Daily Medieval

Pope Urban IV's first move to try to curtail Manfred of Sicily's imperial ambitions was to excommunicate him. This was Manfred...

Events were in place for a final showdown between Charles of Anjou , declared King of Sicily by Rome, and Conradin , teenage son of the las...

We left off with Manfred of Sicily killed during battle  (illustration) with the forces of Charles of Anjou  in 1265. Charles had been named...

When Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was King of Sicily, he also ruled over a large area that included most of Italy south of Rome. This co...

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, a...

While Charles of Anjou was consolidating his rule over the counties of Provence and Forcalquier between 1250 and 1252, events elsewhere wer...

The French word gabelle  derives from the Italian g abella, which means "duty." It was a tax applied to agricultural and industria...

Some months after Charles of Anjou married Beatrice of Provence  in 1246, therefore becoming Count of Provence and Forcalquier, he was knig...

The agreement was made in 1245 between several powerful individuals that Beatrice of Provence (heir to the counties of Provence and Forcalqu...

Charles of Anjou became Count of Provence and Forcalquier by his marriage in 1246 to Beatrice of Provence. His attempt to rule them was cha...

King Louis VIII of France (1187 - 1226) and Blanch of Castile (1188 - 1252) had several children, one of whom became the next king of Franc...

After Maria of Antioch " sold " her claim to the title of Queen of Jerusalem to Charles of Anjou—however illegal it was to the Hig...

Maria of Antioch had a stronger claim to the throne of Jerusalem in 1268 than the man who was crowned. Born c.1220, she was a granddaughter ...

The Hohenstaufens were a dynasty of German kings, many of whom also held the titles Holy Roman Emperor, Duke of Swabia, and (briefly) King o...

In 1271, Edward, Duke of Gascony, went on a continuation of the Eighth Crusade that is sometimes called the Ninth Crusade and sometimes Lord...

The Hohenstaufen family came from unknown origins to be Holy Roman Emperors from 1138 to 1254 (with a break of four years between 1208 and 1...

The remains of Lewes Castle King John wasn't the only English monarch who had his barons turn against him (forcing him to sign the...

Today is the anniversary of the death of Pope Gregory X. He has already been mentioned in Daily Medieval, but let's take a closer look a...