Charles I, king of Naples and Sicily

Charles I(Charles of Anjou), 1227–85, king of Naples and Sicily (1266–85), count of Anjou and Provence, youngest brother of King Louis IX of France. He took part in Louis's crusades to Egypt (1248) and Tunisia (1270). After obtaining Provence by marriage (1246), he extended his influence into Piedmont. He became senator of Rome (1263, 1265–78) and undertook to champion the papal cause againstManfred在那不勒斯和西西里王国。在奖励,他was crowned king (1266) by Pope Clement IV. Charles defeated (1266) Manfred at Benevento and defeated and executedConradinin 1268. As leader of the Guelphs, or papal faction, he gained political hegemony in Italy and won suzerainty over several cities in Tuscany, Piedmont, and Lombardy, but his overbearing policies led to a cooling of his relations with the papacy. Planning to establish his own empire, he allied himself with the deposed Byzantine emperor,Baldwin II, againstMichael VIIIand fought for years in the Balkans. Corfu, Epirus, and Albania were taken, but the crushing taxes necessitated by his wars and his appointment of oppressive French officials to exact them led to theSicilian Vespers(1282). The ensuing war against the Sicilian rebels andPeter IIIof Aragón, chosen by the rebels as king of Sicily, continued under Charles's son and successor,Charles II. Charles I was the founder of the firstAngevindynasty in Naples.

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