MAN'FRED e.1232-66). King of Naples and Sicily from 1258 to 1266. He was a natural son of the Emperor Frederick H. On his father's (loath, in 1250.he received the Principality of Ta rr:1111m, and in the absence of his half-brother, Conrad IV., acted as regent in Italy. After Con rad's death, he was acknowledged regent of .:1pn lift for his nephew Conrad in (q.v.). Pope Alex ander IV. caused a crusade to he preached against him. hut Manfred, steadily pursuing his victorious career, became, in 1237, master of the whole Kingdom of Naples and Sicily. On the rumor of Conradin's death he was crowned King of Palermo, August 10, 1258, and imme diately afterwards was excommunicated by the Pope, together with his adherents, among whom were the first prelates of the Kingdom. Man fred invaded the Papal dominions, levied heavy contributions from them. and made himself master of the whole of Tuscany. His power now seemed secure, especially as he married his daughter Constance to Peter of Aragon, while he himself married the sister of the Greek Em poor Thcophilus. His government 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 1V. renewed the excommunication against him and his friends, and bestowed his dominions as a Papal fief on Charles of Anjou, the brother of Louis 1X. of France. Manfred, though at. tirst successful in the war which ensued, was at last defeated and slain in a, bloody battle at Benevento, February 26, 1260. His widow and children were savagely treated by the French, the daughter being imprisoned for seventeen years and the sons dying in captivity. His body, as that of an excommunicated person, was in terred on the battlefield under a heap of stones. Consult Schirrnracher, Gesehichte der letzten Hohenstaufen, vol. iv. (5th ed., Leipzig, 1878). See CHARLES OF ANJOU.