Battle of Tagliacozzo

The Battle of Tagliacozzo was fought on 23 August 1268 between the Ghibelline supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen and the Guelph army of Charles of Anjou. The battle represented the last act of Hohenstaufen power in Italy. The capture and execution of Conradin several months after the battle also marked the fall of the family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.

Antecedents

The German emperors of the Hohenstaufen line, who had inherited the kingdom of Sicily from its Norman rulers in 1194, had continually attempted to consolidate their more long-standing claims to northern Italy as well—an ambition which was vehemently opposed by many northern Italian states and by the Papacy. The resulting struggle between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire split the loyalties of many Italians and led to factionalism, the resulting factions being termed the Guelphs and Ghibellines. The death of the German emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen in 1250 in the midst of this struggle eventually found his legitimate grandson and heir as King of Sicily, Conradin, in southern Germany, and Sicily under the rule of Conradin's uncle, Manfred of Sicily, the illegitimate son of Frederick II. Manfred ruled in Sicily at first along with his legitimate half-brother, Conrad IV (Conradin's father), and after Conrad IV's death from malaria in 1254, as regent for Conradin. However, in 1258 Manfred declared himself king, despite Conradin's claim, purportedly because of rumors of Conradin's death.

Pope Clement IV, continuing the policy of his predecessor Pope Urban IV, was determined to check Manfred's growing power. He excommunicated Manfred and continued discussions with Charles of Anjou as a secular prince who might, by force of arms, replace the dangerous Hohenstaufens. Bolstered by papal resources, which included a crusading tithe granted to combat the "infidel" Hohenstaufen, Charles entered Italy in 1265 and defeated and killed Manfred the next year at the , and began to establish himself as King of Sicily.