Charles I of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/1227 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–1285) and Forcalquier (1246–1248, 1256–1285) in the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–1285) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–1285) and Prince of Achaea (1278–1285). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania, and in 1277 he purchased a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
"Charles of Anjou" redirects here. For other uses, see Charles of Anjou (disambiguation).Charles I
1266–1282 (island of Sicily and mainland territories)
1282–1285 (mainland territories, also known as the Kingdom of Naples)
5 January 1266
1246–1285
Charles II
1246–1285
Charles II
February 1272 - 1285
Charles II
1278–1285
Charles II
Early 1226/1227
7 January 1285 (aged 57–59)
Foggia, Kingdom of Naples
Capet (by birth)
Anjou-Sicily (founder)
The youngest son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, Charles was destined for a Church career until the early 1240s. He acquired Provence and Forcalquier through his marriage to their heiress, Beatrice. His attempts to restore central authority brought him into conflict with his mother-in-law, Beatrice of Savoy, and the nobility. Charles received Anjou and Maine from his brother, Louis IX of France, in appanage. He accompanied Louis during the Seventh Crusade to Egypt. Shortly after he returned to Provence in 1250, Charles forced three wealthy autonomous cities—Marseille, Arles and Avignon—to acknowledge his suzerainty.
Charles supported Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, against her eldest son, John, in exchange for Hainaut in 1253. Two years later, Louis IX persuaded him to renounce the county, but compensated him by instructing Margaret to pay him 160,000 marks. Charles forced the rebellious Provençal nobles and towns into submission and expanded his suzerainty over a dozen towns and lordships in the Kingdom of Arles. In 1263, after years of negotiations, he accepted the offer of the Holy See to seize the Kingdom of Sicily from the Hohenstaufens. This kingdom included, in addition to the island of Sicily, southern Italy to well north of Naples and was known as the Regno. Pope Urban IV declared a crusade against the incumbent Manfred of Sicily and assisted Charles in raising funds for the military campaign.
Charles was crowned king in Rome on 5 January 1266. He annihilated Manfred's army and occupied the Regno almost without resistance. His victory over Manfred's young nephew, Conradin, at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268 strengthened his rule. In 1270, he took part in the Eighth Crusade organised by Louis IX and forced the Hafsid Caliph Muhammad I to pay a yearly tribute to him. Charles's victories secured his undisputed leadership among the Papacy's Italian partisans (known as Guelphs), but his influence on papal elections and his strong military presence in Italy disturbed the popes. They tried to channel his ambitions towards other territories and assisted him in acquiring claims to Achaea, Jerusalem and Arles through treaties. In 1281, Pope Martin IV authorised Charles to launch a crusade against the Byzantine Empire. Charles's ships were gathering at Messina, ready to begin the campaign when the Sicilian Vespers rebellion broke out on 30 March 1282 which put an end to Charles's rule on the island of Sicily. He was able to defend the mainland territories (or the Kingdom of Naples) with the support of France and the Holy See. Charles died while making preparations for an invasion of Sicily.
Early life[edit]
Childhood[edit]
Charles was the youngest child of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile.[1] The date of his birth has not survived, but he was probably born posthumously in early 1227.[note 1][2][3] Charles was Louis' only surviving son to be "born in the purple" (after his father's coronation), a fact he often emphasised in his youth, as the contemporaneous chronicler Matthew Paris noted in his Chronica Majora.[2] He was the first Capetian to be named for Charlemagne.[2]
Wider ambitions[edit]
Conflicts and consolidation[edit]
Charles's officers continued the survey of the counts' rights and revenues in Provence, provoking a new rebellion during his absence.[15] On his return he applied both diplomacy and military force to deal with them.[15] The Archbishop of Arles and the Bishop of Digne ceded their secular rights in the two towns to Charles in 1250.[30] He received military assistance from his brother, Alphonse.[31] Arles was the first town to surrender to them in April 1251.[32] In May they forced Avignon to acknowledge their joint rule.[31][32] A month later Barral of Baux also capitulated.[32] Marseilles was the only town to resist for several months, but it also sought peace in July 1252.[32] Its burghers acknowledged Charles as their lord, but retained their self-governing bodies.[32]
All records show that Charles was a faithful husband and a caring father.[241] His first wife, Beatrice of Provence, gave birth to at least six children.[107] According to contemporaneous gossips, she persuaded Charles to claim the Kingdom of Sicily, because she wanted to wear a crown like her sisters.[242] Before she died in July 1267,[90] she had willed the usufruct of Provence to Charles.[31]
The widowed Charles first proposed himself to Margaret of Hungary.[247] However, Margaret, who had been brought up in a Dominican nunnery, did not want to marry.[248] According to legend, she disfigured herself to prevent the marriage.[247] Charles and his second wife, Margaret of Nevers, had several children, but none survived to adulthood.[249]