Death of Pope Clement IV 1268

Shortly after becoming Pope, Clement IV summoned Thomas Aquinas to Rome to serve as the papal theologian.

Clement's Papacy was dominated by the dispute concerning who was the legitimate King of Naples. the Papacy favoured Charles of Anjou, but the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen favoured his illigitimate son Manfred. The papal loyalists named Manfred "the usurper of Naples" and Charles of Anjou accepting the Pope as his feudal overlord, and given money and supplies marched into Naples with an army of 30,000. Following Manfred's death at the subsequent Battle of Benevento on 26 February 1266 Charles defeated the supporters of the 14 year old Conradin at the battle of Tagliacozzo on 23 August 1268.