Charles II of Naples

Template:Short description Template:Infobox royalty

Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (Template:Langx; Template:Langx; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine (1285–1290); he also was King of Albania (1285–1294), and claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1285. He was the son of Charles I of Anjou Template:Mdashone of the most powerful European monarchs in the second half of the 13th centuryTemplate:Mdashand Beatrice of Provence. His father granted Charles the Principality of Salerno in the Kingdom of Sicily (or Regno) in 1272 and made him regent in Provence and Forcalquier in 1279.

After the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers against Charles's father, the island of Sicily became an independent kingdom under the rule of Peter III of Aragon in 1282. A year later, his father made Charles regent in the mainland territories of the Regno (or the Kingdom of Naples). Charles held a general assembly where unpopular taxes were abolished and the liberties of the noblemen and clerics were confirmed. He could not prevent the Aragonese from occupying Calabria and the islands in the Gulf of Naples. The Sicilian admiral Roger of Lauria captured him in a naval battle near Naples in 1284. As he was still in prison when his father died on 7 January 1285, his realms were ruled by regents. The remainder of his rule was spent seeking a resolution to the Sicilian war, diplomatic moves concerning his inheritance, and administrating the new Kingdom of Naples.

Early lifeEdit

Born in 1254, Charles was the son of Charles I of Anjou and Beatrice of Provence.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn He was the sole heir of his father's vast dominion.Template:Sfn By the time of Charles's birth, his father had seized Provence and Forcalquier (in the Holy Roman Empire), Anjou and Maine (in France), and the Kingdom of Sicily (a fief of the Holy See).Template:Sfn In the 1270s, his father also proclaimed himself King of Albania (in reference to his conquests along the Eastern coast of the Ionian Sea), partially asserted his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and inherited Achaea (in the Peloponnese).Template:Sfn Charles's mother died in 1267, but his father's determination to keep his empire intact deprived Charles of his maternal inheritance during his father's lifetime.Template:Sfn

Charles I arranged a double marriage alliance with Stephen V of Hungary in 1269.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Stephen's daughter, Maria was engaged to Charles, and Charles's sister, Isabelle to Maria's brother, Ladislaus.Template:Sfn Charles fell seriously ill in late 1271.Template:Sfn To encourage prayers for his recovery, his father donated Charles's wax sculptures to churches frequented by pilgrims in the whole kingdom.Template:Sfn After Charles recovered, his father made a pilgrimage at the shrine of Saint Nicholas in Bari and sent gifts to the sanctuary of Mary the Virgin at Rocamadour.Template:Sfn

Charles was dubbed with his brother, Philip, count of Taranto and some 100 Italian and French noble scions at the feast of Pentecost in 1272.Template:Sfn On this occasion, his father Charles I granted him as appanage the Principality of Salerno, a fief customarily held by the heirs apparent to the throne by the previous royal house the Hauteville.Template:Sfn The grant to Charles further stipulated that he could not claim more territories as a prince, thus keeping the area of Provence under direct royal rule.Template:Sfn

RegencyEdit

However, by late 1279 his father appointed him to administer Provence.Template:Sfn In December 1280 the duke accompanied his cousin, king Philip III of France, to Toulouse where he met with Peter III of Aragon.Template:Sfn Peter III was the son-in-law of Manfred of Sicily who had lost the Kingdom of Sicily to Charles's father in 1266 after the battle at Benevento.Template:Sfn Peter insolently ignored Charles during the meeting, although both Philip III and James II of Majorca, who was also present, reminded Peter that Charles was closely related to him.Template:Sfn

[B]y no means could [Charles] find a cheerful countenance nor any comfort in ... [Peter III of Aragon]; rather was [Peter] harsh and angry towards him. [Philip III of France] and [James II of Majorca] took [Peter III] into a chamber one day and asked him how it was that he did not speak with [Charles]; that he knew full well that he was his near blood-relation, as he was the son of his cousin, the daughter of the count of Provence and besides, that his wife also, the daughter of the King of Hungary, was his blood-relation. But though there were many ties between them, they could obtain nothing from him in the end. And [Charles] invited [Philip III], [Peter III] and [James II] to a banquet, but [Peter III] would not accept it, wherefore the banquet had to be given up. But [James II] showed great civility to [Charles] and [Charles] to him. And so, on their departure from the interview, [Charles] left with [James II] and [Muntaner] saw them both enter Perpignan, and a great feast was made for them, and [James II] detained [Charles] for eight days.{{#if:Ramon Muntaner The ChronicleTemplate:Citation needed|{{#if:|}}
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Meanwhile pope Nicholas III attempting to deter Charles I's future power ambitions in Italy, not least to carve for his family a duchy, went in negotiations with Rudolf I the Holy Roman emperor for a reinstatement of the Kingdom of Arles that was to be given to Charles Martel, Charles I's grandson. The dowager queen of France, Margaret of Provence, sister of Beatrice, wife of Charles I, opposed sharply to their plans.Template:Sfn However, Charles I's claims on territories of Alphonse of Poitiers on the latter's death would increase substantially his rule on Provence. Pope Martin IV, a staunch supporter of Charles I, published the bull of that convention on the 24th of May 1281, where it prescribed that the erstwhile kingdom's territories, along the duchies of Dauphiné, and Savoy with their vicinities were to be given to child couple, Charles Martel and Clemence, daughter of Rudolf, as appanage and Charles I's son, Charles, duke of Salerno would be its regent.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Margaret of Provence pursued the matter further and called the duke Robert ΙΙ of Burgundy, count Otto IV of Burgundy along with some lesser lords to a new meeting at Troyes in autumn of 1281, but as Charles I was preoccupied with the preparations for the full scale crusade against the Byzantine empire and the ruling of the court whether or not he was to inherit Alphonse's lands, he had acknowledged his wife's extent of territories and for the rest of the Burgundian land that they were held in fief, thus appeasing the duke Philip II and the matter ended there.

The heavy taxation, forced loans and purveyance were among the reasons that had caused much discontent within the Italian subjects of Charles I, especially in Sicily, and that precipitated out of a seemingly insignificant cause the eruption of a civic unrest of magnitude that led to a generalised anti-French riot, known today in modern historiography as the Sicilian Vespers, in Palermo on 30 March 1282.Template:Sfn The revolt having spread quickly put an end to the Angevin rule on the island, but since they needed a royal overlord they turned to Peter III of Aragon and Constance.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Peter arrived in Sicily with a large fleet in late August and was declared king on the 4th of September 1282.Template:Sfn

Peter III's army arriving on Sicily meant going in war with Angevin and presumably his unbeknown arrival compelled the partial withdrawal of Charles I's troops from the island. Peter's advance allowed him to send forces to Calabria to attempt ousting the Angevin from the mainland too. However, the duke of Salerno headed a military reinforcement and met his father Charles I at Reggio Calabria. More troops arrived by his two nephew, Robert II, Count of Artois and Peter I of Alençon and checked the Aragonese advance. In late December 1282 Charles I challenged Peter III to a judicial duel to end their conflict on Sicily and it was agreed to take place in six months at Bordeaux. Before leaving in January 1283 Charles I appointed his son Charles, the duke of Salerno as regent of the kingdom.Template:Sfn The inexperience of the duke led him to a chain of wrong decisions that by the time Charles I returned to Naples the kingdom was on the brink of collapsing. The news of the duke's capture lit a flame of riot in Naples, but the papal legate Gerard of Parma crushed it at its beginning. Charles I tried to undo the situation and marched with his troops to Calabria and even besieged the town but on the Aragonese relief forces arrival he withdrew to San Martino di Taurianova.Template:Sfn

File:Arms of Charles II dAnjou.svg

Coat of arms of Charles II of Naples: the arms of the House of Anjou impaled with the cross of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

A general assembly was held at the king's camp near San Martino with the barons, prelates and envoys of the towns and it was decided that the royal monopoly on salt and exchanges of the petty coinage were to be abolished.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The assembly also decided that the monarchs were allowed to levy the subventio generalis, a very unpopular tax only after having consulted with representatives of their subjects.Template:Sfn The liberties of the noblemen and the clergy were reconfirmed, while the commoners' obligations to contribute in a corvée fashion to the maintenance of the royal fortresses and flee were reduced.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The reforms adopted at the assembly made the continuation of his father's active foreign policy impossible.Template:Sfn

Charles in his father absence strengthened his ties with native aristocracy by appointing members of the Aquinas, Ruffo and Sanseverino families to his royal council.Template:Sfn He also tried to make his father's most unpopular officials scapegoats for some of the abuses that were made during the latter's reign.Template:Sfn In June 1283, he ordered the imprisonment of all male members of the della Marre and Rufouli families, two prominent noble families that had often been entrusted with the collection of the taxes and custom duties in Charles I's reign.Template:Sfn While the heads of those two families were executed to silence the popular voice, the rest of the incarcerated male members were held to ransom, the release of whom cost huge amounts of money to their relatives.Template:Sfn

Charles as a regent could not finance a lengthy war and he resorted to borrowing some thousands of ounces of gold from the Holy See, the kings of France and England, the ruler of Tunis, Tuscan bankers, and from the rest of the towns of the mainland, known as the Regno.Template:Sfn Gerard of Parma also persuaded the Southern Italian prelates to cede a part of their revenues to Charles for the war against the rebels and their supporters.Template:Sfn He could then equip 40 new galleys in Provence.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The Aragonese fleet had meanwhile imposed a blockade on the island of Malta.Template:Sfn Charles dispatched his new fleet to the island, but the Sicilian admiral, Roger of Lauria, attacked and almost annihilated the Provençal galleys in the Battle of Malta.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Lauria soon occupied the islands of Capri and Ischia, which enabled him to make frequent raids against the Bay of Naples, whereas the capturing of another islet that of Nisida, allowed for the imposion of a blockade in Naples.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

CaptivityEdit

The inhabitants of Naples urged Charles I to expel the Aragonese from Nisida.Template:Sfn Although his father had forbidden him to attack the Aragonese until his arrival, Charles decided to invade the islet.Template:Sfn Believing that most Aragonese ships had left the Bay of Naples, he sailed for Nisida on 5 June 1284, but the Aragonese galleys soon surrounded and defeated his fleet.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn During the battle, Charles fell into captivity.Template:Sfn He was first taken to Messina where the crowd demanded his execution in revenge for Conradin (Manfred of Sicily's young nephew, who had been beheaded at Charles I's order in 1268).Template:Sfn To save Charles's life, Constance of Sicily Template:MdashPeter III of Aragon's wifeTemplate:Mdashimprisoned him at the fortress of Cefalù.Template:Sfn

Charles I died on 7 January 1285.Template:Sfn On his deathbed, he had made Robert of Artois regent for the minor Charles Martel who would rule as vicar general until Charles was released from captivity.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The Provençal delegates held a general assembly at Sisteron and decided to do their utmost to secure Charles's release.Template:Sfn Pope Martin IV partially ignored Charles I's last will.Template:Sfn He did not acknowledge the right either of the captive Charles or of his minor son to rule, claiming that an interregnum followed the king's death.Template:Sfn The pope confirmed Artois' regency, but he made Cardinal Gerald co-regent, authorizing them to administer the kingdom on behalf of the Holy See.Template:Sfn The regents appointed the most powerful ruler of the Peloponnese, William I de la Roche, Duke of Athens, bailiff of Achaea to secure the local lords' loyalty.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Odo Poilechien Template:Mdashwho had been made baillif during Charles I's reignTemplate:Mdashcontinued to rule Acre which was the only town to acknowledge Charles's rule in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.Template:Sfn

Pope Martin died on 29 March 1285.Template:Sfn The crusade that he had declared against Aragon started in late May, but Peter III's resistance forced the crusaders to withdraw in September.Template:Sfn At Peter's order, Charles was moved from Cefalù to Catalonia.Template:Sfn Peter died on 10 November; his eldest sons, Alfonso III and James succeeded him in Aragon and Sicily, respectively.Template:Sfn Henry II of Cyprus, who was regarded the lawful king of Jerusalem by most local lords, forced Odo Poilechien to leave Acre in June 1286.Template:Sfn Since the Knights Templar and Hospitallers supported Henry, their estates were confiscated in the Regno.Template:Sfn

Charles's sons sent a letter to Edward I of England, asking him to intervene to secure their father's release.Template:Sfn Edward accepted their offer and mediated a fourteen-month truce in July 1286.Template:Sfn James entered into negotiations with Charles about the conditions of Charles's release.Template:Sfn Charles was ready to renounce the island of Sicily and Calabria in favor of James for at least the rest of his own lifetime,Template:Sfn but Pope Honorius IV sharply opposed this plan.Template:Sfn After Honorius died on 3 April 1287, Edward I mediated a compromise, which was completed in the presence of the delegates of the College of Cardinals in Oloron-Sainte-Marie in July.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn However, Philip IV of France refused to sign it, because it did not arrange for the compensation of his younger brother, Charles of Valois, who had laid claim to Aragon.Template:Sfn

The new pope, Nicholas IV, who was enthroned in February 1288, also disapproved the treaty, but allowed Edward I to continue the negotiations.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn A new agreement, repeating most terms of the previous compromise, was signed at Canfranc in October.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn According to the treaty, Charles was to be released for a ransom of 50,000 marks of silver, but he also had to promise to mediate a reconciliation between Aragon, France and the Holy See.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn He pledged that he would send his three sonsTemplate:MdashCharles Martel, Louis and Robert Template:Mdashand 60 Provençal noblemen as hostages to Aragon to secure the fulfilment of his promise.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn He also promised that he would return to Aragon if he could not persuade his allies to make peace with Aragon in three years.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn After Edward I gave further guarantees, Alfonso III released Charles who went to Paris to start negotiations with Philip IV.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Philip again repudiated the treaty and Charles left France for Italy to meet with the pope.Template:Sfn

ReignEdit

Start of his reignEdit

Pope Nicholas IV crowned Charles king in Rieti on Whit Sunday 1289.Template:Sfn To persuade Charles to continue the war for Sicily, the pope granted the tenth of Church revenues from Southern Italy to him.Template:Sfn The pope also absolved Charles from the promises that he had made to secure his release.Template:Sfn Edward I of England protested against the pope's decision and continued to mediate between Charles and Alfonso III of Aragon.Template:Sfn At Edward's request, Alfonso III released Charles Martel in exchange for Charles's fifth son, Raymond Berengar.Template:Sfn

Influenced by Bartolomeo da Capua and his other advisors, Charles adopted a concept about the establishment of a purely Christian kingdom.Template:Sfn He ordered the expulsion of the Jews and Lombards from Anjou and Maine, accusing them of usury,Template:Sfn and the Jews of "dwelling randomly" with the Christian population and cohabiting with Christian women. He linked the expulsion of the Jews to general taxation of the population as "recompense" for lost income.Template:Sfn Applying the blood libel against the Jews of Southern Italy, he forced many of them to convert to Christianity.Template:Sfn He also introduced the Inquisition in the Regno.Template:Sfn

Alfonso III invaded Charles's realm and laid siege to Gaeta, because he thought that the burghers were ready to rise up against Charles, but the town resisted.Template:Sfn Charles Martel and Robert of Artois led troops to the town and surrounded the besiegers.Template:Sfn Edward I of England sent envoys to Charles, urging him to respect the treaty of Canfranc.Template:Sfn The pope dispatched two cardinals to prevent the reconciliation, but Charles and Alfonse signed a two-year truce.Template:Sfn To secure stability in Achaea, Charles decided to restore a line of local rulers in the principality.Template:Sfn He arranged a marriage for Isabella of Villehardouin Template:Mdashthe daughter of the last native prince, William II Template:Mdashwith a successful military commander, Florent of Hainaut.Template:Sfn In September, he granted Achaea to them, but he kept his right to suzerainty over the principality and also stipulated that if Florent predeceased her, Isabella could not remarry without his consent.Template:Sfn

NegotiationsEdit

Charles left Southern Italy to start new negotiations with Philip IV.Template:Sfn Before visiting Paris, he went to the Aragonese frontier to offer himself for imprisonment on 1 November in accordance with the treaty of Canfranc, but nobody came to arrest him.Template:Sfn Charles and Philip IV signed a treaty at Senlis on 19 May 1290.Template:Sfn Charles gave his daughter, Margaret, in marriage to Charles of Valois, giving Anjou and Maine to him as her dowry in return for his promise to abandon his claim to Aragon with the pope's consent.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Philip IV also promised that he would make peace with Aragon as soon as Alfonso III and the Holy See were reconciled.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn

The envoys of all parties, but James of Sicily, started negotiations with the mediation of English delegates at Perpignan, and continued them in Tarascon in late 1290 and early 1291.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn They reached a compromise which was included in a treaty in Brignoles on 19 February 1291.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The document confirmed most terms of the treaty of Senlis and restored the peace between Alfonso III, Philip IV and Charles.Template:Sfn Charles received the districts of Avignon held by the French monarch.Template:Sfn The Holy See also accepted the terms of the treaty because Alfonso of Aragon promised that he would lead a crusade against the Mamluks of Egypt.Template:Sfn

The treaty of Brignoles deprived Alfonso's brother, James of Sicily, of Aragonese support, but Alfonso unexpectedly died on 18 June.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn James succeeded Alfonso in Aragon, but he did not want to cede the island of Sicily and Calabria to Charles and made his younger brother, Frederick, his lieutenant.Template:Sfn The Mamluks occupied the last strongholds in the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the summer of 1291.Template:Sfn Pope Nicholas IV called for a new crusade and urged the Christian "kings, princes and prelates" to send their proposals about the recovery of the Holy Land.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Charles was the only monarch to answer the pope.Template:Sfn He suggested that the sole grand master of the united military orders, who should be appointed from about the royal princes, was to rule the reconquered Kingdom of Jerusalem.Template:Sfn

After realising that his new subjects would not support a war for Sicily, James sent envoys to Rome to start negotiations about his submission shortly before Pope Nicholas died on 4 April 1292.Template:Sfn Charles was also willing to reach a compromise, because he wanted to secure Hungary for his family.Template:Sfn Charles's brother-in-law, Ladislaus IV of Hungary, had been murdered on 10 July 1290.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The Hungarian noblemen elected Ladislaus' cousin, Andrew III, king, although Andrew's legitimacy was doubtful.Template:Sfn Charles's wife regarded herself Ladislaus' lawful heir.Template:Sfn Claiming that Hungary was the fief of the Holy See, Pope Nicholas IV granted Hungary to her son, Charles Martel, in 1292.Template:Sfn The most powerful noblemen in Croatia and Slavonia Template:Mdashtwo realms ruled by the kings of HungaryTemplate:Mdashaccepted the pope's decision.Template:Sfn Charles made donations to them to secure their support, but Charles Martel could never assert his claim.Template:Sfn

The death of Pope Nicholas IV gave rise to a prolonged interregnum.Template:Sfn Charles continued the negotiations with James with the mediation of Sancho IV of Castile.Template:Sfn An agreement was completed in Figueras in late 1293.Template:Sfn James agreed to give up Sicily in return for a compensation.Template:Sfn To put an end to the interregnum in Rome, Charles persuaded the cardinals to elect Peter of Morrone Template:Mdasha hermit who had been known for his apocalyptic visionsTemplate:Mdashpope.Template:Sfn Being grateful to Charles, Pope Celestine V granted him Church revenues from France, the Holy Roman Empire and England to finance a new military campaign against Sicily.Template:Sfn After Celestine abdicated in December 1294, the cardinals elected Benedetto Caetani pope.Template:Sfn Pope Boniface VIII was determined to put an end to the war, because he wanted to declare a new crusade for the reconquest of the Holy Land.Template:Sfn

PeaceEdit

Pope Boniface VIII confirmed the compromise between James and Charles in Anagni on 12 June 1295.Template:Sfn However, the Sicilians refused the Treaty of Anagni and James of Aragon's brother, Frederick, was crowned king of Sicily on 12 December 1295.Template:Sfn Frederick soon made a raid against Basilicata.Template:Sfn

An attempt was made to bribe Frederick into consenting to this arrangement, but being backed up by his people he refused, and was afterwards crowned King of Sicily. The ensuing war was fought on land and sea, but Charles, though aided by the Pope, his cousin Charles of Valois and James, was unable to conquer the island, and his son the prince of Taranto was taken prisoner at the Battle of La Falconara in 1299. Peace was at last made in 1302 at Caltabellotta. Charles gave up all rights to Sicily and agreed to the marriage of his daughter Eleanor and King Frederick; the treaty was ratified by the Pope in 1303. Charles spent his last years quietly in Naples, which city he improved and embellished.

He died in Naples in May 1309, and was succeeded by his son Robert the Wise, with his eldest grandson Charles I of Hungary excluded from Neapolitan succession.