War of the Succession of Flanders and Hainault was a series of feudal conflicts in the mid-thirteenth century between the children of Margaret II, Countess of Flanders....
. She granted him the County of Hainaut
County of Hainaut

The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of what is now the Belgium province of Hainaut and the southern part of the French d?partement Nord ....
 for his service. King Louis again disapproved, and on his return from Outremer
Outremer

Outremer, French language for "overseas", was the general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem....
 in 1254 he returned Hainaut to John. The disappointed Charles returned to Provence, which had become restive again. The mediation of King Louis led to a settlement with Beatrice of Savoy, who returned Forcalquier and relinquished her claims for a cash payment and a pension. Marseille had attempted to involve Pisa
Pisa

Pisa is a city in Tuscany, central Italy, on the right bank of the mouth of the Arno River on the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa....
 and Alfonso X of Castile
Alfonso X of Castile

Alfonso X was a Castilian monarch who ruled as the Kingdom of Castile, Kingdom of Le?n and Kingdom of Galicia from 1252 until his death. He also was elected List of German monarchs in 1257, though the Papacy prevented his confirmation....
 in the quarrel, but they proved unreliable as allies, and a coup by the supporters of Charles resulted in the surrender of the city's political powers. Charles spent the next several years quietly increasing his power over various lordships on the borders of Provence. A final rebellion occurred in 1262, when he was absent in France; Boniface of Castellane rebelled yet again, as did Marseille and Hugh of Baux. However, Barral of Baux now remained loyal to Charles, and Charles quickly returned to scatter the rebels. The mediation of James I of Aragon
James I of Aragon

File:Jaume I Palma.jpgJames I the Conqueror was the Kings of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276. His long reign saw the expansion of the Crown of Aragon to the south and into and across the Mediterranean as far as Naples: into Kingdom of Valencia to the south and the Balearic Islands, Sicily and the Kingd...
 brought about a settlement; while Marseille was forced to dismantle its fortifications and surrender its arms, it otherwise went unpunished. Surprisingly, this lenity worked to good effect; hereafter, the Provençals proved staunch supporters of Charles, providing money and troops for his further conquests. Many of them were to be rewarded with high posts in his new dominions.

With the usurpation of the Sicilian throne from Conradin
Conradin

Conrad , called the Younger or the Boy, but usually known by the diminutive Conradin , was the Duke of Swabia , Kingdom of Jerusalem , and Kingdom of Sicily ....
 by Manfred of Sicily
Manfred of Sicily

Manfred was the King of Kingdom of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, but his mother, Bianca Lancia , is reported by Matthew of Paris to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed....
 in 1258, the relationship between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
 had changed again. Instead of the boy Conradin, safely sequestered across the Alps
Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east; through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany; to France in the west....
, the Papacy now faced an able military leader in Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
. Accordingly, when negotiations broke down with Manfred in 1262, Pope Urban IV
Pope Urban IV

Pope Urban IV , born Jacques Pantal?on, was Pope, from 1261 to 1264. He was not a Cardinal , and there have been several Popes since him who have not been Cardinals, including Urban V and Urban VI....
 again took up the scheme of disseising the Hohenstaufen from the Kingdom, and offered the crown to Charles again. Manfred's own usurpation from Conradin told upon King Louis' scruples; this time, he was persuaded to admit the offer, and Charles ratified a treaty with the Pope in July 1263. The terms were heavily in favor of the Pope; the Kingdom must never be re-united with the Empire, and the King was never to hold Imperial or Papal office, or interfere with ecclesiastical matters in the Kingdom. Nevertheless, Charles accepted eagerly. For money, he called for help from the then-omnipotent Sienese banker, Orlando Bonsignori
Orlando Bonsignori

Orlando Bonsignori was an Italian banker from Siena.He was the son of Bonsignore di Bernardo, a minor merchant, but Orlando, together with his brother Bonifazio, expanded the family fortunes until in the 1230 he was among the largest Sienese taxpayers....
.

Conquest of Sicily

, referring to the Duchy of Apulia and the Principality of Capua
Principality of Capua

The Principality of Capua was a Lombards state in Southern Italy, usually de facto independent, but under the varying suzerainty of Holy Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empires....
, the two mainland provinces of the kingdom.
From the Cabinet des Médailles
Cabinet des Médailles

The Cabinet des M?dailles, or Cabinet de France, more formally known as Le d?partement des Monnaies, M?dailles et Antiquit?s de la Biblioth?que Nationale, is a department of the Biblioth?que nationale de France in Paris, housed in its former premises in rue de Richelieu....
.
]] Having endorsed the treaty, Charles could now play for time. With Manfred's troops advancing on the Papal States, Charles obtained an extensive renegotiation of the treaty on more favorable lines. As instructions went out to the clergy to submit contributions for the war, Urban IV died in October 1264 at Perugia
Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the Tiber river, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city....
, fleeing Manfred. This raised the possibility of a reversal of Papal policy. To underscore his resolve, he broke sharply with his previous policy of lenity and ordered the execution of several Provençal rebels, who had been in his hands for a year. Fortunately for Charles, the new Pope Clement IV
Pope Clement IV

Pope Clement IV , born Gui Faucoi called in later life le Gros , was elected Pope February 5, 1265, in a Papal conclave held at Perugia that took four months, while cardinals argued over whether to call in Charles of Anjou, the youngest brother of Louis IX of France , to carry on the papal war against the last of the house of Hohe...
 was the former adviser of his brother Alphonse and strongly supported the accession of Charles. Charles entered Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
 on 23 May 1265 and was proclaimed King of Sicily.

Charles was popular in Rome, where he was elected Senator, and his diplomacy had already undermined Manfred's support in northern Italy. While Charles' campaigns were delayed for lack of money, Manfred, curiously, idled away his time hunting in Apulia
Apulia

Apulia is a region in southeastern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Otranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south....
, while his support in the north of Italy dwindled. Charles was able to bring his main army through the Alps, and he and Beatrice were crowned on 6 January 1266. As Charles' army began an energetic campaign, Manfred suddenly shed his lethargy and moved to meet him. Worried that further delays might endanger the loyalty of his supporters, he attacked Charles' army, then in disarray from the crossing of the hills into Benevento
Benevento

Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato....
, on 26 February 1266. In the Battle of Benevento
Battle of Benevento

The Battle of Benevento was fought near Benevento, in present-day Southern Italy, on February 26, 1266, between the troops of Charles I of Sicily and Manfred of Sicily....
 that followed, Manfred's army was defeated in detail and he was killed in the melee. Upon his death, resistance throughout the Kingdom collapsed, and Charles was master of Sicily.

While Charles' administration in his new Kingdom was generally fair and honest, it was also stringent. As in Provence, he insisted on maximizing the revenues and privileges he could obtain from his new subjects. Discontent was high; but for now, Charles could focus on extending his power in northern Italy (which alarmed the Pope, who feared a powerful king of all Italy as much as he did an Emperor). But the Pope was willing to allow this; for in September 1267 Conradin
Conradin

Conrad , called the Younger or the Boy, but usually known by the diminutive Conradin , was the Duke of Swabia , Kingdom of Jerusalem , and Kingdom of Sicily ....
 marched south to reclaim the rights of the Hohenstaufen, and one of his agents instigated a revolt in Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
. He entered Rome on 24 July 1268, where his arrival was wildly celebrated. At the Battle of Tagliacozzo
Battle of Tagliacozzo

The Battle of Tagliacozzo was fought on 23 August 1268 between French forces of Charles of Anjou and the Hohenstaufen forces, a polyglot army of Italy,Spain, Rome, Arab, and Germany troops, led by Conradin , the sixteen year old Duke of Swabia and claimant to the throne of Sicily....
, on 23 August 1268, it appeared he might win the day; but a sudden charge of Charles' reserve discomfited his army and he was forced to flee to Rome. Told it was no longer safe, he attempted to escape to Genoa
Genoa

Genoa is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria. The city has a population of about 610,000 and the urban area has a population of about 900,000....
, but was arrested and imprisoned in the Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo

Castel dell'Ovo is a castle in the Italian city of Naples. The edifice is located on a small island, the Megarides, where colonists from Cumae founded the original nucleus of the city in the 6th century BCE....
 in Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
. In a trial carefully managed by Charles, Conradin was condemned for treason, and he was beheaded on 29 October 1268. By the end of 1270, he had captured Lucera
Lucera

Lucera is a town and comune in the Province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southern Italy....
 and put down the revolt in Sicily, executing many of the captured. With the whole kingdom cowed beneath his strict, if fair, rule, he was ready to consider greater conquests.

Ambitions in the Latin Empire

After the defeat of Manfred at Benevento, Charles immediately began to plan his expansion into the Mediterranean. Historically, the Kingdom of Sicily had at times controlled parts of the eastern Adriatic seaboard, and Manfred had been possessed of the island of Corfu
Corfu

Corfu is a Greece list of islands of Greece in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and lies off the coast of Sarand?, Albania, from which it is separated by straits varying in breadth from 3 to 23 km , including one near ancient Butrint and a longer one west of Thesprotia....
 and the towns of Butrint
Butrint

Butrint is an Ancient Greek city and an archaeology site in Sarand? District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarand? and close to the Greece border....
o, Avlona
Vlorë

Vlor? or Vlora is the second largest port city of Albania, after Durr?s, with a population of about 94,000 ....
 and Suboto, which had formed the dowry of his wife Helena. Charles seized these at the end of 1266. From thence, he passed on to intrigue with the remaining nobility of the Latin Empire. In May 1267, he concluded the Treaty of Viterbo
Treaty of Viterbo

The Treaty of Viterbo was a pair of agreements made by Charles I of Sicily with Baldwin II of Constantinople and William II Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea, on 27 May, 1267, which transferred much of the rights to the Latin Empire from Baldwin to Charles....
 with the exiled Baldwin II of Constantinople
Baldwin II of Constantinople

Baldwin II of Courtenay was the last emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.He was a younger son of Yolanda of Flanders, sister of the first two emperors, Baldwin I of Constantinople and Henry of Flanders....
 and William II Villehardouin (through his chancellor Leonardo of Veruli
Leonardo of Veruli

Leonardo of Veruli was the chancellor to and close adviser of William II Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea.In 1239, Leonardo married Marguerite, the daughter of Narjot de Toucy , then regent of the Latin Empire....
). Taking advantage of the precarious situation of the remains of the Empire in the face of rising Greek power, he obtained confirmation of his possession of Corfu, the suzerain rights over Achaea, and sovereignty over most of the Aegean
Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkans and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively....
 islands. Furthermore, the heirs of both the Latin princes were to marry children of Charles, and Charles was to have the reversion of the Empire and Principality should the couples have no heirs. With few options to check the Byzantine tide, he was well placed to dictate terms.

Charles' wife Beatrice died on 23 September 1267, and he immediately sought a new marriage to Margaret, daughter of Bela IV of Hungary
Béla IV of Hungary

B?la IV...
. However, Margaret wished to be a nun (and was later canonized); Charles instead married (on 18 November 1268), Margaret, Countess of Tonnerre
Margaret of Burgundy, Queen of Sicily

Margaret of Burgundy , was the second wife of Charles I of Sicily, and by marriage Queen consort of Sicily.The second daughter of Eudes of Burgundy and Maud of Dampierre, Marguerite was Countess of Tonnerre by inheritance from 1262 until her death....
 (1250 – 4 September 1308, Tonnerre
Tonnerre

Tonnerre is a town and commune in France of the Yonne d?partement in France in France....
), the daughter of Eudes of Burgundy
Eudes of Burgundy

Eudes of Burgundy was Count of Nevers and County of Auxerre and the heir of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy. His mother was Yolande of Dreux .He never inherited the duchy, due to his death before his father; Burgundy was thereafter ruled by Eudes' brother Robert II, Duke of Burgundy....
. However, he was able to make a marital alliance with the Hungarians: his son Charles, Prince of Salerno
Charles II of Naples

Charles II, known as "the Lame" , was List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily, titular Kings of Jerusalem, and Prince of Salerno....
 married Maria, daughter of crown prince Stephen
Stephen V of Hungary

Stephen V , King of Hungary 1246-1272)....
, while Charles' daughter Elizabeth married Stephen's son Ladislas.

Eighth Crusade

Having thus made secure his position in the East, he began to prepare a crusade to recover the Latin Empire. Michael VIII Palaeologus was greatly alarmed at the prospect: he wrote to King Louis, suggesting that he was open to a voluntary union of the Roman and Latin churches, and pointing out the interference a descent on Constantinople would pose to Louis' own crusading plans. Louis took a dim view of his sincerity; but he was eager to take up the cross again, and he notified Charles of his intentions. Charles continued with his preparations against Constantinople, hoping the crusade might be postponed, but he also prepared to turn his brother's crusade to his own advantage. The Caliph of Tunis
Tunis

Tunis is the Capital of the Tunisian Republic and also the Tunis Governorate, with a population of 1 200,000 in 2008 and over 3,980,500 in the municipal area....
, Muhammad I al-Mustansir
Muhammad I al-Mustansir

Muhammad I al-Mustansir   was the second ruler of the Hafsid dynasty in Ifriqiya and the first to claim the title of Khalif. Al-Mustansir concluded a peace agreement to end the Eighth Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, King of France, in 1270....
 had been a vassal of Sicily, but had shaken off his allegiance with the fall of Manfred. However, there were rumors he might be sympathetic to Christianity. Accordingly, Charles suggested to his brother that the arrival of a crusade in his support might bring about Mustansir's conversion. Thus it was that Louis directed the Eighth Crusade
Eighth Crusade

The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX of France, King of France, in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth Crusade and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor are counted as a single crusade....
 against Tunis. Charles did not arrive until late in the day on 25 August 1270, only to find that his brother had died of dysentery that morning. Charles took command, and after a few skirmishes, Mustansir concluded a peace treaty and agreed to pay tribute to Charles. Illness continued to plague the army, however, and a storm devastated the fleet of 18 men-of-war and innumerable smaller vessels as it returned to Sicily. Charles was forced to postpone his designs against Constantinople again.

Conquest of Albania and Genoese War

In February 1271, Charles began to expand his Adriatic possessions by capturing Durazzo
Durrës

File:Teuta, Illyrian Queen of Durres.jpgDurr?s is the second largest city of Albania. It is the most ancient and one of the most economically important cities of Albania....
, and he soon controlled much of the Albanian interior. In February 1272, he proclaimed himself King of Albania
Kingdom of Albania

The Kingdom of Albania refers to the Regnum Albaniae, which was established by Charles I of Naples in the territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271....
 and appointed Gazzo Chinardo as his Vicar-General. He hoped to take up his expedition against Constantinople again, but was delayed by the rise of Pope Gregory X
Pope Gregory X

Pope Gregory X , born Tebaldo Visconti, was Pope from 1271 to 1276. He was elected by the papal election, 1268?1271, the longest papal election in the history of the Roman Catholic Church....
, consecrated on 27 March 1272. Gregory had high hopes of reconciling Europe, unifying the Greek
Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
 and Latin
Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
 churches, and launching a new crusade: to that end, he announced the Council of Lyon
Council of Lyon

The Council of Lyon refers to either the 13th or 14th ecumenical councils of the Roman Catholic Church, both held in Lyon, France during the 13th century:...
, to be held in 1274, and worked to arrange the election of an Emperor.

In November 1272, the strained relations between Charles and Ghibelline-ruled Genoa
Republic of Genoa

The Most Serene Republic of Genoa was an independent state in Liguria on the northwestern Italy coast from the 11th century to 1797, when it was invaded by armies of First French Republic under Napoleon I of France....
 finally broke into war. Ghibelline revolts broke out across the north of Italy, and increasingly occupied the attention of Charles, even as Michael Palaeologus was negotiating a union of churches with the Pope. At the same time, he had made contact with Genoa and was sending money to encourage the revolts in the north. At the apparently successful conclusion of the Council of Lyon, a Union of Churches was declared, and Charles and Philip of Courtenay
Philip of Courtenay

Philip I of Courtenay was titular Latin Empire 1273–1283. He was the son of Baldwin II of Constantinople and Marie of Brienne.In his youth, his father was forced to mortgage him to Republic of Venice merchants to raise money for the support of his empire, which was lost to the Empire of Nicaea in 1261....
 were compelled to extend a truce with Michael. This was a blessing in disguise for Charles, for the Ghibellines now controlled most of the north, and he was forced to retreat from Piedmont
Piedmont

Piedmont is one of the 20 Regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,399 km? and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital is Turin. The main local dialect is Piedmontese....
 in late 1275. In truth, Pope Gregory was not entirely displeased; he regarded north Italy as best dealt with by its new Emperor, Rudolph of Habsburg, and preferred that Charles be confined to the south. If he wished to make war, let him look to Outremer
Outremer

Outremer, French language for "overseas", was the general name given to the Crusader states established after the First Crusade: the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli and especially the Kingdom of Jerusalem....
; and to this end, Gregory endorsed the sale to Charles of the claims of Maria of Antioch
Mary of Antioch

Maria of Antioch , daughter of Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch and his second wife Melisende de Lusignan, was the pretender to the throne of Jerusalem from 1269 to 1277....
 on the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christianity kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, Israel, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
, which had been rejected by the Haute Cour
Haute Cour of Jerusalem

The Haute Cour was the feudal council of the kingdom of Jerusalem. It was sometimes also called the curia generalis, the curia regis, or, rarely, the parlement....
 there. On 18 March 1277, he bought her claim and assumed the title of King of Jerusalem, sending Roger of San Severino
Roger of San Severino

Roger of San Severino was the bailiff of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1277 to 1282. He was sent to Acre, then the capital of the kingdom, with a small force by the new king Charles I of Naples, also King of Sicily, to act as regent....
 as his bailli to Acre. There Roger ousted Balian of Ibelin
Balian of Ibelin

Balian of Ibelin was an important noble in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century....
, the bailli of Hugh III
Hugh III of Cyprus

Hugh III of Cyprus , born Hughues de Poitiers, later Hughues de Lusignan , called the Great, was the King of Cyprus from 1267 and kingdom of Jerusalem from 1268 ....
 and compelled the nobles to swear fealty. In the meantime, Gregory had been succeeded by Pope Innocent V
Pope Innocent V

Pope Innocent V , born Pierre de Tarentaise, was Pope from January 21 to June 22, 1276.He was born around 1225 near Mo?tiers in the Tarentaise region of southeastern France....
, who arranged a peace between Charles and the Genoese.

Breakdown of the Union

Meanwhile, in Constantinople, the Union of the Churches was proving difficult to arrange, and the Emperor Michael had great difficulty in imposing it on his people. Nevertheless, he persuaded Innocent of his sincerity in working towards it, and Charles was again forbidden to attack Constantinople. Knowing this, Michael began a campaign in Albania in late 1274, where he captured Berat
Berat

Berat is a town located in south-central Albania. It has a population of around 45,500 people . It is the capital of both the District of Berat and the larger County of Berat....
 and Butrint
Butrint

Butrint is an Ancient Greek city and an archaeology site in Sarand? District, Albania, some 14 kilometres south of Sarand? and close to the Greece border....
o. He also enjoyed some success in his campaigns in Euboea
Euboea

For the Greek mythology figure, see Euboea Euboea is the second largest of the Greece Aegean Islands and the second largest List of islands of Greece overall in area and population, after Crete....
 and the Peloponnese
Peloponnese

The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus is a large peninsula and Regions of Greece in southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth....
.

Affairs dragged on for several years, until the accession of Pope Martin IV
Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV , born Simon de Brion, held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death.Simon de Brion, son of Jean, sieur de Brion, was born at the ch?teau of Meinpicien in the province of Touraine, France, in the decade following 1210....
 on 23 March 1280. Pope Martin was a Frenchman, and lacked the evenhandedness of some of his recent precursors. He brought the full power of the Papacy into line behind Charles' plans. The Union, which had proved impossible to impose upon Constantinople, was called off, and Charles given authorization for the restoration of the Latin Empire.

He opened his campaign in Albania, where his general Hugh of Sully with 8,000 men (including 2,000 cavalry) captured Butrinto from the Despotate of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus

The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greeks successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204....
 in 1280 and besieging Berat. A Byzantine army of relief under Michael Tarchaniotes arrived in March, 1281: Hugh of Sully was ambushed and captured, and his army put to flight. The Byzantines took possession of the interior of Albania. Nor was Charles particularly successful in Achaea, where he had become (by the Treaty of Viterbo
Treaty of Viterbo

The Treaty of Viterbo was a pair of agreements made by Charles I of Sicily with Baldwin II of Constantinople and William II Villehardouin, Prince of Achaea, on 27 May, 1267, which transferred much of the rights to the Latin Empire from Baldwin to Charles....
) Prince of Achaea on the death of William II Villehardouin in 1278. His bailli Galeran of Ivry
Galeran of Ivry

Galeran of Ivry was an official of Charles I of Sicily.Galeran was appointed seneschal of the kingdom of Sicily in 1272, where he was unpopular due to his arrogance and partiality....
 was defeated at Skorta in his one attempt to engage the Byzantines, and was recalled in 1280 and replaced by Philip of Lagonesse
Philip of Lagonesse

Philip of Lagonesse was an official of Charles I of Sicily.He was a Frenchman, from Gonesse or La Gonesse, a village near Paris.His father, Guillaume of Lagonesse, had accompanied Charles on his conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily, and died in 1269....
. Nonetheless, Charles was to launch the body of his crusade (400 ships carrying 27,000 mounted knights) against Constantinople in the spring of 1282.

Sicilian Vespers

But Michael had not been working upon the military front alone. Many Ghibelline officials had fled the Kingdom of Sicily to the court of Peter III of Aragon
Peter III of Aragon

Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Kingdom of Valencia and of Majorca , and Sovereign Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282....
, who had married Constance, the daughter and heir of Manfred. Manfred's former chancellor, John of Procida
John of Procida

John of Procida was an Italian medieval physician and diplomat.He was born at Salerno, educated in the Schola Medica Salernitana as a physician, and rose through the diplomatic ranks in the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily....
, had arranged contact between Michael, Peter and the refugees at his court, and conspirators on the island of Sicily itself. Peter began to assemble a fleet at Barcelona
Barcelona

Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous communities of Spain of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008, while the population of the Metropolitan Area was 3,161,081....
, ostensibly for another Crusade to Tunis. In fact, the master-plan of John of Procida was to place Peter on the throne of Sicily, his Hohenstaufen inheritance. The result was the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers

The Sicilian Vespers is the name given to a rebellion in Sicily in 1282 against the rule of the Angevin king Charles I of Naples, who had taken control of the island with Papacy support in 1266....
, which was initiated in Palermo on 29 March 1282. It rapidly grew into a general massacre of the French in Sicily. A few officials notable for their good conduct were spared; and the city of Messina still held for Charles. But through the diplomatic errors of Charles' Vicar, Herbert of Orleans, Messina, too, revolted on 28 April 1282. Herbert retreated to the castle of Mategriffon, but was forced to abandon the Crusading fleet, which was burnt.

The news surprised Peter of Aragon, who had expected to intervene only after Charles had left for Constantinople. But the conspirators, aided by the Emperor Michael (who wished to see Charles balked in his expedition), had set the revolt in motion early. Peter did not immediately intervene; he sailed with the fleet to Tunis, where he discovered that the would-be convert on whose behalf the crusade had ostensibly been undertaken had been caught and executed. While he bided his time, the Sicilians made an appeal to Pope Martin to take the Communes of their cities under his protection. But Martin was far too deeply committed to Charles and French interests to heed them; instead, he excommunicated the rebels, the Emperor Michael, and the Ghibellines in north Italy. Charles gathered his forces in Calabria
Calabria

Calabria , is a Regions of Italy in Southern Italy Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea....
 and made a landing near Messina and began a siege. Several attempts to assault the city were unsuccessful. Rejected by the Pope, the Sicilians now appealed to King Peter and Queen Constance; he duly accepted, and landed at Trapani
Trapani

Trapani is a city on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands....
 on 30 August 1282. He was proclaimed King in Palermo
Palermo

Palermo is a historic city in southern Italy, the Capital of the autonomous region Sicily and the province of Palermo. The city is noted for its rich history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old....
 on 4 September; as the Archibishopric of Palermo was vacant, he could not immediately be crowned. In the face of the Aragonese landing, Charles was compelled to withdraw across the Straits of Messina into Calabria in September; but the Aragonese moved swiftly enough to destroy part of his army and most of his baggage. The Angevin
Angevin

Angevin is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Ancien R?gime in France, as well as to the residents of Angers....
 house was forever ousted from Sicily.

War with Aragon

Despite his retreat into Calabria, Charles remained in a strong position. His nephew, Philip III of France
Philip III of France

Philip III , called the Bold , was the List of French monarchs, succeeding his father, Louis IX of France, and reigning from 1270 to 1285....
, was devoted to him; and Pope Martin regarded the rebellion as an affront both to French interests and his own rights as suzerain of the Kingdom. Both sides temporized; the expense of a long war might be disastrous for both, and Peter and Charles arranged for a judicial duel, with a hundred knights apiece, on 1 June 1283 at Bordeaux
Bordeaux

is a Port city on the Garonne in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its aire urbaine at a 2008 estimate. It is the Capital of the Aquitaine regions of France, as well as the Prefectures in France of the Gironde Departments of France....
. Skirmishes and raids continued to occur: in January 1283, Aragonese guerillas attacked Catona and killed Count Peter I of Alençon in his hostel. In February, the Aragonese crossed into Calabria to face off with Charles of Salerno
Charles II of Naples

Charles II, known as "the Lame" , was List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily, titular Kings of Jerusalem, and Prince of Salerno....
. However, tensions between the Aragonese and the Sicilians had begun to rise. Both men now hoped to turn the war to their advantage, and the judicial duel turned into a farce, the two kings arriving at different times, declaring a victory over their absent opponent, and departing. Now the war was to escalate: Pope Martin had excommunicated Peter and proclaimed the war against the Sicilians a Crusade in January, and in March, declared Peter to be deprived of his dominions. On 2 February 1284, Aragon and Valencia were officially conferred upon Charles of Valois
Charles of Valois

Charles of Valois was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary....
. The war continued in Italy: while little progress had been made in Calabria, a detachment of the Aragonese fleet was blockading Malta
Malta

Malta , officially the Republic of Malta , is a densely populated developed country European microstates microstate in the European Union....
. Charles of Salerno sent a newly raised Provençal fleet to the relief of Malta; but it was caught by the main Aragonese fleet under Roger of Lauria
Roger of Lauria

Roger of Lauria, also Ruggero or Ruggiero di Lauria or Ll?ria was an Italian admiral, who was commander of the fleet of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers....
 and destroyed in the Battle of Malta
Battle of Malta

The naval Battle of Malta took place on 8 July 1283 in the entrance to the Grand Harbour, the principal harbor of Malta, when a galley fleet commanded by Roger of Lauria defeated a fleet of Angevin galleys commanded by William Cornut and Bartholomew Bonvin....
. The Aragonese were now, however, running quite short of money, and Peter was threatened by the prospect of a French attack on Aragon. King Charles planned to raise new troops and a fleet in Provence, and instructed Charles of Salerno to maintain a strict defensive posture until his return from France. However, Roger of Lauria continued to command the sea and launch harassing raids up and down the coast of Calabria, and in May 1284 he successfully blockaded Naples
Naples

Naples is a city in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples. The city is known for its rich history, art, culture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,800 years old....
, basing a small squadron on the island of Nisida
Nisida

Nisida is a volcano islet of the Flegrean Islands archipelago, in southern Italy. It lies at a very short distance from Cape Posillipo, just north of Naples; it is now connected to the mainland by a stone bridge....
 to do so. The Neapolitans were infuriated by the blockade; and in June, Charles of Salerno armed the newly launched fleet at Naples and embarked on 5 June to destroy the blockading squadron. Evidently believing the main Aragonese fleet was raiding down the coast, he hoped to destroy the blockading squadron and return to Naples before it returned. However, Roger of Lauria had learned of his plans, and Charles found himself engulfed by superior numbers. After a short, sharp, fight, most of his fleet was captured, and he himself was taken prisoner.

News of the reverse caused anti-French riots in Naples, and Roger of Lauria was quick to take advantage of Charles' captivity to obtain the release of Beatrice, daughter of Manfred of Sicily
Manfred of Sicily

Manfred was the King of Kingdom of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, but his mother, Bianca Lancia , is reported by Matthew of Paris to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed....
, then held in Naples. King Charles arrived in Gaeta
Gaeta

Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
 on 6 June and learned of the disaster. He was furious at his son and his disobedience; by the time he reached Naples, the riots had been quelled. He advanced on Calabria and attempted a landing in Sicily; but his main army was blocked at Reggio
Reggio

Reggio is the name of two Italian towns:* Reggio Calabria, in the South, also called Reggio di Calabria or, in ancient times, Pallantion, Rhegion, ''Febea, ''Regium, ''Rhegium Julium, ''Risa, ''Rivah...
, and he retreated from Calabria entirely on 3 August. He continued to make preparations for a campaign against Sicily in the new year; but his health failed. On 7 January 1285, he died in Foggia
Foggia

Foggia is a city of Puglia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy"....
.

Death and legacy


On his death, Charles left all of his domains to his son Charles
Charles II of Naples

Charles II, known as "the Lame" , was List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily, titular Kings of Jerusalem, and Prince of Salerno....
, then a prisoner in Catalonia
Catalonia

Catalonia , is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km? and has an official population of 7,210,508. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east ....
. For the time being, they were held by a joint regency between a papal legate and Robert II of Artois
Robert II of Artois

Robert II was the Count of Artois, the posthumous son and heir of Robert I of Artois and Matilda of Brabant.An experienced soldier, he took part in the Aragonese Crusade in 1284 and defeated the Flanders in 1297 at the Battle of Furnes....
. Charles had spent his life striving to assemble a Mediterranean empire out of whatever land he could get through law or force of arms. He did so, it seems, with a clear conscience; he regarded himself as God's instrument to uphold the Papacy and punish the Hohenstaufen
Hohenstaufen

The House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of List of German Kings and Emperors , many of whom were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor and Duke of Swabia....
. He ruled justly, but with the rigidity and severity that might be expected in one of his convictions. Ultimately, his unbending austerity could not inspire the devotion needed to hold his conquests together.

Still, he was to leave a substantial legacy to his heirs. Henry II of Cyprus reclaimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christianity kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. It lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, Israel, was destroyed by the Mamluks....
 after his death, for the few short years left to it; but his possessions otherwise remained within the Angevin
Angevin

Angevin is the name applied to the residents of Anjou, a former province of the Ancien R?gime in France, as well as to the residents of Angers....
 dynasty which he founded, or their descendants. Both the Angevins and their Aragonese rivals were to claim the title of "King of Sicily"; but the Angevins, confined to the mainland, would be known to history as "Kings of Naples". But the style of "King of Sicily" persisted; and when the two realms were reunited, it was under the style of "King of the Two Sicilies".

Charles of Anjou contributed to the early medieval revival of learning, often referred to as the "Latin" Renaissance, through his employment of several Jewish scholars at the University of Salerno and Naples, who were expert translators. The most famous of these, Moses of Palermo, he had tutored in Latin, to enable direct translations of ancient classical and Arab texts. These Jewish scholars translated dozens of philosophical and medical treatises into Latin, bringing the heritage of classical antiquity and the great contemporary Muslim culture to pre-Renaissance Europe.

However, his wars resulted in an even more serious consequence that the partition of the Kingdom of Sicily. Pope Martin IV
Pope Martin IV

Pope Martin IV , born Simon de Brion, held the papacy from February 21, 1281 until his death.Simon de Brion, son of Jean, sieur de Brion, was born at the ch?teau of Meinpicien in the province of Touraine, France, in the decade following 1210....
 had hopelessly compromised the Papacy in his cause; and the botched secular "Crusades" against Sicily and (after Charles' death) Aragon greatly tarnished its spiritual power. The collapse of its moral authority and the rise of nationalism rang the death knell for Crusading, and would ultimately lead to the Avignon Papacy
Avignon Papacy

In the history of the Roman Catholic Church, the Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1377 during which seven popes, all List of French popes-speaking, resided in Avignon, :...
 and the Western Schism
Western Schism

The Great Schism of Western Christianity or Papal Schism was a split within the Roman Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. By its end, three men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope....
. Charles was an able soldier and a good administrator; but his failure to understand the qualities of his diverse subjects, and his grasping, if pious, ambition, ultimately led him to failure.

In the Divine Comedy
The Divine Comedy

The Divine Comedy , written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321, is widely considered the central epic poem of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature....
 Dante sees Charles outside the gates of Purgatory "singing in accord" with his former rival Peter.

Ancestors



External links



|- | width="30%" align="center" rowspan="2"| Preceded by:
Manfred
Manfred of Sicily

Manfred was the King of Kingdom of Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, but his mother, Bianca Lancia , is reported by Matthew of Paris to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed....
| width="40%" align="center" | King of Sicily
List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily

The following is a list of monarchs of Sicily....

1266–1282 | width="30%" align="center" | Succeeded by:
Peter I
Peter III of Aragon

Peter the Great was the King of Aragon of Kingdom of Valencia and of Majorca , and Sovereign Count of Barcelona from 1276 to his death. He conquered Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282....
|- | width="40%" align="center" | King of Naples
List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily

The following is a list of monarchs of Sicily....

1266–1285 | width="30%" align="center" rowspan="5" | Charles II
Charles II of Naples

Charles II, known as "the Lame" , was List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily, titular Kings of Jerusalem, and Prince of Salerno....
|- | width="30%" align="center" | | width="40%" align="center" | King of Albania
Kingdom of Albania

The Kingdom of Albania refers to the Regnum Albaniae, which was established by Charles I of Naples in the territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271....

1272–1285 |- | width="30%" align="center" | William II | width="40%" align="center" | Prince of Achaea
Principality of Achaea

The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade....

1278–1285 |- | width="30%" align="center" | Ramon Berenguer IV
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence

Ramon Berenguer IV , Count of Provence and Forcalquier, was the son of Alfonso II, Count of Provence and Garsenda of Sabran, heiress of Forcalquier....
| width="40%" align="center" | Count of Provence and Forcalquier
1246–1285 |- | width="30%" align="center" | John | width="40%" align="center" | Count of Anjou
List of Counts and Dukes of Anjou

The title Count of Anjou was first granted in the ninth century to Ingelger, a viscount who held land around Orl?ans and Angers. His descendants, who included some List of English monarchs, continued to hold these titles and property until the French monarchy gained control of the area....
 and Maine
List of Counts and Dukes of Maine

This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine , with their capital at Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the Crown lands of France....

1247–1285