Charles III (Naples)
Karl von Durazzo , called the little one (* 1345 in Naples , Kingdom of Naples , † February 24, 1386 in Visegrád , Kingdom of Hungary ) from the House of Anjou was known as Charles III. King of Naples since 1382 and, as Charles II, King of Hungary and Croatia since 1385. From 1383 he was also Prince of Achaia .
Life
Karl, son of Ludwig von Durazzo , was educated at the court of the Hungarian King Ludwig I (1326-1382), also from the House of Anjou and a second cousin, who made him regent in Croatia and Dalmatia .
Queen Joan I of Naples , his second cousin, whose children had all died young, adopted him to ensure the succession in Naples. But when she, because of her fourth marriage (with Duke Otto IV of Braunschweig-Grubenhagen from 1376) and her role in the Western Schism (from 1378), in contrast to Pope Urban VI. and finally - in an effort to win France as an ally - in 1380 Ludwig I of Anjou (1336-1384), the brother of King Charles V of France adopted and made his heir, occupied Charles of Durazzo with the support of the Church Naples .
On June 24, 1381, Karl von Durazzo defeated the opposing army under Otto IV of Braunschweig at Anagni and entered Naples on July 16, where he called himself Karl III. proclaimed king. Karl established himself in Castel Nuovo and threw Queen Johanna in prison to force her to legalize him as heir to the throne. When Ludwig von Anjou rushed to the aid of the captured queen and was already in Lombardy with a 15,000-strong French army coming across the Alps, Karl had to act quickly. He had Johanna strangled in dungeon on May 22, 1382 and put her body on display for six days so that the people of Naples no longer had any doubts about her death. Karl von Durazzo was named Charles III. her successor and ruled from 1382 to 1386 as King of Naples.
The further efforts of Ludwig von Anjou to conquer Naples immediately consumed his fortune, without being crowned with success. Ludwig's army degenerated completely without pay, he himself succumbed to illness in Bari in September 1384 and bequeathed his claim to the throne to his son Ludwig II.
With the help of rebellious Hungarian nobles, Charles also won the Hungarian throne in a dispute against Queen Maria , the daughter of King Ludwig I, on December 31, 1385, but was only eight weeks later, on February 24, 1386 in the Hungarian Visegrád (Eng. Plintenburg ) murdered by those who put him on the shield, including the Slovak nobleman Blažej Forgáč .
Marriage and offspring
In February 1369 Karl married his cousin Margarethe von Durazzo (* July 1347 - † August 6, 1412), with whom he had three children:
- Maria (* 1369; † 1371)
- Joan II (* 1373; † 1435), Queen of Naples 1414–1435
- Ladislaus (* 1376; † 1414), King of Naples 1386-1414
literature
- Salvatore Fodale: Charles III. from Anjou-Durrazzo . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages (LexMA). Volume 5, Artemis & Winkler, Munich / Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-7608-8905-0 , column 985 f.
- Salvatore Fodale: Carlo III d'Angiò Durazzo. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 20: Carducci-Carusi. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1977, pp. 235-239.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Johanna I. |
King of Naples 1382–1386 |
Ladislaus |
| Jacques des Baux |
Prince of Achaia 1383-1386 |
Pedro Bordo de San Superano |
| Maria |
King of Hungary and Croatia 1385–1386 |
Sigismund |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Charles III |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Charles of Durazzo; Charles III from Naples; Charles II of Hungary; Charlemagne |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Naples, Hungary and Croatia |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1345 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Naples |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 24, 1386 |
| Place of death | Visegrád |