NAP 
fupport of the Ghibelline or imperial party, which fo ex- 
afperated the pope, that all the thunders of the church 
were again difcharged againft him, but with no effect. 
Meantime ambafladors arrived from Germany with the 
intelligence that Conradin was living, and claimed the 
crown as his birthright. To their remonftrances Man¬ 
fred replied, that he had conquered the kingdom from 
two popes, and could not think of refigning it, but 
would leave it to Conradin after his death. His fuccefs 
now rendered him refpefted by foreign princes; and he 
married one of his daughters to the foil of James king of 
Arragon, and another to the marquis of Montferrat. 
He founded a new city on the Adriatic, to which he gave 
the name of Manfredonia, and peopled it with the in¬ 
habitants of Siponto, which he deftroyed on account of 
its unhealthy iituation. His troops in Tufcany gained 
a fignai viftory over the Guelfs, in confequence of which 
the city of Florence acknowledged his fovereignty. 
A ftorm at length began to gather over his head. 
Urban IV. who had fucceeded to the popedom in 1263, 
publiffied a crufade againft him, and, in the following 
year, conferred the inveftiture of Naples and Sicily upon 
Charles of Anjou, brother of the French king Louis IX. 
Charles prepared to invade the country, and Manfred 
was equally diligent in making difpofitions to refill; him. 
He was, however, betrayed by his barons, who fecretly 
negociated with his rival; and in February 1266, Manfred, 
engaging the French army near Benevento, after fighting 
with great valour, was defeated and flain. As an ex¬ 
communicated perfofl, his body was thrown into a ditch 
and buried under a heap of ftones. The pope afterwards 
ordered it to be taken up, and carried out of the territo¬ 
ries of the church. Manfred has not only been ftigma- 
tifed as an ufurper, but he has been charged, by writers 
attached to the papal fee and to the houfe of Anjou, with 
the blacked: crimes, fuch as the poifoning of his father 
and brother, and other atrocities. It is certain, however, 
that he difplayed both the talents and virtues of a great 
fovereign ; that he was accomplilhed beyond moft princes 
of his time; and that, if he were guilty of criminal am¬ 
bition in gaining his crown, he wore it with honour. 
Charles count of Anjou now fucceeded without farther 
queftion. Conradin, however, foon after laid claim to 
Sicily, and marched with an army into Italy; but was 
entirely defeated and taken prifoner by Charles. On 
the 26th of Odlober, 1269, this young prince, then but 
feventeen years of age, was conducted, with the duke of 
Auftria, Girando da Pifa, and fome others, to a fcaffold 
in the market-place of Naples, where they were publicly 
beheaded, to the eternal infamy of king Charles, and the 
general regret of the fpedtators. Soon after this execu¬ 
tion, his mother arrived at Naples, with a large fum of 
money and many jewels for the ranforn of her l’on; but, 
finding him dead, Ihe caufed his body to be taken up and 
buried in a convent, whither in forrow (he retired for life. 
Charles, being pleafed with the fituation of Naples, 
caufed Cartel Nuovo to be rebuilt after the French falhion, 
and adorned the city with feveral new churches and mo- 
nafteries. He repaired and ftrengthened the fortifications; 
caufed the ftreets of the city to be finely paved with fquare 
ftones, taken out of the Via Appia; and, to encourage 
traffic, made a new market-place, much larger than the 
former. He particularly enlarged the univerfity, and be¬ 
llowed upon it many new prerogatives and privileges, 
promifing his royal protedlion to the youth of all nations 
who fliould go thither to ftudy. He, however, entirely 
loft the affeftions of his fubjefts by his arbitrary and op- 
preffive government; and difobliged the pope by refuting 
to give his daughter in marriage to one of the Orfini. 
Nicholas, therefore, refolved to humble him. Charles 
had refolved on an expedition againft Conftantinople; 
and for this purpofe had fitted out a fleet of 100 galleys, 
30 large fliips, 200 tranfports, befides many other l'maller 
veflels, on-board of which he intended to embark jo ,000 
■borfe, and a numerous army on foot. This formidable 
VoL. XVI. No. 1x33. 
L E S. 337 
armament greatly alarmed the emperor Michael Paieo- 
logus; for which reafon he entered into a negotiation with 
John di Procida, a noble Salernitan, lord of the ifle of 
Procida in the bay of Naples, who had formed a fcheme 
fora general revolt in the ifland of Sicily. John, though 
a nobleman, was alfo a phyfician, and had been counfellor 
to two former princes, and even to Charles himfelf; but, 
being ftripped of his ellate by the king under pretence of 
treafon, and his wife being debauched by the French, he 
retired to Conftantia queen of Arragon, where he was 
created a baron of the kingdom of Valencia, by her huf- 
band king Peter, and lord of Luxen, Benizzano, and Palma. 
As he was greatly exafperated againft the French, he em¬ 
ployed many fpies both.in Puglia and Sicily ; and, being 
informed that the Sicilians were totally difaffefted to the 
French, he came to the ifland in difguife, and concerted 
a plan with the moft powerful of the malcontents for 
a revolution in favour of Conftantia, though Ihe de. 
rived her right only as being the daughter of Manfred. 
Procida then fet out for Conftantinople, where, in fome 
private conferences with the emperor, he perfuaded him, 
that the moft probable means of defeating Charles’s fcheme 
was by affifting the Spaniards and Sicilian malcontents. 
Paleologus accordingly granted him a large fum of money, 
and on his departure lent one of his fecretaries along with 
him, who, landing in Sicily, had a conference with the 
chief confpirators. John, having received letters from 
them, difguifed himfelf in the habit of a Francifcan, and 
went to Suriano in the neighbourhood of Rome. As he 
well knew the enmity which fubfifted between the pope 
and king Charles, he difclofed his defign to his holinels; 
who readily entered into his meafures, wrote to Peter to 
haften his armament, promifing him the inveftiture of the 
ifland as foon as he had taken pofl'effion of it; and, by re- 
fufing the affiltance he had promiled to Charles, obliged 
him for the prefent to delay his expedition. In the be¬ 
ginning of the year 1280, Procida returned to Arragon, 
and, by fhowing the letters from the pope and Sicilian 
barons, prevailed on Peter to embark in his defign, by 
alluring him of the affiltance of Paleologus. This king 
of Arragon accordingly prepared a formidable fleet under 
pretence of invading Africa, and is even faid to have re¬ 
ceived 20,000 ducats from Charles, in order to affilt him 
in his preparations. 
But, while John went on thus fuccefsfully with his 
fcheme, all his meafures were in dangerof being broken by 
the death of pope Nicholas. The new pope, Martin IV. 
w’as entirely in theintereft of Charles, on whom, in 1281, 
he conferred the fenatorial dignity at Rome. Procida, 
however, ftiil refolved to profecute his lcheme; and, 
leaving Italy, had another conferrence with the confpir'a- 
tors in Sicily; after which, he again went to Conftanti¬ 
nople, and obtained from Paleologus 30,000 ounces of 
gold, with which he immediately returned to Arragon. 
The death of Nicholas had damped the ardour of Peter ; 
but, being urged with great earneftnels by John, he again 
renewed his preparations; w'hich alarmed the pope and 
the king of France. In confequence of this, they lent a- 
meftage to him, defiring to know againft wdiat Saracens 
he deligned to employ his armament. In this particular 
Peter refufed to fatisfy them; upon w’hich they earneftly 
counfelled Charles to guard againft an invafion: blithe 
negledled their advice, being wholly intent on his eaftern 
expedition, and encouraged by a revolt which had hap¬ 
pened in Greece; and, to facilitate his expedition, he pre¬ 
vailed on the pope to excommunicate the Greeks, on 
pretence that they had broken fome of the articles of 
union concluded at the council of Lyons a few years 
before. 
Peter in the mean time continued his preparations 
with great diligence, intending to put to lea the follow¬ 
ing fummer. Procida had returned to Palermo, to wait 
for a favourable opportunity of putting his defign in 
execution, which was foon afforded him by the French. 
On Eailer Monday, March 30, 1282, the chief confpirators 
6 X had 
