page_title: Charles I of Anjou
section_title: Conflicts and consolidation
hierarchical_section_title: Charles I of Anjou / Wider ambitions / Conflicts and consolidation
caption_attribution_description: English: salt crystals in a puddle, nearby salt-lick of Salin de Giraud, Camargue, France
context_page_description: Charles I, commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence and Forcalquier in the Holy Roman Empire, Count of Anjou and Maine in France; he was also King of Sicily and Prince of Achaea. In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania; and in 1277 he purchased a claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
  The youngest son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile, Charles was destined for a Church career until the early 1240s. He acquired Provence and Forcalquier through his marriage to their heiress, Beatrice. His attempts to secure comital rights brought him into conflict with his mother-in-law, Beatrice of Savoy, and the nobility. He received Anjou and Maine from his brother, Louis IX of France, in appanage. He accompanied Louis during the Seventh Crusade to Egypt. Shortly after he returned to Provence in 1250, Charles forced three wealthy autonomous cities—Marseilles, Arles and Avignon—to acknowledge his suzerainty.
  Charles supported Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut, against her eldest son, John, in exchange for Hainaut in 1253.
context_section_description: During Charles' absence rebellions had broken out in Provence. He applied both diplomacy and military force to deal with them. The Archbishop of Arles and the Bishop of Digne ceded their secular rights in the two towns to Charles in 1250. He received military assistance from his brother, Alphonse. Arles was the first town to surrender to them in April 1251. In May they forced Avignon to acknowledge their joint rule. A month later Barral of Baux also capitulated. Marseilles was the only town to resist for several months, but it also sought peace in July 1252. Its burghers acknowledged Charles as their lord, but retained their self-governing bodies.
  Charles' officials continued to ascertain his rights, visiting each town and holding public enquiries to obtain information about all claims. The count's salt monopoly (or gabelle) was introduced in the whole county. Income from the salt trade made up about 50% of comital revenues by the late 1250s. Charles abolished local tolls and promoted shipbuilding and the cereal trade. He ordered the issue of new coins, called provencaux, to enable the use of the local currency in smaller transactions.
  Emperor Frederick II, who was also the ruler of Sicily, died in 1250. The Kingdom of Sicily, also known as the Regno, included the island of Sicily and southern Italy nearly as far as Rome. Pope Innocent IV claimed that the Regno had reverted to the Holy See. The pope first offered the Regno to Richard of Cornwall, but Richard did not want to fight against Frederick's son, Conrad IV of Germany. Then the pope proposed to enfeoff Charles with the kingdom. Charles sought instructions from Louis IX who forbade him to accept the offer, because he regarded Conrad as the lawful ruler. After Charles informed the Holy See on 30 October 1253 that he would not accept the Regno, the pope offered it to Edmund of Lancaster.
  Queen Blanche, who had administered France during Louis' crusade, died on 1 December 1252. Louis made Alphonse and Charles co-regents, so that he could remain in the Holy Land. Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut had come into conflict with her son by her first marriage, John of Avesnes. After her sons by her second marriage were captured in July 1253, she needed foreign assistance to secure their release. Ignoring Louis IX's 1246 ruling that Hainaut should pass to John, she promised the county to Charles. He accepted the offer and invaded Hainaut, forcing most local noblemen to swear fealty to him. After his return to France, Louis IX insisted that his ruling was to be respected. In November 1255 he ordered Charles to restore Hainaut to Margaret, but her sons were obliged to swear fealty to Charles. Louis also ruled that she was to pay 160,000 marks to Charles during the following 13 years.
  Charles returned to Provence, which had become restive again. His mother-in-law continued to support the rebellious Boniface of Castellane and his allies, but Louis IX persuaded her to return Forcalquier to Charles and relinquish her claims for a lump sum payment from Charles and a pension from Louis in November 1256. A coup by Charles' supporters in Marseilles resulted in the surrender of all political powers there to his officials. Charles spent the next years expanding his power along the borders of Provence. He received territories in the Lower Alps from the Dauphin of Vienne. Raymond I of Baux, Count of Orange, ceded the title of regent of the Kingdom of Arles to him. The burghers of Cuneo—a town strategically located on the routes to Lombardy—sought Charles' protection against Asti in July 1259. Alba, Cherasco, Savigliano and other nearby towns acknowledged his rule. The rulers of Mondovì, Ceva, Biandrate and Saluzzo did homage to him in 1260.
  Emperor Frederick II's illegitimate son, Manfred, had been crowned king of Sicily in 1258. After the English barons had announced that they opposed a war against Manfred, Pope Alexander IV annulled the 1253 grant of Sicily to Edmund of Lancaster. Alexander's successor, Pope Urban IV, was determined to put an end to the Emperor's rule in Ital
caption: Salt crystals in a puddle in Camargue: salt pans at the delta of the Rhone significantly increased Charles' revenues
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