THE \'.'ESTERN MEDITERRAI\EAN KINGDOMS 1200-1500directly in north Italian politics. Ludwig of Bavaria posed
a greater danger to the pope than to King Robert. He sur-
rounded himself with scholars critical of papal pretensions,
such as the political theorist Marsiglia of Padua and the phi-
losopher William of Ockham. He scorned papal excommun-
ication (1324); he appointed his own pope, the Spiritual
Franciscan Nicholas V, who was as a matter of fact a native
of Robert's kingdom (1328): a puppet pope, but a shrewd
choice, since John XXII had condemned the doctrine of the
'absolute poverty' of Christ and had persecuted the Spiritual
Franciscans who were its main proponents. Nicholas V then
crowned Ludwig as emperor, a title few of course recognised.
Robert of Anjou showed little sign of being greatly scared by
Ludwig, even when the emperor was crowned in Rome in
- He seems to have reasoned that wars in Tuscany would
distract Ludwig from interference in Neapolitan affairs. An-
other dimension to Robert's attitude was probably his irrita-
tion atJohn XXII. Whether its source lay in the excessively
vigorous attempts of this aggressive pope to guide Angevin
policy, or whether it lay in Robert's affection for the Spiritual
Franciscans whom John persecuted, the late 1320s saw the
paths of Robert and John diverge.^17
This is not to say that the Angevins failed to recognise
the danger of a Ghibelline revival in Tuscany. The brilliant
soldier Castruccio Castracani frequently, though not con-
stantly, gained the upper hand in battles with the Guelfs. A
whole series of victories brought Robert's enemies power
and influence in the Romagna by 1315, and in Tuscany by
1325; notable were the Ghibelline victories at Altopascio
(May, 1325), and further north at Zappolino (November,
1325). The Guelfs were increasingly on the defensive; even
the Florentines thought they could only guarantee their
liberties by accepting an Angevin governor. Robert had
tried to foist one on them as long before as 1317, but the
Florentines insisted that a royal vicar would be incompatible
with their traditions of freedom. But in 1325 they offered
the seigneury of the city to Robert's heir, Charles duke of
Calabria. He was to bring with him several hundred knights,
and he was to receive 100,000 florins per annum from the - E. Leonard, Les Angevins de Naples (Paris, 1954); Italian edn, Gli Angioini
di Napoli (Milan, 1967), pp. 302-35.