Chapter 6ROBERT THE WISE OF NAPLES,
1309-43
HENRY VII AND THE ITALIAN CRISIS
In the fourteenth century two Kingdoms of Sicily vied for
influence in Italian affairs, and one, that based on the main-
land, also sought again and again to reabsorb its island rival.
Such conflicts were a severe drain on the resources of the
combatants; they also necessitated increasing reliance on
powerful regional nobles and on foreign banking houses. The
dissolution of political power was accompanied, as a result,
by economic dislocation, particularly in the countryside. The
fourteenth century saw, therefore, a significant change in the
character of the southern realms; the open question is how
permanent the damage was, the more so since the calamity
of war was compounded by the mortality of plague. In Sicily,
recovery was stimulated by the arrival at the end of the four-
teenth century of the royal house of Aragon-Catalonia, which
took advantage of the extinction of the cadet Aragonese
dynasty of Sicily to reimpose its authority, with growing suc-
cess and with beneficial effects on the island's economy. On
the mainland, recovery was hindered by the persistence of
weak government, characterised by serious internal strife
within the ruling Angevin dynasty itself.
The accession of Robert of Anjou, 'the Wise', in 1309
coincided with developments which were greatly to influence
the Angevin kingdom of Naples. At the end of^1308 Henry,
count of Luxembourg was elected King of the Romans by
the German princes. During the same decade the residence
of the popes became fixed not in Italy but at Avignon in the
Angevin county of Provence. The proximity of the popes to