Anjou Sicily

Southern Italy Series

-----Anjou Sicily-----

After Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II died in 1250, his son Conrad continued the war against the Pope, the Lombards and the Welfs by invading Italy in 1251. But by 1254 he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III and Conrad died later that year. The title of King of Sicily now fell to his son, Conradin. However, actual governance of the Kingdom of Sicily had rested with Manfred [link] , son of Frederick II and half brother of Conrad, since 1250. In 1254 Manfred was also excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV. But in December Pope Innocent died and his successor, Pope Alexander IV, renewed the excommunication against Manfred. In 1258 Manfred crowned himself King of Sicily based on rumors that his nephew Conradin had died. Then in 1261 Pope Alexander IV died and his successor, Pope Urban IV, excommunicated Manfred yet again and offered the throne of Sicily to anyone willing to take on Manfred.

In 1265 Charles of Anjou [link] , brother of King Louis IX of France, took up the challenge. Years before in 1246 he had become the Count of Provence before leaving in 1248 on the 7th Crusade. After military victories in the Holy Land he returned to find Provence had rebelled against him. The rebels were swiftly crushed, solidifying Charles’ reputation as a strong ruler.

Charles and Manfred faced off at the Battle of Benevento [link] in 1266. King Manfred died in battle while leading a cavalry charge. Charles now took possession of the Kingdom of Sicily.

Then in September of 1266 Conradin, who was in fact not dead, invaded Italy to defeat Charles and reclaim his birthright, the Kingdom of Sicily. But in 1268 Conradin was defeated and beheaded, thus ending the House of Hohenstaufen. But the Emperor's supporters still existed in Italy and continued to wage war against the supporters of the Pope [link] .

Victorious, Charles now embarked on a series of military adventures across the Mediterranean beginning with the conquest of the Principality of Achaea. Then in 1270 Charles embarked on the 8th Crusade in Tunis. In 1277 Charles married the heiress of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, thus claiming the title for himself. By 1282 he had begun to plan for an invasion of Byzantium to retake Constantinople and restore the Latin Empire.

But while Charles was preparing his armies, discontent began to brew in the provinces already under his rule. Such was the situation in Palermo on the evening of Easter Sunday 1282.

Southern Italy Series

500 BC [link] Origins
264 BC [link] The Punic Wars
115 AD [link] The Roman Empire
405 [link] East and West
526 [link] Collapse of the West
565 [link] Reconquest
572 [link] Lombard Invasion
751 [link] Lombard Italy
814 [link] Charlemagne’s Empire
1000 [link] Italy and the Holy Roman Empire
1095 [link] The Norman Conquest
1154 [link] The Kingdom of Sicily
1250 [link] Hohenstaufen Italy
1280 Anjou Sicily
1300 [link] War of the Vespers
1400 [link] Black Death
1492 [link] Renaissance Italy
1559 [link] Italian Wars
1715 [link] Habsburg Italy
1780 [link] Bourbon Italy
1799 [link] Revolutionary Italy
1812 [link] Napoleonic Italy
1860 [link] United Italy

2/19/12 EDIT:
map base source [link]
map base created by Citypeek [link]