Read Online An Armchair Traveller's History of Apulia by Desmond Seward, Susan Mountgarret - Free Book Online Page B
Book: An Armchair Traveller's History of Apulia by Desmond Seward, Susan Mountgarret
Read Free Book Online
Authors: Desmond Seward, Susan Mountgarret
Ads: Link
Henry III of England, without success. But in 1263 it was accepted by the ruthless Charles of Anjou, brother of the French king, St Louis.
Manfred ignored the threat and spent all his time hunting in Apulia. When the eagle-faced Charles arrived at the head of a French army in February 1266, Manfred met him outside Benevento, with heavily armoured German knights, Saracens and the barons of Apulia. The king sent in his Germans, his crack troops, too soon, their charge was beaten off and the Apulian barons rode away. Manfred, who might have saved himself, died fighting. Pope Clement IV wrote, “Our dear son Charles is in peaceful possession of the whole realm, having in his hands the putrid corpse of that pestilential man, his wife, his children and his treasure.”
An Apulian Dominican recorded that “on 28 February news arrived that King Manfred and his army had been routed near Benevento... After a few days it was learnt that King Manfred had been found dead on the battlefield. Queen Helena, waiting for news at Lucera, fainted from grief. The poor young woman did not know what to do, since all the barons and courtiers left, as they usually do in such cases.”
The only people who did not abandon her were some citizens of Trani – Messer Monualdo and his wife and a Messer Amerusio. They advised her to go to their city and sail for Epirus with her children, Amerusio sending a message to get a galley ready. “They reached Trani on the night of 3 March but could not sail because the wind was wrong”, continues the friar. “Queen Helena and Amerusio hid in the castle, where they had been warmly welcomed by the castellan.” But agents of Pope Clement discovered they were there, forcing the castellan to arrest them and raise the drawbridge. On 7 March King Charles’s men-at-arms came for the queen, “and they took her and her four children with all their treasure away by night, no one knows where.”
Two years later, Manfred’s nephew, Conradin of Hohenstaufen (Emperor Conrad’s son) marched down from Germany. Many supporters were waiting for him in Apulia, where Manfred’s Saracens still held out at Lucera. But Charles intercepted Conradin’s army, capturing and beheading the sixteen year old king.
Meanwhile, Manfred’s wife and children had been imprisoned at Nocera, where Queen Helena died in 1271. The girl was rescued after eighteen years, but the boys remained in prison for the rest of their lives, King Charles’s successor considerately ordering their chains to be removed in 1295. One at least was still alive in 1309, the very last Hohenstaufen.
Manfred left a no less abiding memory than Frederick II. “ Biondo era e bello e di gentile aspetto ” (“golden hair, and noble dignity his features show’d”), wrote Dante, born the year before he died, who placed him in Purgatory – with the certainty of going to Heaven after he had purged his sins. This impression of the fair-haired king’s good looks and charm was echoed by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani, Dante’s near contemporary, although he had some unpleasant things to say about him:
Manfred was beautiful in person, and very like his father, but even more dissolute in every way; a musician and singer, he loved having jesters, minstrels and beautiful whores around him, and always dressed in green. He was unusually generous, courteous and amiable, and as a result much loved and popular; yet his entire way of life was given up to sensuality, as he cared for neither God nor the saints, only for fleshly pleasures.
It has to be admitted, too, that the king also had a slightly sinister reputation; for instance, that he owned a magic ring that could summon up demons.
You are just as close to King Manfred at Castel del Monte or Andria as you are to the Emperor Frederick, and his name is commemorated all over Apulia, although he built (or rebuilt) fewer castles than his father. Like Frederick, he loved Puglia, whose people have never
Manfred ignored the threat and spent all his time hunting in Apulia. When the eagle-faced Charles arrived at the head of a French army in February 1266, Manfred met him outside Benevento, with heavily armoured German knights, Saracens and the barons of Apulia. The king sent in his Germans, his crack troops, too soon, their charge was beaten off and the Apulian barons rode away. Manfred, who might have saved himself, died fighting. Pope Clement IV wrote, “Our dear son Charles is in peaceful possession of the whole realm, having in his hands the putrid corpse of that pestilential man, his wife, his children and his treasure.”
An Apulian Dominican recorded that “on 28 February news arrived that King Manfred and his army had been routed near Benevento... After a few days it was learnt that King Manfred had been found dead on the battlefield. Queen Helena, waiting for news at Lucera, fainted from grief. The poor young woman did not know what to do, since all the barons and courtiers left, as they usually do in such cases.”
The only people who did not abandon her were some citizens of Trani – Messer Monualdo and his wife and a Messer Amerusio. They advised her to go to their city and sail for Epirus with her children, Amerusio sending a message to get a galley ready. “They reached Trani on the night of 3 March but could not sail because the wind was wrong”, continues the friar. “Queen Helena and Amerusio hid in the castle, where they had been warmly welcomed by the castellan.” But agents of Pope Clement discovered they were there, forcing the castellan to arrest them and raise the drawbridge. On 7 March King Charles’s men-at-arms came for the queen, “and they took her and her four children with all their treasure away by night, no one knows where.”
Two years later, Manfred’s nephew, Conradin of Hohenstaufen (Emperor Conrad’s son) marched down from Germany. Many supporters were waiting for him in Apulia, where Manfred’s Saracens still held out at Lucera. But Charles intercepted Conradin’s army, capturing and beheading the sixteen year old king.
Meanwhile, Manfred’s wife and children had been imprisoned at Nocera, where Queen Helena died in 1271. The girl was rescued after eighteen years, but the boys remained in prison for the rest of their lives, King Charles’s successor considerately ordering their chains to be removed in 1295. One at least was still alive in 1309, the very last Hohenstaufen.
Manfred left a no less abiding memory than Frederick II. “ Biondo era e bello e di gentile aspetto ” (“golden hair, and noble dignity his features show’d”), wrote Dante, born the year before he died, who placed him in Purgatory – with the certainty of going to Heaven after he had purged his sins. This impression of the fair-haired king’s good looks and charm was echoed by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani, Dante’s near contemporary, although he had some unpleasant things to say about him:
Manfred was beautiful in person, and very like his father, but even more dissolute in every way; a musician and singer, he loved having jesters, minstrels and beautiful whores around him, and always dressed in green. He was unusually generous, courteous and amiable, and as a result much loved and popular; yet his entire way of life was given up to sensuality, as he cared for neither God nor the saints, only for fleshly pleasures.
It has to be admitted, too, that the king also had a slightly sinister reputation; for instance, that he owned a magic ring that could summon up demons.
You are just as close to King Manfred at Castel del Monte or Andria as you are to the Emperor Frederick, and his name is commemorated all over Apulia, although he built (or rebuilt) fewer castles than his father. Like Frederick, he loved Puglia, whose people have never
Similar Books
