Italy and the Black Death

Southern Italy Series

-----Black Death-----

With the status quo established between Sicily and Naples the royal houses of both sides gradually became independent of their Aragonese and Angevin origins.

In 1305 the Papacy again went to a Frenchman, Pope Clement V. Two years later the King of France dissolved the Order of the Knights Templar while Pope Clement did nothing. Then in 1309 the Pope moved his offices to Avignon, France. The Papacy would remain in Avignon for the better part of the century.

In 1309 Charles II of Anjou died, and the Kingdom of Naples went to his son Robert I. When King Robert died in 1343 the Kingdom passed to his closest living heir, his granddaughter Joan I. To secure her position on the throne Joan assassinated Andrew of Calabria [link] . But Andrew’s brother, King Louis I of Hungary, took up the claim and led a Hungarian army into Italy in 1347 to avenge his brother’s death. By 1348 he won the Battle of Capua and was closing in on Naples.

In 1337 Frederick II of Sicily died, and the Kingdom of Sicily passed to his son Peter II. But Peter died an untimely death just five years later and the kingdom passed to his five year old son Louis. Actual command of the kingdom passed into the hands of a Sicilian regent.

In 1324 James II of Aragon accepted the Papal offer to conquer the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica. The Aragonese invaded Sardinia, allying themselves with the Arboreans against the Pisans and their allies in Cagliari, Gallura and Sassari. Then in 1347 the Aragonese forced the Genovese from Logudoro.

One year later the people of Corsica appealed to the Genovese for protection. Over the centuries the Genovese, the Venetians, the Almalfitians and the Pisans had all created trade networks spanning the Mediterranean and Black seas. One destination for the Genovese was the port of Caffa [link] in the Crimea where they bought goods from the Mongols of the Golden Horde. But in 1347 the Genovese were carrying more than just silk in their cargo hold. The Black Death spread across Europe like a terrible wildfire. In just four years the plague had gone as far as Moscow.

With the outbreak of the plague the Hungarian army retreated and Naples was saved. Queen Joan married and married again, but her children failed to outlive her. In 1377 Pope Gregory XI left Avignon, thus returning the Papacy to Rome. His death one year later led to a papal conclave in Rome. While the cardinals were deliberating a mob of Romans surrounded the Vatican and demanded that the next Pope must be Italian. Pope Urban VI of Naples was chosen, but the Cardinals soon regretted their decision and after fleeing Rome elected Clement VII, a Frenchman, as Pope. The faithful became confused as to who was the legitimate Pope and who was the Anti-Pope. Clement and a group of French cardinals soon gathered at Avignon while Pope Urban continued to rule from Rome.


Queen Joan of Naples turned to the Avignon Papacy and France for support. The Roman Pope responded by excommunicating her and declaring her kingdom forfeit. The nearest male heir, Charles of Durazzo, invaded Naples and had Queen Joan executed. In 1382 he was crowned King Charles III of Naples. One year later he became King of Hungary after the death of Louis I. But Louis’ wife and daughter had other plans and Charles was assassinated later that year. Naples now passed to Charles’ son Ladislaus I of Naples.

The Frenchman Louis II of Anjou claimed the Kingdom of Naples for himself based on his own relation to Queen Joan. By 1390 Naples was again in Angevin hands and Ladislaus retreated to the fortress of Gaeta. But the people of the kingdom and the Pope in Rome stood by Ladislaus and after Louis was defeated Ladislaus returned to Naples in 1399.

In 1355 King Louis of Sicily died at age 17. He was succeeded by his brother Frederick III. In 1377 Frederick died and left behind no male heir. The crown passed to his daughter Mary I. Mary eventually married Martin (the younger) of Aragon thus reuniting Sicily with Aragon. When in 1409 Martin died, the Kingdom of Sicily was inherited by his father Martin (the elder) King of Aragon and reincorporated into the crown [link] . But while the Aragonese were consolidating their rule in elsewhere, the Kingdom of Arborea began to overrun Sardinia.

But over in Greece a dark cloud was rising. In 1352 the Ottoman Turks crossed the Hellespont at Gallipoli and entered Europe. In 1365 the Turks defeated the Byzantines at the Battle of Adrianople. By the 1380s the Turks had begun advancing into the Balkans.

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 [link] Anjou Sicily
1300 [link] War of the Vespers
1400 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]