Cronaca di Fra Salimbene parmigiano vol. II

This volume brings to life a 13th‑century chronicle kept by the Franciscan friar Fra Salimbene, who recorded the political and military upheavals of northern Italy with a remarkably vivid style. Listeners hear a front‑line view of King Charles of Anjou’s campaign against the Hohenstaufen prince Manfredi, and the tangled loyalties of nobles, clerics, and city dwellers. The narrative moves between battlefield descriptions, court gossip, and the everyday concerns of towns such as Parma, Brescia and Modena.

The chronicle opens with Charles’s army crossing the bridge at Ceprano, storming São Germano, and finally crushing Manfredi’s forces at Benevento in February 1266, where the prince fell with three thousand men. Salimbene notes the grim aftermath: Manfredi’s wife and children were seized, his newly founded city of Manfredonia—designed to rival Siponto—was renamed, and many of his nobles met brutal ends. Yet the friar strives for balance, recalling a few of Manfredi’s commendable traits before turning to the rebellions in Brescia and the siege of Monte Valerio, where Modenese factions clashed over a disputed castle.