v08_1138 - ANJOU - COMTÉ D'ANJOU - CHARLES Ier Obole

ANJOU - COUNTY OF ANJOU - CHARLES I

(1246-1285)

Anjou had been seized in 1204 during the commission of the lands of Jean sans Terre and annexed to the kingdom. Charles I of Anjou is the tenth son of Louis VIII and Blanche of Castile; he was born in March 1227. In 1232, the young Charles became count of Maine and Anjou, then count of Provence in 1246 following his marriage to Béatrice, daughter heiress of the count of Provence Raymond Bérenger, who died in 1245. He crossed alongside Saint Louis and did not return until 1250 after two years of captivity. In 1266, Pope Clement IV granted him the kingdom of Naples and Sicily. In 1270, he once again accompanied Saint Louis on a crusade, then in 1277 he bought the title of King of Jerusalem. Charles died on January 7, 1285 in Foggia fighting Peter III of Aragon who had driven him out of Sicily.