Battle of Benevento

Battle of Benevento
	; Battle of Benevento, from Giovanni Villani's Nuova Cronica
Date	26 February 1266
Location	River Calore, near Benevento, present-day Italy41°08′03″N 14°46′24″E / 41.13417°N 14.77333°E
Result	Decisive Guelph victory
Belligerents
Guelphs ; House of Anjou; House of Capet; Papal States;	Ghibellines ; House of Hohenstaufen;
Commanders and leaders
Charles of Anjou Hugh of Mirepoix; Philip of Montfort; Gilles de Trasignies;	Manfred of Sicily † Count of Anglano; Giordano d'Anglano; Count Galvan; Count Bartholomew; Theobald Anibaldi;
Strength
12,000 men 600 knights; 2,400 men-at-arms and mounted sergeants; 600 crossbowmen; 8,400 infantry;	13,500–14,000 men 1,200 German mercenary knights and men-at-arms; 1,000–1,400 Italo-Norman knights and men-at-arms; 1,000 Italian mercenary horsemen; 300–400 Saracen light horse; 10,000 Saracen archers;
Casualties and losses
Unknown but comparatively light	Most of the army Only 600 of the 3,600 armored cavalrymen escaped death or capture; Annihilation of the Saracen corps;

The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Charles' conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily, effectively ending the rule of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in the Italian Peninsula and marking the rise of the royal Capetian House of Anjou. The engagement was part of the conflict which pitted Guelphs against Ghibellines.