Manfred (măn`frəd, Ger. män`frāt), c.1232–1266, king of Sicily (1258–66), the last Hohenstaufen Hohenstaufen (hō'ənshtou`fən)
..... Click the link for more information. on that throne. An illegitimate son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred was regent in Sicily for his brother Conrad IV Conrad IV, 1228–54, German king (1237–54), king of Sicily and of Jerusalem (1250–54), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II . He was elected (1237) king of the Romans at his father's instigation after Frederick had deposed Conrad's older brother
..... Click the link for more information. . Conrad died in 1254, and Manfred seized the regency for Conrad's young son, Conradin Conradin (kŏn`rədĭn)
..... Click the link for more information. . However, Pope Innocent IV Innocent IV, d. 1254, pope (1243–54), a Genoese named Sinibaldo Fieschi, a distinguished jurist who studied and later taught law at the Univ. of Bologna; successor of Celestine IV. He was of a noble family.
..... Click the link for more information. and his successors, Alexander IV and Urban IV Urban IV, d. 1264, pope (1261–64), a Frenchman (b. Troyes) named Jacques Pantaléon; successor of Alexander IV. In the pontifical service he was sent on missions into N Germany; then he was made bishop of Verdun (1253) and Latin patriarch of Jerusalem
..... Click the link for more information. , were determined to stamp out the Hohenstaufen. Papal forces invaded Sicily, and Manfred was forced to restore (1254) the kingdom to the papacy, retaining only the duchy of Taranto in fief from the pope. Soon Manfred rebelled, reconquered S Italy and Sicily, assumed leadership of the antipapal forces throughout Italy, and had himself crowned (1258) at Palermo. Urban IV reacted by investing Charles of Anjou with Sicily as Charles I 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).
..... Click the link for more information. . Invading Italy, Charles defeated Manfred at Benevento (1266). Manfred died in the battle, and Conradin was later captured and executed. After the Sicilian Vespers Sicilian Vespers, in Italian history, name given the rebellion staged by the Sicilians against the Angevin French domination of Sicily; the rebellion broke out at Palermo at the start of Vespers on Easter Monday, Mar. 30, 1282.
..... Click the link for more information. (1282), Manfred's son-in-law, Peter III of Aragón, was chosen king of Sicily and began a new dynasty.

Manfred

Italian Manfredi

(born c. 1232—died Feb. 26, 1266, near Benevento, Kingdom of Naples) King of Sicily (1258–66). Born out of wedlock, the son of Frederick II, he was made vicar of Italy and Sicily for his half brother Conrad IV, but, following Conrad's death, Manfred sought the Sicilian crown for himself. He resisted Pope Alexander IV's efforts to assign the throne to an English rival, and, after fighting off a papal army, Manfred was crowned king in 1258. He became a defender of the Ghibellines in northern Italy (see Guelphs and Ghibellines). Pope Urban IV declared Charles of Anjou (later Charles I) king of Sicily, and Manfred fell in battle against Charles's army.

Manfred

magician, living alone in an Alpine castle, broods on his alienation from mankind and on his destruction of the woman he loved. [Br. Poetry: Byron “Manfred”]

See : Remorse