Manfred of Sicily
'Tis the hand of God.
Manfred (Sicilian: Manfredi di Sicilia; 1232 – 26 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. He was the natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II.
Quotes
[edit]- In his flight in the year 1254, he could find refuge only at Luceria; where he was welcomed by the Saracens with transports of joy. Before the battle, Manfred sent ambassadors to effect a negotiation. Charles told them, "Go, tell the sultan of Nocera that I desire battle only, and that this very day I will either send him to hell, or he shall send me to Paradise."
- J. C. L. de Sismondi, Histoire des Républiques italiennes du Moyen Âge, vol. iii, pp. 153, 347; reported in Michelet, History of France (1882), vol. 1, p. 307
- On seeing his men in flight, Manfred desired to die. As he was fastening on his helm, it twice slipt and fell. "Hoc est signum Dei," ('tis the hand of God,) was his exclamation, and, throwing himself into the midst of the French, he met his death.
- Michelet, History of France (1882), vol. 1, p. 307
Quotes about Manfred
[edit]- Comely, and fair, and gentle of aspect
He seem'd . . . .
then smiling spoke;
'I am Manfredi . . . .
When by two mortal blows
My frame was shatter'd, I betook myself
Weeping to him, who of free will forgives
. . . . . . . Had this text divine
Been of Cosenza's shepherd better scanned,
Who then by Clement on my hunt was set,
Yet at the bridge's head my bones had lain
Near Benevento, by the heavy mole
Protected; but the rain now drenches them,
And the wind drives.'- Dante, Purgatorio, canto iii (tr. Cary), reported in Michelet (1882), vol. 1, p. 307: "Charles of Anjou would have had the poor excommunicated corpse remain unburied; but the French themselves brought a stone each, and so reared him a tomb. The pope's legate had the body disinterred, and thrown on the borders of the kingdom of Naples, and the Campagna of Rome."
- Frederick died toiling on at the oar, and the pope shouted with joy at the news. His son Conrad only showed himself in Italy to meet his death. Thus the empire escaped out of the hands of this family; ... but the kingdom of Naples remained in the grasp of the bastard Manfred, the true son of Frederick II, brilliant, witty, and debauched, impious as his father, a man apart, whom none hated or loved by halves. He gloried in being a bastard, like numerous heroes and gods of antiquity.
- Jules Michelet, History of France, tr. G. H. Smith (New York, 1882), vol. 1, p. 307
External links
[edit]
Encyclopedic article on Manfred, King of Sicily on Wikipedia
