So, I did some research on Charles of Anjou and while doing it I also read about the papal states. One detail that struck me was the fact that The Pope had great difficulties controlling the regions of Marche, Abruzzo, Umbria and the rich lands of Romagna. So, Charles was constantly in need of funds, since he was maintaining and warring to expand his Mediterranean empire. Could he have seized the regions?
An even bigger Kingdom of Naples.
- Thread starter TheNerd_
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On one hand he was something of a papal client but OTOH he seems to be a person willing to expand into a power vacuum. But how exactly would he “seize” these areas? By a brute force or as the “voluntary” grants from the Papacy? The 1st option potentially could get him into a politically questionable position (not that he would necessarily care) while the 2nd would, in theory, allow him to hold these lands only at the Pope’s pleasure.
Anyway, if he is getting all the territories you mentioned, what would be his next move? Try or expand into the Central Italy and, in the case of success, expand even further? Would it be militarily realistic?
I like to think that he would settle down and stop expanding, consolidating his power rather than stretching it thin. That was the entire cause of the Sicilian Vespers. Since he constantly needed money, he couldn't remove the hated subventio generalis tax and this was the start of his downfall. Maybe, if he died earlier, Charles the II, who was less obsessed with creating an empire, could hav e decided to unite Italy instead.
Sounds reasonable but even a more modest program of uniting Italy would require a lot of money. From a purely military perspective, the emperors before and after his time failed to do this. Honestly, I don’t see how it could be done with the contemporary means: for armies of that period even siege of a single fortified city was a major affair with an unclear outcome and Italy had a lot of those. Plus, as soon as his intentions become clear enough, he would be facing a powerful coalition, which could easily outspend him and, if push comes to shove, even invite an emperor with the German troops to their help.
Well, there is kind of a caveat around this. In 1276, Charles installed a pope that was ready to support him. If Innocent V was ready to give up prestige to please his overlord is a difficult question to answer, but even if unlikely, it could happen.
That’s fine. The Pope could grant rule of his territories to whomever he wants. What I’m saying is that these lands would formally remain part of the Papal States and sooner or later could be reclaimed as happened much later during the reigns of Alexander Borgia and Julius II. Strictly speaking, something of the kind happened when (IIRC) Borgia gave Charles VIII of France right to the crown of Naples.
They could simply be pressured again to elect an anjou-friendly pope. And about Julius II, he had a burning desire to literally "free Italy from the barbarians" (The French and Aragonese). As the Angevin kingdom shifted its focus to Italy, I'm sure he would have gladly supported him driving out the French and Catalans. Furthermore, Anjou and Castille would have a common enemy in Aragon, Castille wanting to unite Hispania and Anjou wanting the Aragonese to get the hell out of Italy and retake Sicily and Calabria.
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That’s not the point: both had been trying to get back the Papal States from the temporary rulers. What I’m trying to say that getting the lands by the papal grace is not exactly the same as being a king “by God’s grace” and at some point in a future it could backfire as happened in OTL.
Well, at that point the signori* would cry for help to their Anjou overlord. But then the question becomes, would they be willing to fight the papacy? If this happens with Borgia, Aragon would have a casus belli and would declare war, which could escalate not in Naples favor. BUT, if somehow the papacy does not call Aragon in, because Aragon is dedicating most of the resources to the Reconquista... then they might take a stab at it to assert their authority and downplay papal influence and prestige.
*On another note, maybe by this point there wouldn't be any signori at all, since the power vacuum that allowed them to rise wouldn't be there with big daddy Naples swallowing it whole.