Charles I of Anjou

Charles I of Anjou (1225-85) brother of St Louis was one of the most controversial figures of thirteenth-century Europe. A royal adventurer who carved out a huge Mediterranean power block as ruler of Provence Jerusalem and the kingdom of Naples as well as Anjou he changed for good the political configuration of the Mediterranean world - even though his ambitions were fatally undermined by the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers. Jean Dunbabin's study - the first in English for 40 years - reassesses Charles's extraordinary career his pivotal role in the crusades and in military reform trading diplomacy learning and the arts and finds a more remarkable figure than the ruthless thug of conventional historiography.<br>