Toynbee "Carlo_2"

Charles is mentioned by Jacopo del Cassero (in Ante-Purgatory) in connexion with the kingdom of Apulia, which the latter refers to as quel di Carlo, [Purg. v. 69] [Puglia]; the Emperor Justinian (in the Heaven of Mercury) warns him, as leader of the Guelphs, not to oppose the Imperial Eagle, referring to him (to distinguish him from his father) as Carlo novello, [Par. vi. 106-107] [Guelfi]; his son Charles Martel (in the Heaven of Venus) speaks of him (or, as some think, of Charles I) as the ancestor in whose right his own descendants ought to have been on the throne of Sicily [Par. viii. 67-72] [Carlo_3: Ridolfo_l: Roberto_2], the Eagle in the Heaven of Jupiter refers to him as il Ciotto di Ierusalemme, he being lame -- 'fu sciancato alquanto' says {Villani. vii. 1} -- and the title of Jerusalem being attached to the crown of Naples (since the abandonment of her claim by Mary of Antioch to Charles I), and says that his good qualities might be indicated by I (one), his bad ones by M (thousand), [Par. xix. 127-129] [Ierusalemme]; the Eagle mentions him again in connexion with the sufferings of Sicily during his war with Frederick of Aragon, [Par. xx. 62-63] [Sicilia]; Sordello (in Ante-Purgatory), alluding to him as la pianta, refers to his inferiority to his father (il seme), [Purg. vii. 127-129] [Carlo_1]; Hugh Capet (in Circle V of Purgatory) rebukes him for having married his youngest daughter Beatrice, from mercenary motives, to Azzo VIII, the old marquis of Este, referring to him (in allusion to his capture on board ship in 1284 by Ruggieri di Loria -- see below) as L'altro [Carlo], che già uscì preso di nave, [Purg. xx. 79-81] [Azzo da Esti: Beatrice_3]; D. denounces him and his adversary Frederick of Aragon for their evil doings, both in the Convivio Conv. IV. vi. 20) (Cf. [Par. xx. 63]), and in the De vulgari eloquentia (V.E. 1. xii. 5); Cecco Angiolieri mentions him in a sonnet addressed to D., Rime cvii. 13.

After the 'Sicilian Vespers' (in 1282) Charles, who was then prince of Salerno, set out from Provence to join his father in his attempt to recover the island of Sicily, and was entrusted by him with the command of the fleet at Naples, but with strict injunctions not to engage the enemy. Incensed, however, by the taunts of the Sicilian admiral, Ruggieri di Loria, who was in command of the fleet of Peter III of Aragon, Charles came out and attacked him, but was totally defeated (June 1284), and himself taken prisoner on board his ship ([Purg. xx. 79]), and conveyed to Sicily. Villani, in his account of the affair, relates an incident which proves that the Angevins were scarcely more popular in the kingdom of Naples than they were in Sicily:

Il prenze rimaso alla battaglia con la metà delle sue galee ov'erano i baroni e' cavalieri, che di battaglia di mare s'intendeano poco, tosto furono isconfitti e presi con nove delle loro galee; e il prenze Carlo in persona con molta baronia furono presi e menati in Cicilia, e furono messi in pregione in Messina nel castello di Mattagrifone. E avvenne, come fu fatta la detta sconfitta e preso il prenze, che quelli di Surrenti mandarono una loro galea con loro ambasciadori a Ruggeri di Loria con quattro cofani pieni di fichi fiori . . . e con dugento agostari d'oro per presentare al detto ammiraglio, e giugnendo alla galea ove era preso il prenze, veggendolo riccamente armato e con molta gente intorno, credettono che fosse inesser Ruggeri di Loria, sì gli s'inginocchiarono a' piedi, e feciongli il detto presente, dicendo: Messer l'ammiraglio. . .plazesse a Deo com'hai preso lo figlio avessi lo patre! . . . Il prenze Carlo con tutto suo dammaggio comincìò a ridere, e disse al'ammiraglio: Pour le saint Dieu ces sont bien leales a monseigneur le roi! Questo avemo messo in nota per la poca fede ch'hanno quegli del Regno al loro signore. ({Villani. vii. 93})

The Sicilians, having got the prince of Salerno into their hands, were for beheading him, as his father had beheaded Conradin; but by the advice of Manfred's daughter Constance, wife of Peter of Aragon, his life was spared, and he was sent a prisoner into Spain. In the following year (1285) Charles I of Naples and Peter III of Aragon both died. The latter was succeeded in Aragon by his eldest son, Alfonso, while James, his second son, was crowned king of Sicily. The prince of Salerno being still a captive in the hands of the Aragonese in Catalonia, his eldest son, Charles Martel, assumed the government of the kingdom of Naples. In 1288, through the intervention of Edward I of England, Charles was liberated by Alfonso of Aragon, on the understanding that Sicily should remain in the possession of Alfonso's brother, James, while Charles was to retain the kingdom of Naples; the latter, further, undertook to induce Charles of Valois to abandon his claim to the crown of Aragon, which had been bestowed upon him by Martin IV on the excommunication of Peter III. [Carlo_2.] Leaving his three sons, Louis, Robert, and John, as hostages, and pledging himself to return to captivity if the conditions were not fulfilled within a specified period, Charles hastened into Italy to the Papal court. On May 29, 1289, in defiance of his pledges, he was crowned king of Sicily and Naples by Nicholas IV, who granted him a large subsidy in aid of his operations against Sicily. Meanwhile Charles of Valois, with the support of Sancho IV of Castile, invaded Aragon, and compelled Alfonso to withdraw the troops he had sent to the assistance of his brother James in Sicily. In 1291, on the sudden death of Alfonso, James assumed the crown of Aragon, leaving the government of Sicily in the hands of his brother Frederick. A few years later, however, through the mediation of Boniface VIII, a treaty was made between Charles II and James, whereby the latter, ignoring the claims of his brother, Frederick, agreed to abandon Sicily to Charles, and to support him with his troops in the event of resistance on the part of the Sicilians, and at the same time to release his three sons from captivity; in consideration of which Charles bestowed (in 1295) on him his daughter Blanche with a large dowry, while the pope granted him the sovereignty of Corsica and Sardinia, which of right belonged to the Pisans and Genoese. When the news of this treaty reached the Sicilians, they at once renounced their allegiance to James, and elected his brother Frederick king in his stead (1296). Charles thereupon declared war on Frederick, and with the aid of James of Aragon and Ruggieri di Loria, who had abandoned Frederick's cause, had all but reduced Sicily, when in 1299, after Frederick had been defeated (July 4) in a naval battle off Cape Orlando, James suddenly withdrew, declaring that he would not be the instrument of his brother's overthrow. Shortly after, Frederick defeated the French troops of Charles and took prisoner his son Philip, prince of Tarentum. In April 1302 Charles of Valois, who as pacificator in Tuscany had been engaged in crushing the Bianchi and Ghibellines in Florence, made a descent upon Sicily, in company with Robert duke of Calabria, Charles II's eldest surviving son. But the expedition was a failure, and he was forced to conclude an ignominious peace with Frederick, who was confirmed in the sovereignty of Sicily with the title of king of Trinacria, and received in marriage (May 1302) Eleanor, third daughter of Charles II. The latter, having been foiled in every attempt to regain possession of the kingdom of Sicily, died on May 3, 1309, and was succeeded in the kingdom of Naples by his son Robert.

Villani, who describes Charles as 'bello uomo del corpo, e grazioso e largo' ({Villlani. vii. 95}), on recording his death says of him:

. . . fu uno de' più larghi e graziosi signori che al suo tempo vivesse, e nel suo regno fu chiamato il secondo Alessandro per la cortesia; ma per altre virtù fu di poco valore, e magagnato in sua vecchiezza disordinatamente in vizio carnale. ({Villani. viii. 108}.)