Toynbee "Manfredi"

Having made himself master of the kingdom nominally on behalf of Conradin, on a rumour of the death of the latter, in 1258, he was entreated to assume the crown, which he did at Palermo on Aug. 10 in that year, amid universal rejoicing. In answer to the protests of Elizabeth, Conradin's mother, Manfred asserted that it was not for the interests of the kingdom that it should be ruled by a woman and an infant; he would preserve the crown for his nephew and bequeath it to him at his death. But the pope could not tolerate a Ghibelline and infidel on the throne of Sicily; Manfred was excommunicated by Alexander IV in 1258, and again, in 1261, by Urban IV, by whom the forfeited crown of Sicily was offered, first to Louis IX of France and, on his refusal, to his brother, Charles of Anjou. Urban's offer having been confirmed by his successor, Clement IV, Charles advanced into Italy with a large force in the autumn of 1265 and entered Rome, where, after being elected senator in opposition to Manfred, he was crowned king of Sicily, Jan. 6, 1265/6. Immediately after his coronation, although it was the depth of winter, Charles set out to take possession of his kingdom. Manfred was prepared to make a stout resistance, but he was surrounded by traitors; the passage of the Garigliano at Ceprano was betrayed to the enemy by his relative, the count of Caserta ([Inf. xxviii. 15-16]), and the French entered Campania, took the stronghold of San Germano (Feb. 10, 1265/6) and advanced towards Benevento, where Manfred and his army were stationed [Ceperano]. In answer to Manfred's proposal for negotiations, Charles exclaimed ' Tell the Sultan of Nocera that I will have neither peace nor treaty with him. I will send him to Hell, or he shall send me to Paradise.' Urban IV having proclaimed a crusade against Manfred, Charles persuaded his followers that since they fought for the Catholic faith against an excommunicated heretic and a Saracen, they would receive the reward due to those engaged in a holy war. On Feb. 26, 1265/6, the two armies met on the plain of Grandela, near Benevento. Manfred drew up his force in three divisions, consisting of his Saracen archers, German cavalry, and a reserve of Apulian barons. The French army was in four divisions, one of which was composed of the Guelph exiles from Florence and other Tuscan cities under the leadership of Guido Guerra. At the sight of these, Manfred is said to have exclaimed bitterly, 'Where are the Ghibellines for whom I have done so much?' His Germans and Saracens fought with desperate valour, but were outnumbered by the French, Manfred accordingly ordered the Apulian barons to charge, but they, through either treachery or cowardice, instead of obeying, turned and fled from the field. With a handful of troops that still remained faithful Manfred resolved to die rather than seek safety in flight, and plunging into the thickest of the fight he fell dead in the midst of the enemy. For some time Charles was uncertain whether he had escaped or had been slain; but at length, after three days, his body was found and recognized by a camp-follower, who threw it across an ass and went crying 'Who will buy King Manfred?' until he was struck down by one of the king's barons. The body being brought to Charles, he assembled all the barons who had been taken prisoners, and asked each if that were Manfred. It is related that the count of Caserta, his kinsman who had betrayed him, when he looked upon the body hid his face in his hands and burst into tears. To the request of some of his followers that Manfred's body should receive honourable burial, Charles replied that he would willingly grant it, had Manfred not been excommunicated. For this reason he would not have him laid in consecrated ground, but caused him to be buried at the foot of the bridge of Benevento; upon his grave was made a great pile of stones, each one of the army throwing one upon it as he passed ([Purg. iii. 128-129]). Subsequently, it is said by command of Clement IV, the archbishop of Cosenza caused the body to be disinterred from its resting-place in Church territory, and had it cast unburied upon the banks of the river Verde, outside the limits of the kingdom of Naples ([Purg. iii. 124-131]) [Benevento: Verde]. The defeat and death of Manfred was a crushing blow to the Ghibelline cause, which had constantly received powerful support from him, notably during the struggle against the Tuscan Guelphs, when he contributed largely to the great Ghibelline triumph at Montaperti (1260). The ascendency of the Guelphs was henceforth assured under the protection of the house of Anjou.

D. places Manfred in Ante-Purgatory among those who died excommunicate, but repented of their sins before death, Manfredi, [Purg. iii. 112]; un, [Purg. iii. 103]; el, [Purg. iii. 110]; quello spirto, [Purg. iv. 14] [Antipurgatorio]; as D. and Virgil approach the foot of the Mt. of Purgatory they are overtaken by a number of spirits who point out to them where to begin the ascent ([Purg. iii. 58-102]); one of the spirits (that of Manfred) addresses D. and asks him if ever he had seen him before ([Purg. iii. 103-105]); D., looking at him fixedly, sees that he is 'fairhaired and beautiful and of noble countenance', and that one of his eyebrows had been divided by a stroke, but he does not recognize him ([Purg. iii. 106-110]); M. shows him a wound on his breast, and then smiling names himself, saying that he was grandson of the Empress Constance (thus describing himself, without reference to his parents, perhaps on account of his illegitimate birth) ([Purg. iii. 110-113]) [Costanza_1], and begs D., when he returns, to inform his daughter Constance of what he is about to relate ([Purg. iii. 114-117]) [Costanza_2]; he then tells D. how, after receiving two deadly wounds, he penitently turned to God, and how, though his sins were horrible, his repentance was accepted ([Purg. iii. 118-123]); after referring to the disinterment of his body from its resting-place by the bridge of Benevento by the pastor of Cosenza at the bidding of the pope ([Purg. iii. 124-132]), he explains to D. that the malediction of the Church cannot cut the soul off from God forever, but that who so dies under its ban, if he repent at the last, is at length admitted into Purgatory, after waiting for a period thirty times as long as that during which he was excommunicate, unless the period be diminished through the prayers of those on earth ([Purg. iii. 133-141]); he then prays D. to tell Constance how he had seen her father, and to beg her to use intercession for him ([Purg. iii. 142-145]); meditating on what he has heard, D. follows V. into a gap in the side of the mountain, where they begin their ascent ([Purg. iv. 1-24]). [On Manfred's reported conversion before his death, see F. Novati, Tre postille dantesche (Milano, 1898), pp. 8 ff., and his 'Come Manfredi s'è salvato', in Indagini e postille dantesche (Bologna, 1899), pp. 117 ff.; see also P. D. Egizii, Il canto terzo del Purgatorio (Firenze, 1928), pp. 66-67; and B. Capasso, Historia diploumatica regni Siciliae, 1250-1266 (Napoli, 1874).]

D.'s description of Manfred's personal appearance, biondo era e bello e di gentile aspetto ([Purg. iii. 107]), is borne out by the early chroniclers. Saba Malaspina describes him as being fair-haired, of a pleasing countenance, comely to look at, with a ruddy complexion, sparkling eyes, a snow-white body, and of middling stature:

Homo flavus, amoena facie, aspectu placabilis, in maxillis rubeus, oculis sidereis, per totum niveus, statura mediocris. [Hist. rer. sic., in L. A. Muratori, RIS, viii, p. 380.]

Another Sicilian chronicler says that he was endowed by nature with every grace, and that his personal beauty was such that it could in no wise be made more perfect:

Formavit ipsum natura gratiarum omnium receptabilem; et sic omnes corporis sui partes conformi speciositate composuit ut nihil in eo esset quod melius esse posset. [L. A. Muratori, RIS, viii, col. 497.]

Like his father, Manfred was a poet, musician, and patron of letters. D., in explaining how it was that the early Italian poets were always spoken of as 'Sicilian', pays a high tribute to both father and son for their love of letters:

The two illustrious heroes, the Emperor Frederick and his high-born son Manfred, exhibited the nobility and rectitude of their character, while fortune remained faithful to them, in attaching themselves to the higher pursuits of mankind, disdaining what was unworthy of men. Wherefore all noble-hearted and gifted men strove to attach themselves to princes of so great a name; and thus all that was most excellent in Italian letters made its first appearance at their court. And since the royal throne was in Sicily it has come about that whatever our predecessors wrote in the vulgar tongue is called Sicilian, a name which we retain and which posterity will not be able to change. (V.E. I. xii. 4.)

Also like his father, whom D. places among the heretics in Hell ([Inf. x. 119]) [Federigo_2], Manfred was accused of being an Epicurean and unbeliever, doubtless on account of his dealings with the Saracens and his fondness of eastern ways. Villani's account of him expresses the current opinion of his character:

Il detto re Manfredi fu nato per madre d'una bella donna de' marchesi Lancia di Lombardia, con cui lo 'mperadore ebbe affare, e fu bello di corpo, e come il padre, e più, dissoluto in ogni lussuria: sonatore e cantatore era, volentieri si vedea intorno giocolari e uomini di corte, e belle concubine, e sempre vestio di drappi verdi; molto fu largo e cortese e di buon aire, sicchè egli era molto amato e grazioso; ma tutta sua vita fu epicuria, non curando quasi Iddio nè santi, se non a diletto del corpo. Nimico fu di santa Chiesa, e de' cherici e de' religiosi, occupando le chiese come il suo padre, e più ricco signore fu, sì del tesoro che gli rimase dello 'mperadore e del re Currado suo fratello, e per lo suo regno ch'era largo e fruttuoso, e egli, mentre che vivette, con tutte le guerre chtebbe colla Chiesa, il tenne in buono stato, sicchè 'l montò molto di ricchezze e in podere per mare e per terra. ({Villani. vi. 46.})

The confession D. puts into Manfred's mouth, Orribil furon li peccati miei ([Purg. iii. 121]), is fully justified by the above account; but still graver charges were brought against him, viz. that he murdered his father, his brother Conrad, and two of his nephews and attempted to murder his nephew Conradin. These crimes, which the hatred of his enemies imputed to him, are gravely recorded by his contemporary the Guelph Brunetto Latini:

. . . li empereour [Frederis] . . . s'en ala il en Puille, ou il ne demora pas longhement k'il amaladi trop durement en une terre ke on apele Florentin.

Et il n'avoit entor lui de sez fiz ke Mainfroi, k'il avoit engendré en une gentil dame ki fu fille au marchis Lance de Lombardie. Et ne cuidiés mie k'ele fust sa feme par mariage, mais il l'ama sor toutes autres, et pour son sen et por sa biauté. Autresi amoit il Mainfroi son fil, car il estoit sages et cler veans, et mout se fia de lui ses peres en sa maladie. Et quant il vit son pere ki si malades estoit, il commença tot belement a prendre les tresors son pere et a tenir la signorie sor les autres. Ke vous diroie? Il se pensa k'il auroit tout, et pour ce il entra .i. jour en la chambre ou ses peres gisoit malades et prist .i. grant coussin et le mist sor la face son pere, et il se coucha sor le coussin, et le fist morir en tel maniere come vous entendés; . . . Manfroi prist les trezors et le pooir de la Terre, et comença a trere les cuers des gens a lui, tant ke li rois Conras ses freres ki estoit en Alemaigne et ki estoit esleu a empereour, . . . vint en Puille et prist et ot la signorie de Puille et de Sesille. Mais l'en dist ke Manfroi, ki n'avoit pas changié son cuer ne son propos, fist tant que rois Conrat ne vesqui longhement, ains morut de venin, et laissa .i. fiz de sa feme en Alemaigne, ki autresi ot a non Conrat, mais il estoit petis enfes. Lors se fist Manfroi baillis de la terre de par le petit Conradin son nevou, et prist la signorie et la force des viles et des fortereces et des gens du regne. Et les .ii. fiz le roi Henri son frere... fist il ce morir de venim, selone ce ke li plusor dient.

Aprés ce il envoia de ses privés une fois en Alemaigne au petit Conradin, por faire lui envenimer; mais il fu si gardés ke ce ne pot mie estre. Toutesvoies li messagier revinrent par mer a unes voiles noires, et aporterent noveles ke le petit Conrad estoit mors. Si en fist Mainfrois grant samblant de dolor; et la u les gens de la terre estoient assamblé por savoir la mort de lor signeur, li ami Manfroi et cil de son conseil distrent ke Manfroi estoit bien dignes d'estre rois de Puille, puis que tot li autre estoient mort. Ke vous iroie disant? il fu esleu a roi, et a signeur par le commun assentement de tous les barons dou roiaume, et tint la signorie grant tens. ({Trésor i. 97}.)