MANFRED, king of Naples and Sicily, a rare example of heroic fortitude and disin terestedness, was a natural son of the emperor Frederick II. by Blanca, the daughter of count Bonifacius Lanzia, and was b. about 1231. On his father's death, in 1250, he received the principality of Tarentum, and in the absence of his half-brother, Konrad IV., acted as regent in Italy. Notwithstanding Konrad's dislike to him, 3Ianfred, with unexampled fidelity, bravely defended his sovereign's interests against the machinations of pope Innocent IV.; and after Konrad's death, which the pope accused him of having caused, he was acknowledged as regent of Apulia, in name of his nephew Konradin (q.v.). The pope, however, renewed his pretensions to Apulia, and compelled Manfred to tlee for shelter to the Saracens, by whose aid he defeated the papal troops at Foggia, on Dec. 2, 1254, and again obtained possession of Apulia, to which he soon afterwards added Calabria. The new pope, Alexander IV., caused a crusade to be preached against him, but Manfred, steadily pursuing his victorious career, became, in 1257, master of the whole kingdom of Naples and Sicily. On the rumor of Konradin's death he was crowned king at Palermo, Alio% 11, 1258, and immediately afterwards was excommunicated by the pope, along with riis adherents, among whom were the first prelates of the kingdom; but Manfred invaded the papal dominions, levied heavy contributions from them, and made himself master of the whole of Tuscany. His power now seemed secure, and his
govenament was at once mild and vigorous; he founded many schools, built towns and harbors, and labored in many ways for the improvement of his kingdom. But this tranquillity was not of long duration. Pope Urban IV. renewed the excommunication against him and his friends, and bestowed his dominions as a papal fief on Charles of Anjou, the brother of Louis IX. of France. Manfred, though at first suz.cessful in the war which ensued, was at last treacherously defeated, and slain in a bloody battle at Benevento, Feb. 26, 1266. His widow and children were savagely treated by the French, the daughter being confined for 18 and the sons for 31 years. His body -was found some ,days after and interred as that of an excommunicated person; but the people, and even the French soldiers, heaped up stones for a monument, which received the name of the Rock of Roses: