Isabella as well. However, Hugh and Helena stuck to the policy of
‘masterly inactivity’that had served them so well over the course of
previous years. This approach paid off when Charles tried to cut through
the whole problem by making his son, Philip of Taranto, the suzerain of
all Angevin Greece. This proved unacceptable to Florent and Isabella,
who soon found themselves in the awkward position of insisting on the
homage that was owed to them, whilst refusing to perform it to Prince
Philip. All of this was eventually resolved, but only after Hugh’s death.^158
The renewal of Hugh’s interests in Greece could only take place so
long as the War of the Vespers was winding down or in abeyance. This
happy state of affairs came to an end in December 1295, however, when
Frederick, the younger brother of James of Aragon, declared himself
king of Sicily. Just over six months later, Charles II appointed Hugh as
captain-general of Apulia and the Terra d’Otranto, charging him specif-
ically with the defence of Brindisi.^159 Once again, for the third andfinal
time, Hugh’s nemesis was Roger of Lauria, who disembarked troops by
night at San Cataldo and surprised Hugh at Lecce. Although the gory
details are lacking, it is clear that Hugh was killed trying to protect his
MediterraneanHaupstadt.^160
Hugh’s son and heir, Walter V, can be described as a veritable child of
the Vespers. Born in the mid-to-late 1270s, he can barely have remem-
bered a time before hostilities broke out between the houses of Anjou and
Aragon. Indeed, at around the age of ten, as we have seen, he was handed
over by his father as a hostage whilst Hugh began to raise the ransom.
Hence, it would seem that Walter spent his formative years growing up
among his enemies in the castle of Augusta, on the east coast of Sicily.^161
It is tempting to speculate about the implications of this period on
Walter’s life as a whole, and especially on his subsequent relationship
with the ‘Catalan Company’. Yet almost the only concrete piece of
evidence we have is a throw-away remark by the Company’s chronicler,
Ramon Muntaner, who noted that the adult Walter could speak Catalan,
and was well versed in Aragonese ways and customs.^162
(^158) The best account of all this, in English, is in K. M. Setton, The Papacy and the Levant,
1204 – 1571 , 4 vols. (Philadelphia, 1976–84), i, 434–6.
(^159) De Sassenay,Brienne, 163.
(^160) Ibid., 163. Longnon gives a precise date for Hugh’s death: 9 August 1296 (L’empire latin
de Constantinople et la principautée de Morée, 275).
(^161) De Sassenay,Brienne, 161.
(^162) With an eye on the future, though, Muntaner observes that the young Walter‘made a
pretence of liking Catalan people’. SeeThe Catalan Expedition to the East: From the
Chronicleof Ramon Muntaner, tr. R. D. Hughes (Woodbridge, 2006), ch. 44. There is
also an older translation by Lady Goodenough, 2 vols. (London, 1920–1).
134 The Angevins and Athens (c. 1267–1311)