Page "Charles I of Naples" Paragraph 29

On his death, Charles left all of his domains to his son Charles, then a prisoner in Catalonia.

For the time being, they were held by a joint regency between a papal legate and Robert II of Artois.

Charles had spent his life striving to assemble a Mediterranean empire out of whatever land he could get through law or force of arms.

He did so, it seems, with a clear conscience ; he regarded himself as God's instrument to uphold the Papacy and punish the Hohenstaufen.

He ruled justly, but with the rigidity and severity that might be expected in one of his convictions.

Ultimately, his unbending austerity could not inspire the devotion needed to hold his conquests together.