Manfred of Sicily
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[[Image:Manfred Crowned.jpg|thumb|Manfred crowned, from the ''[[Nuova Cronica]]'' by [[Giovanni Villani]].]]
'''Manfred''' ([[Venosa]], [[1232]] –[[Benevento]] [[February 26]], [[1266]]) was the King of [[Kingdom of Sicily|Sicily]] from 1258 to 1266. He was an [[illegitimate]] son of the emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], but his mother, [[Bianca Lancia]] (or Lanzia), is reported by [[Matthew of Paris]] to have been married to the emperor while on her deathbed.
==Background==
Frederick himself appears to have regarded Manfred as legitimate, and by his [[will (law)|will]] named him as [[Principality of Taranto|Prince of Taranto]] and appointed him as the representative in [[Italy]] of his half-brother, the [[Germany|German]] king, [[Conrad IV of Germany|Conrad IV]]. Manfred, who initially bore his mother's surname, studied in [[Paris]] and [[Bologna]] and shared with his father a love of poetry and science.
At Frederick's death, Manfred, although only about 18 years old, acted loyally and with vigour in the execution of his trust. The reign was in turmoil, mainly due to riots spurred by [[Pope Innocent IV]]. Manfred was able to subdue numerous rebel cities, with the exception of [[Naples]]. When his legitimate brother [[Emperor Conrad IV|Conrad IV]] appeared in southern Italy in 1252, disembarking at [[Siponto]], his authority was quickly and generally acknowledged. Naples fell in October 1253 into the hands of Conrad. The latter, in the meantime, had grown distrustful of Manfred, stripping him of all his fiefs and reducing his authority to the principality of Taranto.
In May 1254 Conrad died of [[malaria]]. Manfred, after refusing to surrender Sicily to Innocent IV, accepted the [[Regent|regency]] on behalf of [[Conradin]], the infant son of Conrad. However, the pope having been named tutor of Conradin, he [[excommunication|excommunicated]] Manfred in July 1254. The regent decided to open negotiations with Innocent. By a treaty made in September 1254, [[Apulia]] passed under the authority of the pope, who was personally conducted by Manfred into his new possession. But Manfred’s suspicions being aroused by the demeanour of the papal retinue, and also annoyed by the occupation of [[Campania]] by papal troops, he fled to the [[Saracens]] at [[Lucera]]. Aided by Saracen allies, he defeated the papal army at [[Foggia]] on [[December 2]], [[1254]], and soon established his authority over Sicily and the Sicilian possessions on the mainland. In that year Manfred supported the [[Ghibelline]] communes in Tuscany, in particular [[Siena]], to which he provided a corps of German knights that was later instrumental in the defeat of [[Florence]] at the [[Battle of Montaperti]]. He thus reached the status of patron of the Ghibelline League. Also in that year Innocent died, succeeded by [[Alexander IV]], who immediately excommunicated Manfred. In 1257, however, Manfred crushed the papal army and settled all the rebellions, imposing his firm rule of southern Italy and receiving the title of [[vicar]] by Conradin.<!--Really? Conradin was 5 years old!-->
==Kingship==
[[Image:Armoiries Manfred de Sicile.svg|thumb|left|Coat of arms of Manfred of Hohenstaufen]]
The following year, taking advantage of a rumour that Conradin was dead, he was crowned king of Sicily at [[Palermo]] on August 10. The falsehood of this report was soon manifest; but the new king, supported by the popular voice, declined to [[abdicate]] and pointed out to Conradin’s envoys the necessity for a strong native ruler. The pope, to whom the Saracen alliance was a serious offence, declared Manfred’s coronation void. Undeterred by the excommunication Manfred sought to obtain power in central and northern Italy, where the Ghibelline leader [[Ezzelino IV da Romano]] had disappeared. He named vicars in Tuscany, [[Duchy of Spoleto|Spoleto]], [[Marche]], [[Romagna]] and [[Lombardy]]. After Montaperti he was recognized as protector of [[Tuscany]] by the citizens of Florence, who did homage to his representative, and he was chosen "Senator of the Romans" by a faction in the city. His power was also augmented by the marriage of his daughter [[Constantia of Sicily|Constance]] in 1262 to [[Peter III of Aragon]].
Terrified by these proceedings, the new [[Pope Urban IV]] excommunicated him. The pope first tried to sell the Kingdom of Sicily to [[Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall|Richard of Cornwall]] and his son, but in vain. In 1263 he was most successful with [[Charles I of Sicily|Charles, the Count of Anjou]], a brother of the [[France|French]] King [[Louis IX of France|Louis IX]], who accepted the investiture of the kingdom of Sicily at his hands. Hearing of the approach of Charles, Manfred issued a manifesto to the [[Rome|Romans]], in which he not only defended his rule over Italy but even claimed the imperial crown.
Charles' army, some 30,000 strong, entered Italy from the [[Col de Tende]] in late 1265. He soon reduced numerous Ghibelline strongholds in northern Italy and was crowned in Rome in January 1266, the pope being absent. On January 20 he set southwards and waded the [[Liri]] river, invading the Kingdom of Sicily. After some minor clashes, the rival armies met at the [[Battle of Benevento]] on [[February 26]], [[1266]], and Manfred's army was defeated. The king himself, refusing to flee, rushed into the midst of his enemies and was killed. Over his body, which was buried on the battlefield, a huge heap of stones was placed, but afterwards with the consent of the pope the remains were unearthed, cast out of the papal territory, and interred on the bank of the [[Garigliano River]], outside of the boundaries of Naples and the [[Papal States]].
Manfred was married twice. His first wife was Beatrice, daughter of [[Amadeus IV of Savoy|Amadeus IV]], count of [[Savoy]], by whom he had a daughter, [[Constantia of Sicily|Constance]], who became the wife of King [[Peter III of Aragon]]; his second wife, who died in prison in 1271, was [[Helena Angelina Doukaina]], daughter of [[Michael II Komnenos Doukas]]. Manfred's son-in-law Peter III became also King Peter I of Sicily from 1282 after the [[Sicilian Vespers]] expelled the French from the island again.
==Character and legacy==
Contemporaries praise the noble and magnanimous character of Manfred, who was renowned for his physical beauty and intellectual attainments. Among the modern day descendants of King Manfred are; His Catholic Majesty [[King Juan Carlos I of Spain]]; His Royal Highness [[Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria|Infante Carlo]], heir of Manfred to the thrones of Naples and Sicily (the [[Two Sicilies]]) and Duke of Calabria, and His Royal Highness [[Duarte Pio, Duke of Braganza|Dom Duarte]], heir to the throne of [[Portugal]] and [[Duke of Braganza]], and Her Majesty Queen [[Elizabeth II]] of Britain.
Numerous prominent members of [[United States|American]] society are also descended from King Manfred. [[Anne Radziwill]] and the late Antoni Radziwill, children of the sister-in-law of President [[John F. Kennedy]], are both descendants of King Manfred through their father Prince [[Stanislaw Radziwill]]. Members of the Lamagna and Levey families including businessman and two-time [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] congressional candidate [[Dal LaMagna]].
In the ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]] meets Manfred outside the gates of [[Purgatory]], where the spirit explains that, although he repented of his [[sin]]s in ''[[articulo mortis]]'', he must [[atone]] for his contumacy by waiting 30 years for each year he lived as an excommunicate, before being admitted to Purgatory proper.
Manfred forms the subject of dramas by [[Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach|E.B.S. Raupach]], O. Marbach and F.W. Roggee. Three letters written by Manfred are published by J. B. Carusius in ''Bibliotheca historica regni Siciliae'' ([[Palermo, Sicily|Palermo]], 1732).
Manfred's name was borrowed by the [[English people|English]] author [[Horace Walpole]] for the main character of his short novel ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'' (1764). [[Montague Summers]], in his 1924 edition of this work, showed that some details of Manfred of Sicily's real history inspired the novelist. The name was re-borrowed by [[Lord Byron]] for his dramatic poem ''[[Manfred]]'' (1817).
==References==
*{{cite book|last=Momigliano|first=Eucardio|title=Manfredi|publisher=Dell'Oglio|location=Milan|year=1963}}
*{{1911}}
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[[Category:Kings of Sicily]]
[[Category:Hohenstaufen Dynasty]]
[[Category:Military personnel killed in action]]
[[Category:1232 births|Manfred of Sicily]]
[[Category:1266 deaths|Manfred of Sicily]]
[[Category:Ancient Roman senators]]
[[Category:People excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church]]
[[ca:Manfred I de Sicília]]
[[de:Manfred (Sizilien)]]
[[es:Manfredo de Sicilia]]
[[fr:Manfred Ier de Sicile]]
[[gl:Manfredo de Hohenstaufen]]
[[ko:시칠리아의 만프레디]]
[[it:Manfredi di Sicilia]]
[[nl:Manfred van Sicilië]]
[[ja:マンフレーディ]]
[[nap:Manfredi 'e Sicilia]]
[[pl:Manfred (król Sycylii)]]
[[pt:Manfredo da Sicília]]
[[ru:Манфред Сицилийский]]
[[scn:Manfredi di Sicilia]]