The Battle of Benevento according to Andrew of Hungary and Saba Malaspina

This is the first English translation of several original Latin texts describing the Battle of Benevento of 1266 that led to the demise of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the rise of the House of Anjou in Italy. Deciding the fate not only of Italy but of Catholic Europe, and especially what are now Germany, Austria and Switzerland, this signal event resulted in the victory of Guelphs over Ghibellines and the rise of Papal influence.

Henceforth, the culture of Tuscany and Umbria, expressed in the works of Dante and Boccaccio, came to dominate what came to be identified as Italian culture.

The only surviving codex of Andrew's account is a manuscript in Paris. In addition to that text and the excerpt from Saba Malaspina's chronicle, the book includes a translation of the Invective of Peter of Pretio addressed to Charles of Anjou, King of Naples, in 1269 following the execution of Conradin Hohenstaufen after the Battle of Tagliacozzo.

This volume is a useful source work. Included are numerous maps and genealogical tables, along with a timeline and supplementary information. This book complements the Jamsilla Chronicle translated by the same author.

Louis Mendola

Louis Mendola is one of Sicily’s foremost medievalists, and one of the very few whose work is known beyond Italian borders. His first scholarly paper (on the Battle of Benevento of 1266) was published in 1985; others consider such topics as the history of the medieval Normans in Sicily. He wrote the first book covering the entire seven-century history of the Kingdom of Sicily, and the first English translations of two chronicles of the thirteenth century. Having researched in Italy, Britain, Spain, Germany, France and the Vatican, he has been consulted by The History Channel, the BBC and The New York Times. Read by millions internationally, his online articles have made him one of the most popular Sicilian historians of the present century.