Walter V of Brienne was Duke of Athens from 1308 until his death. Being the only son of Hugh of Brienne and Isabella de la Roche, Walter was the heir to large estates in France, the Kingdom of Naples, and the Peloponnese. He was held in custody in the Sicilian castle of Augusta between 1287 and 1296 or 1297 to secure the payment of his father's ransom to the Aragonese admiral Roger of Lauria. When his father died fighting against Lauria in 1296, Walter inherited the County of Brienne in France, and the counties of Lecce and Conversano in southern Italy. He was released, but he was captured during a Neapolitan invasion of Sicily in 1299. His second captivity lasted until the Treaty of Caltabellotta in 1302.
Enna, known from the Middle Ages until 1926 as Castrogiovanni, is a city and comune located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering above the surrounding countryside. It has earned the nicknames belvedere and ombelico ("navel") of Sicily.
Sciacca is a town and comune in the province of Agrigento on the southwestern coast of Sicily, southern Italy. It has views of the Mediterranean Sea.
The Battle of Malta took place on 8 July 1283 in the entrance to the Grand Harbour, the principal harbour of Malta, as part of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. An Aragonese fleet of galleys, commanded by Roger of Lauria, attacked and defeated a fleet of Angevin galleys commanded by Guillaume Cornut and Bartholomé Bonvin.
Roger of Lauria (c. 1245 – 17 January 1305), was a Calabrian knight who served the Crown of Aragon as admiral of the Aragonese navy during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talented naval tactician of the Middle Ages. He is known as Ruggero or Ruggiero di Lauria in Italian and Roger de Llúria in Catalan.
Gagliano Aterno is a town and comune approximately 45 kilometres (28 mi) from Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is located in the vicinity of an ancient pre-Roman settlement, although most of the buildings in the village are from the medieval period.
The Battle of the Gulf of Naples was a naval engagement during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Fought on 5 June 1284 in the south of the Gulf of Naples, the battle saw a Aragonese–Sicilian fleet commanded by Roger of Lauria defeat a Angevin fleet commanded by Prince Charles of Salerno. Charles was captured during the battle, and the Aragonese victory helped secure Aragonese control of the sea around Sicily.
The Battle of the Counts was a naval engagement during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Fought on 23 June 1287 between the fleets of Aragon-Sicily and Angevin Naples, the battle was a major victory for the Aragonese fleet and its commander, Roger of Lauria.
The naval Battle of Cape Orlando took place on 4 July 1299 at St Marco di Val Demone, north-western Sicily, when an Aragonese and Angevin galley fleet commanded by Roger of Lauria defeated a Sicilian galley fleet commanded by Conrad d'Oria. King James II of Aragon and Frederick III of Sicily were present with their fleets at the battle. The larger Aragonese–Angevin fleet was trapped on a lee shore but was able to win the battle with the intervention of its six-galley reserve that attacked the rear of the Sicilian fleet. The Sicilians fled when the flagship, with Frederick aboard, pulled back after the king collapsed from heat and exhaustion. Eighteen Sicilian vessels were captured and their crews massacred. The battle allowed for the invasion of Sicily but James, breaking with his Angevin allies, withdrew his force to Aragon and Frederick was able to defeat the Angevin army on land and secure the independence of Sicily in the Peace of Caltabellotta.
The naval Battle of Ponza took place on 14 June 1300 near the islands of Ponza and Zannone, in the Gulf of Gaeta, when a galley fleet commanded by Roger of Lauria defeated an Aragonese-Sicilian galley fleet commanded by Conrad d'Oria.
Lauria is a town and comune of the province of Potenza, in Basilicata, southern Italy, situated near the borders of Calabria. It is a walled, medieval town on the steep side of a hill, with another portion of municipal territory in the plain below.
Aci Castello is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Catania in Sicily, Italy. Located 9 kilometres (6 mi) north of Catania on the Mediterranean coast, the city's primary economic sectors are agriculture and industry. The city is surrounded by Aci Catena, Acireale, Catania, San Gregorio di Catania and Valverde.
Gerace is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Gerace is located some 10 kilometres (6 mi) inland from Locri, yet the latter town and the sea can be seen from Gerace's perch atop a 500-metre (1,600 ft) vertical rock. The town stands on a hill formed of conglomerates of sea fossils from 60 million years ago. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
The War of the Sicilian Vespers, also shortened to the War of the Vespers, was a conflict waged by several medieval European kingdoms over control of Sicily from 1282 to 1302. The war, which started with the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers, was fought over competing dynastic claims to the throne of Sicily and grew to involve the Crown of Aragon, Angevin Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of France, and the papacy.
Pietrapertosa is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Accettura, Albano di Lucania, Campomaggiore, Castelmezzano, Cirigliano, Corleto Perticara, Gorgoglione and Laurenzana. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia.
Gagliano del Capo is an Italian comune situated in the province of Lecce, the southernmost one of Apulia.
Blasco I Alagona or d'Alagona, called the Elder, was an Aragonese nobleman and soldier in the service of the Kingdom of Sicily after 1285. His family was originally from Alagón. As a military commander, he was noted for his adept use of mobile infantry against heavy cavalry.
Lauria is an Italian town and comune of the province of Potenza, in Basilicata, situated near the borders of Calabria.
The Battle of Gagliano was a military engagement between the forces of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Angevin Kingdom of Naples. Fought in early 1300 during the War of the Sicilian Vespers, the battle involved the entrapment and routing of a Angevin heavy cavalry detachment by a Sicilian force near the fortified town of Gagliano Castelferrato in central Sicily.
The Angevin invasion of Sicily (1298–1302) was a military campaign launched against the Kingdom of Sicily by an alliance of the Angevin Kingdom of Naples, the Crown of Aragon, and the papacy during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Fought in the final years of the 20-year long war, the campaign saw the alliance make some territorial gains on the island before ultimately withdrawing in the face of Sicilian resistance.
