View source for Henry VI's conquest of Sicily

{{Short description|1194 conquest led by Holy Roman Emperor}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Henry VI's conquest of Sicily
| place             = [[Sicily]], [[South italy]]
| width             = 315
| image             = File:Liber ad honorem Augusti Fol-134r.jpg
| image_size        = 215
| alt               =
| caption           = [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]] entering [[Palermo]]
| date              = 1194
| territory         = [[Kingdom of Sicily]] added to [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]]'s Personal Union<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gequ.12333|title=Translating German Emperors: A Staufen–Sicilian Synthesis under Henry VI?|first=Philippa|last=Byrne|date=March 19, 2023|journal=The German Quarterly|volume=96|issue=2|pages=163–179|via=CrossRef|doi=10.1111/gequ.12333}}</ref>
| result            = Imperial victory
| combatants_header = Belligerents
| combatant1        = {{flag|Kingdom of Sicily}}
| combatant2        = {{flagicon|Holy Roman Empire}} [[Holy Roman Empire]]
| commander1        = {{flagicon|Kingdom of Sicily}} [[William III of Sicily]]{{POW}}
| commander2        = {{flagicon|Holy Roman Empire}} [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]]
| strength1         = Unknown
| strength2         = Unknown
| casualties1       = Unknown
| casualties2       = Unknown
}}
'''Henry VI's conquest of Sicily''' was a conquest led by [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]] for the inheritance of the [[Kingdom of Sicily]].
== Background ==
[[William II of Sicily]] had stated that, should he die without having any children, he wished to be succeeded by his aunt [[Constance I of Sicily|Constance]]. However, Constance was married to [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]], a member of the Hohenstaufen family that was widely disliked within Italy. Because Constance was connected to the Hohenstaufen family, William's cousin [[Tancred of Sicily|Tancred of Lecce]] seized the Sicilian throne instead after William died in 1189. Henry ascended to the title of Holy Roman Emperor in 1190, and the following year, he and Constance led an invasion of Sicily to inherit the kingdom. The 1191 invasion failed due to pressure from Italian citizens and military failures, culminating in the [[Siege of Naples (1191)|1191 siege of Naples]], during which Constance was captured.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art419.htm|title=Henry VI Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily - Best of Sicily Magazine|website=www.bestofsicily.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://jstor.org/stable/community.28211572|title= Some unnoticed aspects of the Emperor Henry VI's conquest of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily |journal=Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, Manchester|last1=Clementi |first1=Dione. R|editor-last1=Robertson|editor-first1=Edward|volume=36|issue= 2 |via=JSTOR}}</ref>
== Conquest ==
After Tancred's death in February 1194, the throne of Sicily passed to his young son, [[William III of Sicily|William III]]. Henry capitalized on the change in ruler to launch a second invasion of Sicily that May. This time, the conquest proceeded smoothly: Henry's forces occupied [[Naples]] in August and entered the Sicilian capital of [[Palermo]] on 20 November 1194. William III was tortured and blinded, and Henry VI assumed the kingship of Sicily.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hlapxde55rAC|title=Germany in the High Middle Ages: C.1050-1200|first=Horst|last=Fuhrmann|date=October 9, 1986|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-31980-5 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/34850052|title=Mit dem Lösegeld finanziert: Kaiser Heinrich VI. erobert das Königreich Sizilien (Financed through Ransom: Emperor Henry VI conquers the Kingdom of Sicily)|first=Richard|last=Engl|date=January 1, 2017|journal=Richard Löwenherz. König - Ritter - Gefangener, ed. Alexander Schubert, Regensburg|via=www.academia.edu}}</ref>
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Wars involving the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Kingdom of Sicily]]
[[Category:1190s conflicts]]
[[Category:Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor]]