Charles II of Naples

Charles II
King Charles II from the Bible of Naples, c. 1340
King of Naples Count of Provence and Forcalquier
Reign	7 January 1285 – 6 May 1309
Coronation	29 May 1289
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Robert
Count of Anjou and Maine
Reign	7 January 1285 – 16 August 1290
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Margaret & Charles III
Prince of Achaea
Reign	7 January 1285 – 16 September 1289
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Isabella and Florent
King of Albania
Reign	7 January 1285 – 13 August 1294
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Philip I, Prince of Taranto
Born	1254
Died	5 May 1309 (aged 54–55) Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Spouse	Maria of Hungary
Issue More	Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno Margaret, Countess of Anjou Saint Louis of Toulouse Robert I the Wise Philip I, Prince of Taranto Blanche, Queen of Aragon Raymond, Count of Andria Eleanor, Queen of Sicily Maria, Queen of Majorca Peter, Count of Eboli John, Duke of Durazzo
House	Anjou-Naples
Father	Charles I of Naples
Mother	Beatrice of Provence

Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (French: Charles le Boiteux; Italian: Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine (1285–1290); he also was King of Albania (1285–1294), and claimed the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1285. He was the son of Charles I of Anjou—one of the most powerful European monarchs in the second half of the 13th century—and Beatrice of Provence. His father granted Charles the Principality of Salerno in the Kingdom of Sicily (or Regno) in 1272 and made him regent in Provence and Forcalquier in 1279.

After the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers against Charles's father, the island of Sicily became an independent kingdom under the rule of Peter III of Aragon in 1282. A year later, his father made Charles regent in the mainland territories of the Regno (or the Kingdom of Naples). Charles held a general assembly where unpopular taxes were abolished and the liberties of the noblemen and clerics were confirmed. He could not prevent the Aragonese from occupying Calabria and the islands in the Gulf of Naples. The Sicilian admiral, Roger of Lauria, captured him in a naval battle near Naples in 1284. As he was still in prison when his father died on 7 January 1285, his realms were ruled by regents. The remainder of his rule was spent seeking a resolution to the Sicilian war, diplomatic moves concerning his inheritance, and administrating the new Kingdom of Naples.