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William W. Kibler
MANFRED (1232–26 February 1266)
Manfred was the natural son of Emperor Frederick II
Hohenstaufen and Bianca Lancia of Monferrato; he
closely resembled his father physically and, to a consid-
erable degree, temperamentally. Manfred was an astute
politician and courageous soldier; he was the emperor’s
intellectual soulmate, but his own personality was less
dynamic. Manfred’s career was confi ned to Italy. His
illegitimate birth limited his political effectiveness, and
he ultimately lost his kingdom to the combined forces
of the papacy, Charles of Anjou, Tuscan fi nanciers, and
Sicilian barons. The defeat of Manfred sent the Mez-
zogiorno (southern Italy) into a centuries-long decline,
the effects of which linger to the present.
Manfred may have studied at Paris and Bologna, and
he was active in the courtly culture of the kingdom of
Sicily. When Frederick died in December 1250, Man-
fred became the regent of his half brother, Conrad IV
(1250–1254), who was in Germany. Manfred was gener-
ally popular among the feudal nobles of the kingdom,
but he faced persistent opposition from important barons
and cities. In December 1251, he tried but failed to
reach an accord with Pope Innocent IV (r. 1243–1254).
Manfred may have offered to exchange recognition of
papal overlordship for the Sicilian crown. In December
1251, Conrad went to the kingdom to establish his own
royal authority. He revoked all of Manfred’s fi efs except
the principality of Taranto and forced the humiliated
Manfred to remain at court.
Conrad died in May 1254. Guelf chroniclers insist
that Manfred poisoned him, but other sources do not
concur. Manfred then faced great diffi culties. Conrad
had named the church as guardian of his son, Conra-
din, and appointed the leader of the German barons,
Berthold of Hohenburg, as his bailiff. Innocent IV
invested Edmund, the second son of King Henry III of
England, with the kingdom. Meanwhile, Pietro Ruffo,
who controlled Calabria and Sicily, played Manfred
against Innocent.
Most of the nobility of the kingdom rallied to Man-
fred, whom they considered the natural regent of young
Conradin. The pope refused to recognize Conradin’s
rights and demanded possession of the kingdom. Open
warfare ensued, and Innocent excommunicated Manfred
and his adherents. Manfred was unprepared for war and
quickly sued for peace. During the negotiations he killed
a papal partisan and fl ed to Lucera, the imperial Muslim
stronghold near Foggia. Manfred seized the treasury of
Frederick II and Conrad IV and raised a powerful army.
He defeated the papal army near Foggia. Almost all of
Apulia had fallen into his hands by the time Innocent
died (10 August 1254).
Manfred could not placate Innocent’s successor,
Pope Alexander IV (r. 1254–1261), but Alexander
actually put little effort into the vendetta of the papacy
against the Hohenstaufen. Manfred was thus free to
put the kingdom in order. By 1257, he had imprisoned
Berthold and banished Pietro Ruffo. On the false rumor
that Conradin had died, the Sicilian barons proclaimed
Manfred king. He was crowned at Palermo on 10 August- Manfred soon became deeply involved in central
and northern Italy. He attempted to create a federation
of barons, cities, and factions under his leadership by
providing military assistance, negotiating treaties and
marriages, and courting urban factions. In 1258, he
joined in a promising but unsuccessful alliance with
the despot of Epirus, Michael II, against the Byzantine
emperor, Michael VIII Palaeologus. In 1262, Manfred
arranged a marriage between his daughter Constance
and the infante, Peter of Aragon; this marriage would
later justify Aragon’s intervention in the Sicilian Vespers
uprising of 1282.
Manfred reached the height of his power when he and
the Ghibelline factions of Florence and Siena defeated
the Guelfs of Tuscany at Montaperti on 4 September - He subsequently posed as lord of Italy and sent
vicars throughout the peninsula, but he did not have
the force to sustain his ambitions. When the energetic
Urban IV (r. 1261–1264) became pope, he renewed the
assault on Manfred. Urban found a champion in Charles
of Anjou, count of Provence and brother of Louis IX of
France. Louis had previously blocked papal overtures to
Charles, but Urban argued that Manfred had unlawfully
dispossessed his nephew Conradin, and this reasoning
apparently laid the scruples of the saintly king to rest.
The pope also persuaded Florentine and Sienese bankers
to fi nance an invasion of the kingdom of Sicily.
Late in 1262, Manfred attempted to make a deal with
Urban, but the negotiations collapsed. The pope invested
Charles with the kingdom in December 1262. War soon
followed. Manfred’s allies scored several early victories
against papal and Guelf forces and almost captured the
city of Rome in 1264. After Urban died, the new pope,
Clement IV (r. 1265–1268), quickly confi rmed the treaty
with Charles, who left Provence for Rome in May 1265.
Manfred dispatched a manifesto to Rome, in which he
revived Frederick’s argument that the Romans—not the
pope—had the right to choose the emperor. There is no
extant reply. Charles arrived in Rome on 28 June 1265
and took charge of the war against Manfred.
After an unsuccessful attack on Rome in August
1265, Manfred returned to his kingdom to fi nd his
domestic enemies ranged against him and his treasury
empty. Many of his allies went over to Charles, made
peace with the pope, or became neutral. In December
MANDEVILLE, JEAN DE