Charles II, King of Naples

Charles II
King Charles II from the Bible of Naples
King of Naples Count of Provence and Forcalquier
Reign	1285–1309
Coronation	29 May 1289
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Robert
Count of Anjou and Maine
Reign	1285–1290
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Charles III
Prince of Achaea
Reign	1285–1289
Predecessor	Charles I
Successor	Isabella and Florent
Born	1254
Died	5 May 1309 Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Spouse	Maria of Hungary
Issue More	Charles Martel, Prince of Salerno Louis, Bishop of Toulouse Robert of Naples Philip I of Taranto John of Gravina Margaret, Countess of Anjou Blanche of Anjou Eleanor of Anjou Maria of Anjou
House	Capetian House of Anjou
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 styled himself King of Albania 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 riot known as the Sicilian Vespers against Charles' 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. For he was still in prison when his father died on 7 January 1285, his realms were ruled by regents.