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Spouses/Children:
1. Béatrice BÉRENGAR, Comtesse de Provence
2. Marguerite DE BOURGOGNE, Comtesse de Tonnerre
0. Lauduna, Widow of Alba di Tarascono, Mistress
0. Giacoma DI PIETRACASTALDA, Mistress
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Cte Charles I Étienne D' ANJOU et du Maine, King of Sicily
- Born: 21 Mar 1226/7, Paris, Île-de-France, France
- Married (1): 31 Jan 1245/6, Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-Du-Rhone, France
- Married (2): 18 Oct 1268
- Died: 7 Jan 1284/5, Foggia Castle, Foggia, Apulia
- Buried: Cathedral of San Gennaro, Naples
 Research Notes:
He is recorded as brother of Louis IX King of France by Matthew Paris, who states that the king sent him home with his brother Alphonse after the battle of Mansurah in 1250.
He became Marquis de Provence and Comte de Forcalquier in 1246, by right of his first wife. His brother Louis IX King of France installed him as Comte d'Anjou et du Maine, at Melun in Aug 1246. He accompanied King Louis IX on crusade to Egypt in 1248, but was imprisoned during the retreat from Damietta 5 Apr 1250. He returned to Provence in Oct 1250. Following the death of his mother in 1252, he took an active part in governing France (with his brother Alphonse Comte de Poitiers), taking charge in particular of foreign affairs and military operations. Pope Innocent IV, as part of his anti-Hohenstaufen strategy, proposed Charles as king of Sicily in 1253, but he refused. Marguerite II Ctss of Flanders offered him the county of Hainaut as part of her strategy of disinheriting her children by her first marriage. He besieged Valenciennes, but King Louis required him to renounce any claim to Hainaut in 1256. Raymond des Baux Prince d'Orange ceded him all his claims to the kingdoms of Arles and Vienne 23 Aug 1257. Guglielmo II Conte di Ventimiglia accepted his suzerainty 19 Jan 1258. Pope Urban IV repeated the papal offer of the kingdom of Sicily in Jun 1263. He was elected Senator of Rome in Aug 1263, invested as such in Rome 21 Jun 1265.
He was invested as CHARLES I King of Sicily at Rome 28 Jun 1265, confirmed by Pope Clement IV 4 Nov and crowned at St Peter’s Rome 6 Jan 1266. He defeated and killed Manfredo King of Sicily near Benevento 26 Feb 1266, and entered Naples 7 Mar 1266. Under the first Treaty of Viterbo 24 May 1267, Guillaume II de Villehardouin Prince of Achaia accepted Angevin suzerainty. Under the second Treaty of Viterbo 27 May 1267, King Charles acquired all rights over Greece (except the city of Constantinople) from Baudouin II ex-Emperor of Constantinople, confirmed by the betrothal of his daughter to Baudouin's son, and agreed that the military campaign to recapture Constantinople would begin in 1274. Challenged by Konradin von Hohenstaufen, he defeated and captured the latter 23 Aug 1268 at Tagliacozzo, Abruzzo. Imperial Vicar-General in Italy 1268. Charles's attention was diverted from Byzantium by joining his brother's crusade against Tunis in 1270. He captured Durazzo in 1272, declaring himself King of Albania 21 Feb 1272. Comte de Tonnerre in 1273, by right of his second wife. On the death of Guillaume de Villehardouin in 1278, the principality of Achaia passed under Charles's direct authority, as a result of the marriage contract of his deceased son Philippe. Pope Gregory X arranged for Marie of Antioch to sell her rights to the kingdom of Jerusalem to King Charles in Mar 1277 for 1000 gold pounds and an annuity of 4000 pounds tournois. He immediately assumed the title King of Jerusalem and sent Roger di San Severino as his bailli to Acre where the latter succeeded in taking control of the administration and proclaimed Charles as king. Nikephoros Dukas Komnenos Angelos Lord of Epirus accepted his suzerainty in 1278. Encouraged by the new Pope Martin IV, he signed the Treaty of Orvieto 3 Jul 1281 with Venice and Philippe de Courtenay, titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople, with a view to restoring the Latin Empire. The massacre of the French in Palermo 30 Mar 1282 led to general rebellion in Sicily against French rule in favour of Pedro III King of Aragon. He retired to Bordeaux 12 Jan 1283, leaving his son Charles Principe di Salerno as governor of the Kingdom. The Aragonese fleet defeated the Angevin forces in the bay of Naples 5 Jun 1284, during which Charles's heir was captured. He returned to Naples 8 Jun 1284.
The Chronicle of Toulouse Saint-Saturnin records the death "in festo Epiphaniæ" in 1284 (presumably O.S.) of "Carolus rex Siciliæ". The Chronicle of Guillaume de Nangis records the death 7 Jan 1285 (N.S.) of "Karolus rex Siciliæ". 1
Marriage Information:
Charles married Béatrice BÉRENGAR, Comtesse de Provence, daughter of Ramón IV BÉRENGAR, Comte de Provence, and Beatrix DE SAVOIE, Countess of Savoy, on 31 Jan 1245/6 in Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-Du-Rhone, France. (Béatrice BÉRENGAR was born in 1232/4 in Bouches-du-Rhone, Aix-En-Provence, Provence, died on 23 Sep 1267 in Nocera, Calabria, Italy and was buried in Cathedral of San Gennaro, Naples.)
Marriage Information:
Charles also married Marguerite DE BOURGOGNE, Comtesse de Tonnerre, daughter of Eudes DE BOURGOGNE, Comte de Nevers & Auxerre, and Mahaut DE DAMPIERRE, Dame de Bourbon, on 18 Oct 1268. (Marguerite DE BOURGOGNE was born about 1250 and died on 4 Sep 1308.)
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