Charles and Sicily, Part 2

Events were in place for Charles of Anjou, Count of Provence, to take over Sicily. His brother, King Louis IX of France, was behind him, as was Pope Urban IV. Charles' promise to Urban was that he would take over Sicily, but not the rest of the Regno (the combination of Sicily and southern Italy that Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II had ruled).

An illegitimate son of Frederick, Manfred, was acting as regent for Conradin in Sicily (son of Manfred's legitimate brother Conrad IV). Manfred had designs on enlarging his rule. He planned a coup in Rome to deal with papal power, but the Guelphs made Charles a senator to gain his support. This seemed to go against Charles' promise to Urban not to accept any power in Italy itself, and Roman cardinals complained about him to Urban. Urban wouldn't go back on his support of Charles, however, because he needed to rely on Charles' military might.

Urban declared a Crusade against Manfred, and two cardinals went to France to gain support for it. One of the cardinals, Guy Foulquois, became Pope Clement IV in February 1265 after the death of Urban. He convinced Charles to hold Sicily (if he could take it) as a vassal of the pope in exchange for 8,000 ounces of gold annually. Charles agreed to the money, since he'd rule Sicily as he saw fit anyway.

They even promised him the whole of the Regno as the pope's vassal, and on 21 June 1265 Charles was installed as a senator. Clement helped him to borrow more from Italian bankers to finance the conquest of Sicily. To make everything formal, on 5 January 1266 he was crowned by five cardinals as King of Sicily (see illustration). Now all he had to do was take control of the island itself.

Several days later, many thousands of soldiers and cavalry arrived in Rome from France and Provence. By the end of January, he was marching south from Rome with the army to start the conquest of the southern Italy part of the Regno. After crossing the Apennines to get to the town of Benevento, they were attacked by Manfred's army on 26 February. Charles defeated Manfred's army, and Manfred himself was killed.

The rest of the Regno quickly capitulated, including a Muslim colony in Lucera.

Charles sent Philip of Montfort to Sicily, where Manfred's widow and family were captured. The widow, Helena of Epirus, had come with a dowry of the island of Corfu. Charles had his troops seize Corfu within the year.

Conradin was still alive, though, and with a claim to Sicily from his father. He would have to be dealt with.

Let's have a short intermission, however, and talk about the sixth paragraph above: the Muslim community of Lucera.

Charles and Sicily, Part 1

While Charles of Anjou was consolidating his rule over the counties of Provence and Forcalquier between 1250 and 1252, events elsewhere were shaping up to be advantageous for him.

Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II died in 1250. Frederick had been King of the Regno, which comprised Sicily and southern Italy almost all the way up to Rome (its coat of arms is shown here). Upon his death, Pope Innocent IV declared that the Regno reverted to control by the Vatican. The Vatican, however, would need a strong military force to keep it under Vatican control.

Innocent offered the Regno to Richard of Cornwall, uncle to King Henry III of England. Frederick's son Conrad IV of Germany also claimed the Regno, and Richard did not relish a war against Conrad, so declined. Provence was fairly close, and Innocent turned to Charles, but Charles' older brother, King Louis IX of France, told Charles to stay out of it because Louis recognized Conrad as the rightful heir.

Charles declined the offer formally in October 1253. A year earlier, Queen Blanche had died, and Louis made Charles and their brother Alphonse co-regents of France so that Louis could stay fighting in the Holy Land.

Meanwhile, in Provence, another rebellion rose, led by Boniface of Castellane and supported by Charles' mother-in-law, Beatrice of Savoy. We know some of Boniface's actions through poems written about different phases of the rebellion. Boniface raised arms against Charles in Marseille, but this time a previous rebel and friend, Barral of Baux, stayed loyal to Charles and helped suppress the revolt. Boniface was exiled and went to Spain where he tried to raise allies against Charles. Marseilles had its fortifications dismantled so that it could no longer resist the ruler.

As for Beatrice, Louis returned from the Holy Land and persuaded her to return Forcalquier to Charles and pay restitution of 160,000 marks over the next 13 years.

But what of Sicily? In 1258 the Regno got a king, Manfred, an illegitimate son of Frederick. While Innocent was looking for someone to take over the Regno, Manfred had been there, suppressing rebellions and attempting to rule, but stepping aside when legitimate son Conrad IV showed up in 1252. Conrad died in 1254, leaving his young son Conradin with Manfred as regent.

In 1263, it looked like Manfred might use the Regno as a base to make himself Holy Roman Emperor, leaving Conradin in Sicily. This concerned Pope Urban IV, who like his predecessor offered the kingdom to Charles. This time, Louis supported the idea of Charles invading Italy and Sicily. Upon this news, Manfred declared himself heir to the Holy Roman. Empire, setting up the final clash.

See you tomorrow.

The Ransom of Captives

St. Felix of Valois

Among other accomplishments, the Crusades created a large number of Christians held captive by non-Christians. These captives, held in far-off lands, could languish for years in horrible conditions. There was no Amnesty International to care about them. That changed, starting with an unassuming man named Felix of Valois (16 April 1127 - 4 November 1212).

Felix, born in the province of Valois, decided at an early age to renounce the worldly life and become a hermit in the woods of the Diocese of Meaux. His saintly reputation drew a priest, John of Matha, to come stay with him. John convinced Felix that they should found an order focused on redeeming captives held by non-Christians.

The two men traveled to Rome, where they met with Pope Innocent III. Innocent (who would later be responsible for approving the Franciscans) approved their order, The Order of the Most Holy Trinity for the Redemption of the Captives. The members are called Trinitarians. They returned to France where King Philip Augustus offered them financial support. The first hermitage was built in Meaux, on the site where Felix had been a hermit for years. Within 40 years, 600 Trinitarian houses had been established.

Felix died at the age of 85. No record of canonization exists, but the Trinitarians claim he was canonized by Pope Urban IV on 1 May 1262. The order founded by him remains, as well as other signs of his legacy. A St. Felix Church exists in Clifton Springs, NY;* it is part of the Diocese of Rochester NY. His feast day is 4 November.

*It was originally dedicated to St. Agnes, but the name was changed in 1895.

Provisions of Oxford

Henry III (1207-1272) spent much of his reign of 56 years dealing with fallout from the reign of his father, King John. For one thing, the Barons who pushed the Magna Carta on John were always looking for ways to increase their power. In 1258, they got their chance.

Henry had fought a military action against Sicily on behalf of Pope Alexander IV, and subsequently was out of money. So he summoned Parliament in the spring of 1258 to discuss a grant of revenue. The Barons agreed, with the provision that Henry would, in exchange, submit to a list of reforms. This Parliament is alternately called the Easter Parliament and the Mad Parliament. Henry (reluctantly) agreed, and on June 10th the 24-man commission created to develop the reforms (half appointed by the king and half by the Barons) submitted its report. The changes within were called the Provisions of Oxford.

Although considered by some to be the first written constitution in England (and the first published in English: copies were circulated to all of England in French, Latin, and Middle English), the Provisions were actually very short-lived, being superseded by the Provisions of Westminster in 1259. (In fact, they were only supposed to exist for 12 years, as a temporary measure while further reforms were being studied and put in place.) As a consequence, we are not sure that we have a complete record of the Provisions, relying instead on references to them found in contemporary and later documents. Still, we know enough to know that they attempted a series of regulations and "checks and balances" in government.

For instance, Parliament was to meet three times a year, not just when the King wanted them. All high officers were to swear loyalty to the king. Many positions (such as the chancellor, the chief justice, the treasurer) were appointments of only one year—helping to prevent the amassing of power and the temptation to long-term corruption—at the end of which the officer was to give an accounting of his actions while in office. A system was put in place for addressing grievances against sheriffs. Sheriffs were to be loyal landholders who would receive no fees for their work, but be subsidized by the exchequer for their expenses.

Ruins of Kenilworth, where it ended

Attempt to curtail royal power persisted, and the conflict see-sawed. Pope Urban IV annulled the Provisions in 1261 and 1262. The Barons restored and reinforced them in 1263, then modified them in 1264. Finally, the Barons took over England in 1264, Henry defeated them at the Battle of Evesham in 1265 and killed their leader, Simon de Montfort; some Barons held out at Kenilworth, and the siege that started by Henry was curtailed by the intervention of the pope, who suggested reconciliation. The resulting Dictum of Kenilworth allowed the rebels to have their estates back (at prices dependent on how rebellious they had been!), and many of the statutes in the earlier Provisions were overturned. Henry agreed to reconfirm Magna Carta, but the appointment of royal officers was re-recognized as a royal prerogative. The reconciliation between the levels of power lasted through Henry's reign and into that of his son, Edward I (1239-1307).