Toynbee "Carlo_3"

D. places C. M. in the Heaven of Venus among the spirits of lovers (Spititi Amanti), [Par. ix. 1]; l'un [lume], [Par. viii. 31]; luce, [Par. vii. 43]; signor, [Par. vii. 86]; lui, [Par. vii. 94]; elli, [Par. vii. 94], [Par. vii. 115]; lume santo, [Par. ix. 78] [Venere, Cielo di]; the spirit of C. M. approaches D. and Beatrice from among a number of other spirits and addresses D., quoting the first line of one of his canzoni (Rime lxxix. 1) ([Par. viii. 31-39]); D., with the approval of B., asks who he is ([Par. viii. 40-48]); C. M. replies, saying that his life on earth had been but short, otherwise he might have prevented much evil ([Par. viii. 49-51]); after explaining why D. does not recognize him ([Par. viii. 52-54]), and referring to their acquaintance during his lifetime, and to D.'s love for him ([Par. viii. 55-57]), he goes on to say that if he had lived he would have been count of Provence ([Par. viii. 58-60]) [Provenza], king of Apulia ([Par. viii. 61-63]) [Puglia], and king of Hungary ([Par. viii. 64-66]) [Ungaria]; he adds that had it not been for the misgovernment which led to the 'Sicilian Vespers' and the expulsion of the French from Sicily, the descendants through himself of Charles I of Anjou and of the Emperor Rudolf (whose son-in-law he was), would have ruled in 'Trinacria' (i.e. the island of Sicily) ([Par. viii. 67-75]) [Sicilia: Trinacria] (see below); he then proceeds to reproach his brother Robert (afterwards king of Naples) for his avarice and for the greed of his Catalan followers, contrasting his niggardliness with the open-handedness of his forebears ([Par. viii. 76-84]) [Catalogna]; in reply to a question of D. he explains how, if Nature be thwarted, a good seed may produce evil fruit ([Par. viii. 85-135]), men's natural dispositions being influenced by circumstances ([Par. viii. 136-148]), as in the case of his own brothers, Louis who, being a king's son, became a monk ([Par. viii. 145-156]), and Robert who became a king, when he had better have been a monk ([Par. viii. 147]) [Luigi_3: Roberto_2]; C. M. having ceased, D. apostrophizes his daughter (or widow) Clemence, and tells her how C. M. had foretold the future wrongs of his line (with special allusion probably to the exclusion of Charles Robert from the throne of Naples by his uncle Robert), but had bidden him not to reveal them ([Par. ix. 1-6]) [Carlo_6: Clemenza]; meanwhile the spirit of C. M. had returned whence it came ([Par. viii. 7-9]). With regard to [Par. viii. 67-75], it is noteworthy that in the descendants of Charles Martel the contending factions of Italy would have been united, Rudolf (his father-in-law) being, as emperor, the head of the Ghibellines, and Charles of Anjou (his grandfather) being the great supporter of the Guelphs. It is not improbable, as Butler suggests, that Charles had some such result in view when he arranged the alliance. Villani says:

. . . lo re Carlo . . . il [sc. Ridolfo] temette forte; e per essere bene di lui, diede a Carlo Martello figliuolo del figliuolo, la figliuola del detto re Ridolfo per meglie. (vii. 55.)

In September 1289, King Charles II, Charles Martel's father, created his son vicar of the realm, as he himself was obliged to go to Catalonia to serve a prison term. In April 1292 Charles Martel was by his mother Mary invested with the kingdom of Hungary, whereupon he was privileged to bear the title: 'Karolus Primogenitus Illustris Jerusalem et Sicilie Regis dei gratia Ungarie. Dalmacie. Croacie. Rame. Servie. Lodomerie. Cumanie. Bulgarieque Rex. Princeps Salernitanus et honoris Montis Sancti Angeli Dominus.' But he never reigned in Hungary, the kingdom being seized by Andrew III (1290-1301), who was first cousin to Stephen IV (V), his maternal grandfather [Ungaria: Table XII].

[See C. Minieri Riccio, 'Genealogia di Carlo II d' Angio Re di Napoli ', Arch. stor. prov. napoletane vii (1882), 5-67; and A. De Regibus, 'Le contese degli Angioini di Napoli per il trono di Ungheria (1290-1310', Riv. stor. ital. v. (1934), 38-85, 264-305]

. . . Il re Carlo si tornò a Napoli, e 'l giorno di nostra Donna di Settembre prossimo il detto re fece in Napoli grande corte e festa, e fece cavaliere Carlo Martello suo primogenito figliuolo, e fecelo coronare del reame d'Ungheria per uno cardinale legato del papa, e per più arcivescovi e vescovi. E per la detta coronazione e festa più altri cavalieri novelli si feciono il giorno, Franceschi, e Provenzali, e del Regno, e spezialmente Napoletani, per lo re e per lo figliuolo, e fu grande corte e onorevole, e ciò fece lo re Carlo, perocchè era morto in quello anno il re d'Ungheria, del quale non rimase niuno figliuolo maschio nè altra reda, che la reina Maria moglie del detto re Carlo, e madre del detto Carlo Martello, a cui succedeva per ereditaggio il detto reame d'Ungheria. Ma morto il detto re d'Ungheria, Andreasso disceso per legnaggio della casa d'Ungheria entro nel reame, e la maggiore parte tra per forza e per amore ne conquisto, e fecesene fare signore e re. (Villani, vii. 135.)

In 1291 he married Clemence of Habsburg, daughter of the Emperor Rudolf I, by whom he had three children, Charles Robert (Carobert), Clemence, who married Louis X of France, and Beatrice. [Carlo_6: Table VIII.] In the spring of 1293/4 he visited Florence, where he remained more than three weeks, awaiting the arrival of his father from France; he became very popular with the Florentines, and it was on this occasion probably that Dante made his acquaintance ([Par. viii. 55-57]). [See E. Moore, SiD, iii, pp. 42-43.]

. . . andò il re Carlo in Francia . . . e lui tornando . . . si passò per la città di Firenze nella quale era già venuto da Napoli per farglisi incontro Carlo Martello suo figliuolo re d'Ungheria, e con sua compagnia duecento cavalieri a sproni d'oro, Franceschi, e Provenzali, e del Regno, tutti giovani, vestiti col re d'una partita di scarlatto e verde bruno e tutti con selle d'una assisa a palafreno rilevate d ariento e d'oro, coll'arme a quartieri a gigli ad oro e accerchiata rosso e d'argento, cioè l'arme d'Ungheria che parea la più nobile e ricca compagnia che anche avesse uno giovane re con seco. E in Firenze stette più di venti dì, attendendo il re suo padre e' fratelli, e da' Fiorentini gli fu fatto grande onore, ed egli mostrò grande amore a' Fiorentini, ond'ebbe molto la grazia di tutti. (Villani, viii. 13.)

Benvenuto says:

Cum isto [Carolo Martello] Dantes habuit certam familiaritatem, cum venisset semel Florentiam . . . quo tempore Dantes florebat in patria, juvenis viginti quinque annorum; qui tunc ardens amore, vacans sonis et cantibus, uncis amoris promeruit gratiam istius juvenis Caroli.

Benvenuto says that C. M. died in the same year as his wife ('Carolus iste uno et eodem anno reddidit animam Deo cum Clementia uxore sua'), but this is a mistake, as Clemence did not die until 1301, and D. represents C. M. as being dead in 1300. The actual date of his death (Aug. 19, 1295) is proved by a letter written, under date Aug. 30, 1295, by Boniface VIII to Mary of Hungary, appointing her regent of the kingdom of Naples and condoling with her on the death of her son:

Charissimae in Christo filiae Mariae Reginae Siciliae illustri. Pridem, non absque gravi nostrae mentis amaricatione, percepto, quod clarae memoriae Carolus rex Hungariae, charissimi in Christo filii nostri Caroli regis Siciliae illustris ac tuus primogenitus, ipsiusque regis in regno Siciliae vicarius generalis, mortem, sicut Domino placuit, apud Neapolim subierat temporalem, nos attentae considerationis studio, prout ad nostrum spectat officium, attendentes, quod in regno ipso, rege absente praefato, non habebatur qui vices exerceret ipsius. . . .Datum Anagniae, tertio Kal. septembris, anno I.

[See G. Todeschini, Scritti su Dante (Vicenza, 1872), i, pp. 173-206; and M. Schipa, Un principe amico di Dante (Carlomartello d'Angid) (Napoli, 1926).]