Venosa ( Lucano : Vënòsë [və'noʊzə] ) is a town and comune in the province of Potenza , in the southern Italian region of Basilicata , in the Vulture area . It is bounded by the comuni of Barile , Ginestra , Lavello , Maschito , Montemilone , Palazzo San Gervasio , Rapolla and Spinazzola . It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy").
149-564: The city was known as Venusia ("City of Venus ") to the Romans, who credited its establishment—as Aphrodisia ("City of Aphrodite ")—to the Homeric hero Diomedes . He was said to have moved to Magna Graecia in southern Italy following the Trojan War , seeking a life of peace and building the town and its temples to appease the anger of Aphrodite for the destruction of her beloved Troy . The town
298-612: A Punic statue of Astarte captured from Eryx , in Sicily , and worshiped in Romanised form by the elite and respectable matrons at a temple on the Capitoline Hill . A later temple, outside the Porta Collina and Rome's sacred boundary , may have preserved some Erycine features of her cult. It was considered suitable for "common girls" and prostitutes . Venus Euploia (Venus of
447-571: A fishing rod , and sits amidst landscape scenery, accompanied by at least one cupid . Venus' signs are for the most part the same as Aphrodite's. They include roses , which were offered in Venus' Porta Collina rites, and above all, myrtle (Latin myrtus ), which was cultivated for its white, sweetly scented flowers, aromatic, evergreen leaves and its various medical-magical properties. Venus' statues, and her worshipers, wore myrtle crowns at her festivals. Before its adoption into Venus' cults, myrtle
596-421: A Romano-Syrian form of Venus at Baalbek , variously identified with Ashtart , Dea Syria and Atargatis , though inconsistently and often on very slender grounds. She has been historically identified as one third of a so-called Heliopolitan Triad , and thus a wife to presumed sun-god "Syrian Jupiter" ( Baal ) and mother of "Syrian Mercury" ( Adon ). The "Syrian Mercury" is sometimes thought as another sun-god, or
745-627: A castle built here where a Lombard outpost existed before, which was to house the Treasury (Ministry of Finances) of the Kingdom of Sicily . Frederick's son, Manfred of Sicily , was perhaps born here in 1232. After the latter's fall, the Hohenstaufens were replaced by the Angevines ; King Charles of Anjou assigned Venosa as a county to his son Robert. After a series of different feudal lords, Venosa became
894-508: A claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The youngest son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile , Charles was destined for a Church career until the early 1240s. He acquired Provence and Forcalquier through his marriage to their heiress, Beatrice . His attempts to restore central authority brought him into conflict with his mother-in-law, Beatrice of Savoy , and the nobility. Charles received Anjou and Maine from his brother, Louis IX of France , in appanage . He accompanied Louis during
1043-653: A colonia named Colonia Veneria Cornelia after his family and Venus, following his siege and capture of Pompeii from the Samnites . Venus also had a distinctive, local form as Venus Pescatrice ("Venus the Fisher-woman") a goddess of the sea, and trade. For Sulla's claims of Venus' favour, see Venus Felix above). Pompeii's Temple of Venus was built sometime in the 1st century BC, before Sulla's colonisation. This local form of Venus had Roman, Oscan and local Pompeiian influences. Like Venus Physica , Venus Physica Pompeiana
1192-631: A compromise between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Pope urged the Lombard towns to send envoys to him. He also urged Charles to renounce Tuscany. In the autumn of 1275 the Ghibellines offered to make peace with Charles, but he did not accept their terms. Early the next year the Ghibellines defeated his troops at Col de Tende , forcing them to withdraw to Provence. Pope Gregory X died on 10 January 1276. After
1341-610: A crusade against the Byzantine Empire . Charles's ships were gathering at Messina , ready to begin the campaign when the Sicilian Vespers rebellion broke out on 30 March 1282 which put an end to Charles's rule on the island of Sicily. He was able to defend the mainland territories (or the Kingdom of Naples ) with the support of France and the Holy See. Charles died while making preparations for an invasion of Sicily. Charles
1490-456: A fertility deity, was established in 181 BC, in a traditionally plebeian district just outside Rome's sacred boundary , near the Colline Gate . The temple, cult and goddess probably retained much of the original's character and rites. Likewise, a shrine to Venus Verticordia ("Venus the changer of hearts"), established in 114 BC but with links to an ancient cult of Venus-Fortuna, was "bound to
1639-660: A goddess of sloth and laziness. Venus Obsequens ("Indulgent Venus" ), Venus' first attested Roman epithet. It was used in the dedication of her first Roman temple, on August 19 in 295 BC during the Third Samnite War by Quintus Fabius Maximus Gurges . It was sited somewhere near the Aventine Hill and Circus Maximus, and played a central role in the Vinalia Rustica . It was supposedly funded by fines imposed on women found guilty of adultery . Venus Physica , Venus as
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#17328554980041788-469: A joint venture with Pisan merchants. Pope Clement censured Charles for his methods of state administration, describing him as an arrogant and obstinate monarch. The consolidation of Charles's power in northern Italy also alarmed Clement. To appease the Pope, Charles resigned his senatorship in May 1267. His successors, Conrad Monaldeschi and Luca Savelli , demanded the re-payment of the money that Charles and
1937-403: A large temple to Venus Victrix as part of his lavishly appointed new theatre , and celebrating his triumph of 54 BC with coins that showed her crowned with triumphal laurels. Pompey's erstwhile friend, ally, and later opponent Julius Caesar went still further. He claimed the favours of Venus Victrix in his military success and Venus Genetrix as a personal, divine ancestress – apparently
2086-478: A lengthy campaign. He left Rome on 20 January 1266. He marched towards Naples , but changed his strategy after learning of a muster of Manfred's forces near Capua . He led his troops across the Apennines towards Benevento . Manfred also hurried to the town and reached it before Charles. Worried that further delays might endanger his subjects' loyalty, Manfred attacked Charles's army, then in disarray from
2235-456: A libation of the previous year's vintage, sacred to Jupiter, was poured into a nearby ditch. Common girls ( vulgares puellae ) and prostitutes gathered at Venus' temple just outside the Colline gate, where they offered her myrtle, mint, and rushes concealed in rose-bunches and asked her for "beauty and popular favour", and to be made "charming and witty". Vinalia Rustica (August 19), originally
2384-780: A loan to him. Conradin left Bavaria in September 1267. His supporters' revolt was spreading from Sicily to Calabria; the Saracens of Lucera also rose up. Pope Clement urged Charles to return to the Regno, but he continued his campaign in Tuscany until March 1268, when he met with the Pope. In April, the Pope made Charles imperial vicar of Tuscany "during the vacancy of the empire", a move of dubious legality. Charles marched to southern Italy and laid siege to Lucera, but he then had to hurry north to prevent Conradin's invasion of Abruzzo in late August. At
2533-489: A long-standing family tradition among the Julii . When Caesar was assassinated, his heir, Augustus , adopted both claims as evidence of his inherent fitness for office, and divine approval of his rule. Augustus' new temple to Mars Ultor , divine father of Rome's legendary founder Romulus , would have underlined the point, with the image of avenging Mars "almost certainly" accompanied by that of his divine consort Venus, and possibly
2682-526: A magnificent temple as reward for her defection. They captured her image, brought it to Rome and installed it in a temple on the Capitoline Hill , as one of Rome's twelve dii consentes . Shorn of her more overtly Carthaginian characteristics, this "foreign Venus" became Rome's Venus Genetrix ("Venus the Mother"), Roman tradition made Venus the mother and protector of the Trojan prince Aeneas , ancestor of
2831-543: A month in Sicily, waiting for his fleet. By the time he landed at Tunis on 25 August, dysentery and typhoid fever had decimated the French army. Louis died the day Charles arrived. The crusaders twice defeated Al-Mustansir's army, forcing him to sue for peace. According to the peace treaty, signed on 1 November, Al-Mustansir agreed to fully compensate Louis' son and successor, Philip III of France , and Charles for
2980-540: A new revolt in Provence. The burghers of Marseilles expelled Charles's officials, but Barral of Baux stopped the spread of the rebellion before Charles's return. Charles renounced Ventimiglia in favour of the Republic of Genoa to secure her neutrality. He defeated the rebels and forced Castellane into exile. The mediation of James I of Aragon brought about a settlement with Marseilles: its fortifications were dismantled and
3129-599: A once-famous painting by the Greek artist Apelles showing the birth of Aphrodite from sea-foam, fully adult and supported by a more-than-lifesized scallop shell. The Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli used the type in his The Birth of Venus . Other versions of Venus' birth show her standing on land or shoreline, wringing the sea-water from her hair. Venus Barbata ("Bearded Venus"), mentioned in Servius ' commentary on Virgil's Aeneid . Macrobius 's Saturnalia describes
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#17328554980043278-515: A possession of the Orsini in 1453. Count Pirro Del Balzo , who had married Donata Orsini, built a new castle (1460–1470) and a cathedral. Then, during Aragonese rule, the Gesualdo family, which included the notorious prince and musician Carlo Gesualdo , took control in 1561. Despite the plague that had reduced its population from the 13,000 of 1503 to 6,000, Venosa had a flourishing cultural life under
3427-581: A preference for Jewish symbols such as the menorah . Despite this distinct identity, the community actively engaged with broader society, with Jewish officials holding public positions in the town. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , Venusia was sacked by the Heruls , and in 493 AD it was turned into the administrative centre of the area in the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy, although later this role
3576-406: A rustic Latin festival of wine, vegetable growth and fertility. This was almost certainly Venus' oldest festival and was associated with her earliest known form, Venus Obsequens . Kitchen gardens and market-gardens, and presumably vineyards were dedicated to her. Roman opinions differed on whose festival it was. Varro insists that the day was sacred to Jupiter, whose control of the weather governed
3725-406: A set of catacombs , likely built and used between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. When the catacombs fell out of use, local Jews began burying their deceased on the hill atop the catacombs, with some tombstones dating back to the 9th century still visible, repurposed into the walls of a church nearby. Inscriptions, primarily in Greek and Latin, exhibit a transition to Hebrew , while artistic themes show
3874-473: A shrine on the Capitoline Hill , and festivals on August 12 and October 9. A sacrifice was annually dedicated to her on the latter date. In neo-classical art, her epithet as Victrix is often used in the sense of 'Venus Victorious over men's hearts' or in the context of the Judgement of Paris (e.g. Canova 's Venus Victrix , a half-nude reclining portrait of Pauline Bonaparte ). The first known temple to Venus
4023-486: A statue of Venus in Cyprus , bearded, with male genitalia but in female attire and figure (see also Aphroditus ). Her worshippers cross-dressed - men wore women's clothes, and women wore men's. Macrobius says that Aristophanes called this figure Aphroditos . The Latin poet Laevius wrote of worshipping "nurturing Venus" whether female or male ( sive femina sive mas ) . Several examples of Greek and Roman sculpture show her in
4172-595: A statue of the deceased and deified Caesar . Vitruvius recommends that any new temple to Venus be sited according to rules laid down by the Etruscan haruspices , and built "near to the gate" of the city, where it would be less likely to contaminate "the matrons and youth with the influence of lust". He finds the Corinthian style, slender, elegant, enriched with ornamental leaves and surmounted by volutes , appropriate to Venus' character and disposition. Vitruvius recommends
4321-412: A syncretised form of Bacchus as a "dying and rising" god , and thus a god of Springtime. No such Triad seems to have existed prior to Baalbek's 15 BC colonisation by Augustus' veterans. It may be a modern scholarly artifice. Venus Kallipygos ("Venus with the beautiful buttocks"), a statue, and possibly a statue type, after a lost Greek original. From Syracuse , Sicily. Venus Libertina ("Venus
4470-731: A temple to Venus and Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome) on Rome's Velian Hill , underlining the Imperial unity of Rome and its provinces, and making Venus the protective genetrix of the entire Roman state, its people and fortunes. It was the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Venus was offered official (state-sponsored) cult in certain festivals of the Roman calendar . Her sacred month was April (Latin Mensis Aprilis ) which Roman etymologists understood to derive from aperire , "to open", with reference to
4619-730: A temple to Venus Felix et Roma Aeterna on the Via Sacra . The same epithet is used for a specific sculpture at the Vatican Museums . Venus Genetrix ("Venus the Mother"), as a goddess of motherhood and domesticity, with a festival on September 26, a personal ancestress of the Julian lineage and, more broadly, the divine ancestress of the Roman people. Julius Caesar dedicated a Temple of Venus Genetrix in 46 BC. This name has attached to an iconological type of statue of Aphrodite/Venus . Venus Heliopolitana ("Venus of Heliopolis Syriaca "),
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4768-699: A temple was dedicated to Venus Libitina in Libitina's grove on the Esquiline Hill , "hardly later than 300 BC". Venus Murcia ("Venus of the Myrtle"), merging Venus with the little-known deity Murcia (or Murcus, or Murtia). Murcia was associated with Rome's Mons Murcia (the Aventine's lesser height ), and had a shrine in the Circus Maximus . Some sources associate her with the myrtle-tree. Christian writers described her as
4917-722: A third of his revenues from Provence to her. In December 1244 Louis IX took a vow to lead a crusade. Ignoring their mother's strong opposition, his three brothers—Robert, Alphonse and Charles—also took the cross. Preparations for the crusade lasted for years, with the crusaders embarking at Aigues-Mortes on 25 August 1248. After spending several months in Cyprus they invaded Egypt on 5 June 1249. They captured Damietta and decided to attack Cairo in November. During their advance Louis's biographer Jean de Joinville noted Charles's personal courage which saved dozens of crusaders' lives. Robert of Artois died fighting against
5066-464: A treaty with him in 1272 or 1273. John I Doukas of Thessaly and Stefan Uroš I , King of Serbia, joined the coalition in 1273. However, Pope Gregory forbade Charles to attack, because he hoped to unify the Orthodox and Catholic churches with the assistance of Emperor Michael VIII. The renowned theologian Thomas Aquinas died unexpectedly near Naples on 7 March 1274, before departing to attend
5215-518: A twin, named Anteros. Xenophon 's Socratic Symposion 8. 1, features a dinner-guest with eros (love) for his wife; in return, she has anteros (reciprocal love) for him. Some sources suggest Anteros as avenger of "slighted love". In Servius ' 4th century commentary on Virgil's Aeneas , Cupid is a deceptive agent of Venus, impersonating Aeneas' son and making Dido , queen of Carthage , forget her husband. When Aeneas rejects her love, and covertly leaves Carthage to fulfill his destiny as ancestor of
5364-414: A universal, natural creative force that informs the physical world. She is addressed as "Alma Venus" ("Mother Venus") by Lucretius in the introductory lines of his vivid, poetic exposition of Epicurean physics and philosophy, De Rerum Natura . She seems to have been a favourite of Lucretius' patron, Memmius . Venus Physica Pompeiana was Pompeii's protective goddess, antedating Sulla's imposition of
5513-443: Is also cognate with Latin venia ('favour, permission') and vēnor ('to hunt') through to common PIE root *wenh₁- ('to strive for, wish for, desire, love'). Venus has been described as perhaps "the most original creation of the Roman pantheon", and "an ill-defined and assimilative" native goddess, combined "with a strange and exotic Aphrodite". Her cults may represent the religiously legitimate charm and seduction of
5662-630: Is also a regal form of "Nature Mother" and a guarantor of success in love. Venus Urania ("Heavenly Venus"), used as the title of a book by Basilius von Ramdohr , a relief by Pompeo Marchesi , and a painting by Christian Griepenkerl . (cf. Aphrodite Urania ) Venus Verticordia ("Venus the Changer of Hearts"), celebrated at the Veneralia for her ability to transform untethered desire ( libido) into pudicitia , sexuality expressed within socially permitted bounds, hence marriage. Venus Victrix ("Venus
5811-584: Is evidence of his cult, shared with Venus at her Temple just outside the Colline Gate and elsewhere. He would also have featured in many private household cults. In private and public areas alike, statues of Venus and Mars attended by Cupid, or Venus, Cupid and minor erotes were sometimes donated by wealthy sponsors, to serve both religious and artistic purposes. Cupid's roles in literary myth are usually limited to actions on behalf of Venus; in Cupid and Psyche , one of
5960-510: Is unclear where the offering is made, and others say this gift is to the Lares. In dice-games played with knucklebones , a popular pastime among Romans of all classes, the luckiest, best possible roll was known as " Venus ". Like other major Roman deities, Venus was given a number of epithets that referred to her different cult aspects, roles, and her functional similarities to other deities. Her "original powers seem to have been extended largely by
6109-526: Is usually depicted nude . The Latin theonym Venus and the common noun venus ('love, charm') stem from a Proto-Italic form reconstructed as *wenos- ('desire'), itself from Proto-Indo-European (PIE) *wenh₁-os ('desire'; cf. Messapic Venas , Old Indic vánas 'desire'). Derivatives include venustus ('attractive, charming'), venustās ('charm, grace'), venerius ('of Venus, erotic'), venerāre ('to adore, revere, honor, venerate, worship'), and venerātiō ('adoration'). Venus
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6258-548: Is well documented. Charles later said that his mother had a strong impact on her children's education; in reality, Blanche was fully engaged in state administration, and could likely spare little time for her youngest children. Charles lived at the court of a brother, Robert I, Count of Artois , from 1237. About four years later he was put into the care of his youngest brother, Alphonse, Count of Poitiers . His participation in his brothers' military campaign against Hugh X of Lusignan , Count of La Marche, in 1242 showed that he
6407-537: The Vinalia rustica festival. In 217 BC, in the early stages of the Second Punic War with Carthage , Rome suffered a disastrous defeat at the battle of Lake Trasimene . The Sibylline oracle suggested that Carthage might be defeated if the Venus of Eryx ( Venus Erycina ), patron goddess of Carthage's Sicilian allies, could be persuaded to change her allegiance. Rome laid siege to Eryx and promised its goddess
6556-497: The gens Julia , embellished an existing connection between Venus, whom Julius Caesar had adopted as his protectress, and the Trojan prince Aeneas , refugee from Troy's destruction and eventual ancestor of the Roman people. Virgil's Aeneas is guided to Latium by Venus in her heavenly form, the morning star, shining brightly before him in the daylight sky; much later, she lifts Caesar's soul to heaven. In Ovid 's Fasti Venus came to Rome because she "preferred to be worshipped in
6705-558: The Battle of Tagliacozzo , on 23 August 1268, it appeared that Conradin had won the day, but a sudden charge by Charles's reserve routed Conradin's army. The burghers of Potenza , Aversa and other towns in Basilicata and Apulia massacred their fellows who had agitated on Conradin's behalf, but the Sicilians and the Saracens of Lucera did not surrender. Charles marched to Rome where he
6854-798: The Eighth Crusade organised by Louis IX and forced the Hafsid Caliph Muhammad I to pay a yearly tribute to him. Charles's victories secured his undisputed leadership among the Papacy's Italian partisans (known as Guelphs ), but his influence on papal elections and his strong military presence in Italy disturbed the popes. They tried to channel his ambitions towards other territories and assisted him in acquiring claims to Achaea, Jerusalem and Arles through treaties. In 1281, Pope Martin IV authorised Charles to launch
7003-525: The Freedwoman "), probably arising through the semantic similarity and cultural links between libertina (as "a free woman") and lubentina (possibly meaning "pleasurable" or "passionate"). Further titles or variants acquired by Venus through the same process, or through orthographic variance, include Libentia, Lubentina, and Lubentini. Venus Libitina links Venus to a patron-goddess of funerals and undertakers , Libitina , who also became synonymous with death;
7152-614: The Holy Land , but Charles returned to France in October 1250. Charles's officers continued the survey of the counts' rights and revenues in Provence, provoking a new rebellion during his absence. On his return he applied both diplomacy and military force to deal with them. The Archbishop of Arles and the Bishop of Digne ceded their secular rights in the two towns to Charles in 1250. He received military assistance from his brother, Alphonse. Arles
7301-616: The Knights Hospitaller and the Venetians acknowledged Charles as the lawful ruler, the barons of the realm also paid homage to San Severino in January 1278, after he had threatened to confiscate their estates. The Mamluks of Egypt had already confined the kingdom to a coastal strip covering 2,600 km (1,000 square miles) and Charles had ordered San Severino to avoid conflicts with Egypt. Pope John died on 20 May 1277. Charles
7450-480: The Second Council of Lyon . According to a popular legend, immortalised by Dante Alighieri , Charles had him poisoned, because he feared that Aquinas would make complaint against him. The historian Steven Runciman emphasises that "there is no evidence for supposing that the great doctor's death was not natural". Southern Italian churchmen at the council accused Charles of tyrannical acts. Their report reinforced
7599-539: The Seventh Crusade to Egypt . Shortly after he returned to Provence in 1250, Charles forced three wealthy autonomous cities— Marseille , Arles and Avignon —to acknowledge his suzerainty . Charles supported Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut , against her eldest son, John , in exchange for Hainaut in 1253. Two years later, Louis IX persuaded him to renounce the county, but compensated him by instructing Margaret to pay him 160,000 marks . Charles forced
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#17328554980047748-554: The attitude anasyrmene , from the Greek verb anasyromai , "to pull up one's clothes" to reveal her male genitalia. The gesture traditionally held apotropaic or magical power. Venus Caelestis (Celestial or Heavenly Venus), used from the 2nd century AD for Venus as an aspect of a syncretised supreme goddess. Venus Caelestis is the earliest known Roman recipient of a taurobolium (a form of bull sacrifice), performed at her shrine in Pozzuoli on 5 October 134. This form of
7897-746: The civil wars for the settlement of veterans, like many others throughout Italy. It remained an important place under the Empire as a station on the Via Appia , though Theodor Mommsen 's description of it as having branch roads to Aequum Tuticum and Potentia , and Kiepert's maps annexed to the volume, do not agree with one another. During Late Antiquity , Venosa housed the second-largest Jewish community in Italy, following Rome. While specific founding dates are elusive, evidence suggests Jews resided in Venosa for centuries. The Jews of Venosa initially buried their dead in
8046-516: The usufruct of Provence to her. The Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II (whom Pope Innocent IV had recently excommunicated for his alleged "crimes against the Church"), Count Raymond VII of Toulouse and other neighbouring rulers proposed themselves or their sons as husbands for the young Countess. Her mother put her under the protection of the Holy See. Louis IX and Margaret suggested that Beatrice should be given in marriage to Charles. To secure
8195-465: The "fair voyage"), also known as Venus Pontia (Venus of the Sea"), because she smooths the waves for mariners. She is probably based on the influential image of Aphrodite by Praxiteles , once housed in a temple by the sea but now lost. Most copies of its Venus image would have been supported by dolphins, and worn diadems and carved veils, inferring her birth from sea-foam, and a consequent identity as Queen of
8344-639: The Council of Lyon on 6 July that he had accepted the Catholic creed and papal primacy . About three weeks later, Pope Gregory again prohibited Charles from launching military actions against the Byzantine Empire. The Pope also tried to mediate a truce between Charles and Michael, but the latter chose to attack several smaller states in the Balkans, including Charles's vassals. The Byzantine fleet took control of
8493-493: The Egyptians at Al Mansurah . His three brothers survived, but they had to abandon the campaign. While withdrawing from Egypt, they fell into captivity on 6 April 1250. The Egyptians released Louis, Charles and Alphonse in exchange for 800,000 bezants and the surrender of Damietta on 6 May. During their voyage to Acre , Charles outraged Louis by gambling while the king was mourning Robert's death. Louis remained in
8642-458: The Elder , having a Stoic's outlook, sees Cupid as a deity of greed and blind passion, morally inferior to Amor. The Roman playwright Plautus , however, has Venus, Cupid and Amor working together. In Roman cult inscriptions and theology, "Amor" is rare, and "Cupido" relatively common. No Roman temples seem dedicated to Cupid alone but the joint dedication formula Venus Cupidoque ("Venus and Cupid")
8791-503: The English barons had announced that they opposed a war against Manfred, Pope Alexander IV annulled the 1253 grant of Sicily to Edmund of Lancaster. Alexander's successor, Pope Urban IV , was determined to put an end to the Emperor's rule in Italy. He sent his notary, Albert of Parma, to Paris to negotiate with Louis IX for Charles to be placed on the Sicilian throne. Charles met with the Pope's envoy in early 1262. Taking advantage of Charles's absence, Boniface of Castellane stirred up
8940-465: The Fisher-woman") are almost exclusive to Pompeii. Both forms of Venus are represented within Pompeian homes of the well-off, with Venus Pompeiana more commonly found in formal reception spaces, typically depicted in full regalia , draped with a mantle, standing rigidly upright with her right arm across her chest. Images of Venus Pescatrice tend to be more playful, usually found in less formal and less public "non-reception" areas: here, she usually holds
9089-495: The French and Provençal prelates to offer financial support for the crusade. Pope Urban died before the final agreement was concluded. Charles made arrangements for his campaign against Sicily during the interregnum; he concluded agreements to secure his army's route across Lombardy and had the leaders of the Provençal rebels executed. Foulquois was elected pope in February 1265; he soon confirmed Charles's senatorship and urged him to come to Rome. Charles agreed that he would hold
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#17328554980049238-401: The French crown if their rulers died without descendants. An earthquake destroyed the walls of Durazzo in the late 1260s or early 1270s. Charles's troops took possession of the town with the assistance of the leaders of the nearby Albanian communities. Charles concluded an agreement with the Albanian chiefs, promising to protect them and their ancient liberties in February 1272. He adopted
9387-418: The Genoese should elect Guelph officials. Ignoring the Pope's proposal, the Genoese made alliance with Alfonso X of Castile, William VII of Montferrat and the Ghibelline towns of Lombardy in October 1273. The conflict with Genoa prevented Charles from invading the Byzantine Empire , but he continued to forge alliances in the Balkan Peninsula. The Bulgarian ruler, Konstantin Tih , was the first to conclude
9536-401: The Gesualdos: apart from the famous Carlo, other relevant figures of the period include the poet Luigi Tansillo (1510–1580) and the jurist Giovanni Battista De Luca (1614–1683). Venosa took part in the revolt of Masaniello in 1647. The Gesualdos were in turn followed by the Ludovisi and the Caracciolo families. Home to a traditionally strong republican tradition, Venosa had a role in
9685-706: The Ghibellines who had escaped to the town resisted until starvation forced them to surrender in August 1269. Charles sent Philip and Guy of Montfort to Sicily to force the rebels there into submission, but they could only capture Augusta . Charles made William l'Estandart the commander of the army in Sicily in August 1269. L'Estandart captured Agrigento , forcing Frederick of Castile and Frederick Lancia to seek refuge in Tunis. After L'Estandart's subsequent victory at Sciacca , only Capece resisted, but he also had to surrender in early 1270. Charles's troops forced Siena and Pisa—the last towns to resist him in Tuscany—to sue for peace in August 1270. He granted privileges to
9834-404: The Greek word for "dart", "needle", "arrow", whence "love's arrows" and love's bitter "cares and pangs". Ovid uses acidalia only in the latter sense. Venus Acidalia is likely a literary conceit, formed by Virgil from earlier usages in which acidalia had no evident connection to Venus. It was almost certainly not a cultic epithet. Venus Anadyomene (Venus "rising from the sea"), based on
9983-423: The Guelph leaders who had been exiled from Genoa. After they offered him the office of captain of the people , Charles promised military assistance to them. In November 1272 Charles commanded his officials to take prisoner all Genoese within his territories, except for the Guelphs, and to seize their property. His fleet occupied Ajaccio in Corsica. Pope Gregory condemned his aggressive policy, but proposed that
10132-432: The Guelph lords expelled from the Regno. Neither could Charles gain the commoners' loyalty, partly because he continued enforcing the subventio generalis despite the popes declaring it an illegal charge. He introduced a ban on the use of foreign currency in large transactions and made a profit of the compulsory exchange of foreign coinage for locally minted currency. He also traded in grain, spices and sugar, through
10281-423: The Kingdom of Sicily as the popes' vassal for an annual tribute of 8,000 ounces of gold. He also promised that he would never seek the imperial title. He embarked at Marseilles on 10 May and landed at Ostia ten days later. He was installed as senator on 21 June and four cardinals invested him with the Regno a week later. To finance further military actions he borrowed money from Italian bankers with
10430-500: The Kingdom of Sicily. After Conradin accepted their proposal, Manfred's former vicar in Sicily, Conrad Capece , returned to the island and stirred up a revolt. At Capece's request Muhammad I al-Mustansir , the Hafsid caliph of Tunis , allowed Manfred's former ally, Frederick of Castile , to invade Sicily from North Africa. Frederick's brother, Henry —who had been elected senator of Rome—also offered support to Conradin. Henry had been Charles's friend, but Charles had failed to repay
10579-414: The Lombard towns to attend. The Lombard towns accepted the invitation, but some towns—Milan, Bologna, Alessandria and Tortona—only confirmed their alliance with Charles, without acknowledging his rule. Louis IX never abandoned the idea of the liberation of Jerusalem, but he decided to begin his new crusade with a military campaign against Tunis. According to his confessor, Geoffrey of Beaulieu , Louis
10728-542: The Pope had a low opinion of Hugh. The war with Genoa and the Lombard towns increasingly occupied Charles's attention. He appointed his nephew Robert II of Artois as his deputy in Piedmont in October 1274, but Artois could not prevent Vercelli and Alessandria from joining the Ghibelline League. The following summer, a Genoese fleet plundered Trapani and the island of Gozo . Convinced that only Rudolf I could achieve
10877-664: The Pope had borrowed from the Romans. Victories by the Ghibellines , the imperial family's supporters, forced the Pope to ask Charles to send his troops to Tuscany . Charles's troops ousted the Ghibellines from Florence in April 1267. After being elected the Podestà (ruler) of Florence and Lucca for seven years, Charles hurried to Tuscany. Charles's expansionism along the Papal States ' borders alarmed Pope Clement and he decided to change
11026-448: The Pope's assistance, who had authorised him to pledge Church property. Five cardinals crowned him king of Sicily on 5 January 1266. The crusaders from France and Provence—reportedly 6,000 fully equipped mounted warriors, 600 mounted bowmen and 20,000 foot-soldiers—arrived in Rome ten days later. Charles decided to invade southern Italy without delay, because he was unable to finance
11175-502: The Pope's attempt to reach a compromise with Rudolf of Habsburg , who had been elected king of Germany by the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. In June, the Pope acknowledged Rudolf as the lawful ruler of both Germany and Italy. Charles's sisters-in-law, Margaret and Eleanor, approached Rudolf, claiming that they had been unlawfully disinherited in favour of Charles's late wife. Michael VIII's personal envoy announced at
11324-421: The Regno, included the island of Sicily and southern Italy nearly as far as Rome. Pope Innocent IV claimed that the Regno had reverted to the Holy See. The Pope first offered it to Richard of Cornwall , but Richard did not want to fight against Frederick's son, Conrad IV of Germany . Then the Pope proposed to enfeoff Charles with the kingdom. Charles sought instructions from Louis IX, who forbade him to accept
11473-430: The Regno. Pope Urban IV declared a crusade against the incumbent Manfred of Sicily and assisted Charles in raising funds for the military campaign. Charles was crowned king in Rome on 5 January 1266. He annihilated Manfred's army and occupied the Regno almost without resistance. His victory over Manfred's young nephew, Conradin , at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268 strengthened his rule. In 1270, he took part in
11622-417: The Roman pantheon, Vulcan and Mars , are active and fiery. Venus absorbs and tempers the male essence, uniting the opposites of male and female in mutual affection. She is essentially assimilative and benign, and embraces several otherwise quite disparate functions. She can give military victory, sexual success, good fortune and prosperity. In one context, she is a goddess of prostitutes; in another, she turns
11771-591: The Roman people, Dido is said to invoke Anteros as "contrary to Cupid". She falls into hatred and despair, curses Rome, and when Aeneas leaves, commits suicide. Ovid 's Fasti, Book 4, invokes Venus not by name but as "Mother of the Twin Loves", the gemini amores . "Amor" is the Latin name preferred by Roman poets and literati for the personification of "kindly" love. Where Cupid (lust) can be imperious, cruel, prone to mischief or even war-like, Amor softly persuades. Cato
11920-406: The Romans, so as far as the Romans were concerned, this was the homecoming of an ancestral goddess to her people. Soon after, Rome's defeat of Carthage confirmed Venus's goodwill to Rome, her links to its mythical Trojan past, and her support of its political and military hegemony. The Capitoline cult to Venus seems to have been reserved to higher status Romans. A separate cult to Venus Erycina as
12069-619: The Sea, and patron of sailors and navigation. Roman copies would have embellished baths and gymnasiums. Venus Frutis honoured by all the Latins with a federal cult at the temple named Frutinal in Lavinium. Inscriptions found at Lavinium attest the presence of federal cults, without giving precise details. Venus Felix ("Lucky Venus"), probably a traditional epithet, combining aspects of Venus and Fortuna , goddess of both good and bad fortune and personification of luck, whose iconography includes
12218-517: The Tuscan merchants and bankers which strengthened their position in the Regno. His influence was declining in Lombardy, because the Lombard towns no longer feared an invasion from Germany after Conradin's death. In May 1269 Charles sent Walter of La Roche to represent him in the province, but this failed to strengthen his authority. In October Charles's officials convoked an assembly at Cremona, and invited
12367-559: The Victorious"), a Romanised aspect of the armed Aphrodite that Greeks had inherited from the East, where the goddess Ishtar "remained a goddess of war, and Venus could bring victory to a Sulla or a Caesar". Pompey vied with his patron Sulla and with Caesar for public recognition as her protégé. In 55 BC he dedicated a temple to her at the top of his theater in the Campus Martius . She had
12516-593: The cardinals to elect a new pope. Charles's brother, Alphonse of Poitiers, fell ill. Charles sent his best doctors to cure him, but Alphonse died. He claimed the major part of Alphonse's inheritance, including the Marquisate of Provence and the County of Poitiers , because he was Alphonse's nearest kin . After Philip III objected, he took the case to the Parlement of Paris. In 1284 the court ruled that appanages escheated to
12665-432: The city of her own offspring". In Virgil's poetic account of Octavian 's victory at the sea- battle of Actium , the future emperor is allied with Venus, Neptune and Minerva . Octavian's opponents, Antony , Cleopatra and the Egyptians, assisted by bizarre and unhelpful Egyptian deities such as "barking" Anubis , lose the battle. Cupid (lust or desire) and Amor (affectionate love) are taken to be different names for
12814-563: The command of Carmine Crocco in order to restore the Bourbon power in Basilicata. Venus (goddess) Venus ( / ˈ v iː n ə s / ) is a Roman goddess whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex , fertility , prosperity , and victory. In Roman mythology , she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas , who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus
12963-651: The counts' rights and revenues, outraging both his subjects and his mother-in-law, who regarded this action as an attack against her rights. Being a younger child, destined for a church career, Charles had not received an appanage (a hereditary county or duchy) from his father. Louis VIII had willed that his fourth son, John, should receive Anjou and Maine upon reaching the age of majority, but John died in 1232. Louis IX knighted Charles at Melun in May 1246 and three months later bestowed Anjou and Maine on him. Charles rarely visited his two counties and appointed baillies (or regents) to administer them. While Charles
13112-523: The county to Charles. He accepted the offer and invaded Hainaut, forcing most local noblemen to swear fealty to him. After his return to France, Louis IX insisted that his ruling was to be respected. In November 1255 he ordered Charles to restore Hainaut to Margaret, but her sons were obliged to swear fealty to Charles. Louis also ruled that she was to pay 160,000 marks to Charles over the following 13 years. Charles returned to Provence, which had again become restive. His mother-in-law continued to support
13261-400: The crossing of the hills, on 26 February 1266. In the ensuing battle , Manfred's army was defeated and he was killed. Resistance throughout the Regno collapsed and towns surrendered even before Charles's troops reached them. The Saracens of Lucera —a Muslim colony established during Frederick II's reign —paid homage to him. His commander, Philip of Montfort , took control of
13410-527: The crusade were also sunk or forced to land in Sicily. Charles seized the damaged ships and their cargo, ignoring all protests from the Ghibelline authorities of Genoa. Before leaving Sicily he granted temporary tax concessions to the Sicilians, because he realised that the conquest of the island had caused much destruction. Charles accompanied Philip III as far as Viterbo in March 1271. Here they failed to convince
13559-604: The direction of Charles's ambitions. The Pope summoned him to Viterbo , forcing him to promise that he would abandon all claims to Tuscany in three years. He persuaded Charles to conclude agreements with William of Villehardouin , Prince of Achaea, and the titular Latin Emperor Baldwin II in late May. According to the first treaty, Villehardouin acknowledged Charles's suzerainty and made Charles's younger son, Philip , his heir, also stipulating that Charles would inherit Achaea if Philip died childless. Baldwin confirmed
13708-416: The divine by mortals, in contrast to the formal, contractual relations between most members of Rome's official pantheon and the state, and the unofficial, illicit manipulation of divine forces through magic. The ambivalence of her persuasive functions has been perceived in the relationship of the root *wenos- with its Latin derivative venenum ('poison'; from *wenes-no 'love drink' or 'addicting'), in
13857-439: The epithet and its attendant responsibilities represented a change of heart in the goddess herself. Vinalia urbana (April 23), a wine festival shared by Venus and Jupiter , king of the gods. It offered opportunity to supplicants to ask Venus' intercession with Jupiter, who was thought to be susceptible to her charms, and amenable to the effects of her wine. Venus was patron of " profane " wine, for everyday human use. Jupiter
14006-517: The expenses of the military campaign and to release his Christian prisoners. He also promised to pay a yearly tribute to Charles and to expel Charles's opponents from Tunis. The gold from Tunis, along with silver from the newly opened mine at Longobucco , enabled Charles to mint new coins, known as carlini , in the Regno. Charles and Philip departed Tunis on 10 November. A storm dispersed their fleet at Trapani and most of Charles's galleys were lost or damaged. Genoese ships returning from
14155-616: The first agreement and renounced his claims to suzerainty over his vassals in favour of Charles. Charles pledged that he would assist Baldwin in recapturing Constantinople from the Byzantine emperor, Michael VIII Palaiologos , in exchange for one third of the conquered lands. Charles returned to Tuscany and laid siege to the fortress of Poggibonsi, but it did not fall until the end of November. Manfred's staunchest supporters had meanwhile fled to Bavaria to attempt to persuade Conrad IV's 15-year-old son Conradin to assert his hereditary right to
14304-554: The fondness of the Romans for folk-etymology, and by the prevalence of the religious idea nomen-omen which sanctioned any identifications made in this way." Venus Acidalia , in Virgil 's Aeneid (1.715–22, as mater acidalia ). Servius speculates this "rare" and "strangely recondite epithet" as reference to a mooted "Fountain of Acidalia" ( fons acidalia ) where the Graces (Venus' daughters) were said to bathe; but he also connects it to
14453-566: The goddess, and the taurobolium, are associated with the "Syrian Goddess", understood as a late equivalent to Astarte , or the Roman Magna Mater , the latter being another supposedly Trojan "Mother of the Romans", as well as "Mother of the Gods". Venus Calva ("Venus the bald one"), a legendary form of Venus, attested only by post-Classical Roman writings which offer several traditions to explain this appearance and epithet. In one, it commemorates
14602-408: The hearts of men and women from sexual vice to virtue. Varro 's theology identifies Venus with water as an aspect of the female principle. To generate life, the watery matrix of the womb requires the virile warmth of fire. To sustain life, water and fire must be balanced; excess of either one, or their mutual antagonism, is unproductive or destructive. Prospective brides offered Venus a gift "before
14751-431: The hostility he experienced during Gregory's pontificate, Charles was determined to secure the election of a pope willing to support his plans. Gregory's successor, Pope Innocent V , had always been Charles's partisan and he rapidly confirmed Charles as senator of Rome and imperial vicar of Tuscany. He also mediated a peace treaty between Charles and Genoa, which was signed in Rome on 22 June 1276. Charles restored
14900-501: The island of Sicily . Manfred's widow, Helena of Epirus , and their children were captured. Charles laid claim to her dowry—the island of Corfu and the region of Durazzo (now Durrës in Albania)—by right of conquest. His troops seized Corfu before the end of the year. Charles was lenient with Manfred's supporters, but they did not believe that this conciliatory policy could last. They knew that he had promised to return estates to
15049-465: The literary concept of Venus is mantled in whole-cloth borrowings from the literary Greek mythology of her counterpart, Aphrodite, but with significant exceptions. In some Latin mythology, Cupid was the son of Venus and Mars , the god of war. At other times, or in parallel myths and theologies, Venus was understood to be the consort of Vulcan or as mother of the "second cupid", fathered by Mercury . Virgil , in compliment to his patron Augustus and
15198-501: The maritime routes between Albania and southern Italy in the late 1270s. Gregory only allowed Charles to send reinforcements to Achaea. The organisation of a new crusade to the Holy Land remained the Pope's principal object. He persuaded Charles to start negotiations with Maria of Antioch about purchasing her claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem . The High Court of Jerusalem had already rejected her in favour of Hugh III of Cyprus , but
15347-414: The most pudica (sexually pure) in Rome by a committee of Roman matrons. At first, this statue was probably housed in the temple of Fortuna Virilis , perhaps as divine reinforcement against the perceived moral and religious failings of its cult. In 114 BC Venus Verticordia was given her own temple. She was meant to persuade Romans of both sexes and every class, whether married or unmarried, to cherish
15496-803: The next four years. He received territories in the Lower Alps from the Dauphin of Vienne . Raymond I of Baux , Count of Orange, ceded the title of regent of the Kingdom of Arles to him. The burghers of Cuneo —a town strategically located on the routes from Provence to Lombardy—sought Charles's protection against Asti in July 1259. Alba , Cherasco , Savigliano and other nearby towns acknowledged his rule. The rulers of Mondovì , Ceva , Biandrate and Saluzzo did homage to him. Emperor Frederick II's illegitimate son, Manfred , had been crowned king of Sicily in 1258. After
15645-724: The offer, because he regarded Conrad as the lawful ruler. After Charles informed the Holy See on 30 October 1253 that he would not accept the Regno, the Pope offered it to Edmund of Lancaster . Queen Blanche, who had administered France during Louis' crusade, died on 1 December 1252. Louis made Alphonse and Charles co-regents, so that he could remain in the Holy Land. Margaret II, Countess of Flanders and Hainaut had come into conflict with her son by her first marriage, John of Avesnes . After her sons by her second marriage were captured in July 1253, she needed foreign assistance to secure their release. Ignoring Louis IX's 1246 ruling that Hainaut should pass to John, she promised
15794-626: The office, at which a group of cardinals requested that the Pope revoke the agreement with him, but the Pope, being otherwise defenceless against Manfred, could not break with Charles. In the spring of 1264 Cardinals Simon of Brie and Guy Foulquois were sent to France to reach a compromise and start raising support for the crusade. Charles sent troops to Rome to protect the Pope against Manfred's allies. At Foulquois' request, Charles's sister-in-law Margaret (who had not abandoned her claims to her dowry) pledged that she would not take actions against Charles during his absence. Foulquois also persuaded
15943-515: The outfall of the Cloaca Maxima , originally a stream, later covered over to function as Rome's main sewer. The rites conducted at the shrine were probably meant to purify the culvert's polluted waters and noxious airs . In some traditions, Titus Tatius was responsible for the introduction of lawful marriage to Rome, and Venus-Cloacina promoted, protected and purified sexual intercourse between married couples. Venus Erycina (" Erycine Venus"),
16092-638: The peasant revolts and the Carbonari movement of the early 19th century. A true civil war between baronial powers and supporters of the peasants' rights broke out in 1849, being harshly suppressed by the Neapolitan troops.(See Sicilian revolution of independence of 1848 .) In 1861, after the fall of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during the Italian unification , Venosa was occupied by some bands of brigands under
16241-768: The peculiar milieu of the Aventine and the Circus Maximus" – a strongly plebeian context for Venus's cult, in contrast to her aristocratic cultivation as a Stoic and Epicurian "all-goddess". Towards the end of the Roman Republic , some leading Romans laid personal claims to Venus' favour. The general and dictator Sulla adopted Felix ("Lucky") as a surname, acknowledging his debt to heaven-sent good fortune and his particular debt to Venus Felix , for his extraordinarily fortunate political and military career. His protégé Pompey competed for Venus' support, dedicating (in 55 BC)
16390-690: The privileges of the Genoese merchants and renounced his conquests, and the Genoese acknowledged his rule in Ventimiglia. Pope Innocent died on 30 June 1276. After the cardinals assembled in the Lateran Palace , Charles's troops surrounded it, enabling only his allies to communicate with other cardinals and with outsiders. On 11 July the cardinals elected Charles's old friend, Ottobuono de' Fieschi , pope, but he died on 18 August. The cardinals met again, this time at Viterbo. Although Charles
16539-466: The rebellious Boniface of Castellane and his allies, but Louis IX persuaded her to return Forcalquier to Charles and relinquish her claims for a lump sum payment from Charles and a pension from Louis in November 1256. A coup by Charles's supporters in Marseilles resulted in the surrender of all political powers there to his officials. Charles continued to expand his power along the borders of Provence in
16688-452: The rebellious Provençal nobles and towns into submission and expanded his suzerainty over a dozen towns and lordships in the Kingdom of Arles . In 1263, after years of negotiations, he accepted the offer of the Holy See to seize the Kingdom of Sicily from the Hohenstaufens . This kingdom included, in addition to the island of Sicily , southern Italy to well north of Naples and was known as
16837-472: The ripening of the grapes; but the sacrificial victim, a female lamb ( agna ), may be evidence that it once belonged to Venus alone. A festival of Venus Genetrix (September 26) was held under state auspices from 46 BC at her Temple in the Forum of Caesar , in fulfillment of a vow by Julius Caesar , who claimed her personal favour as his divine patron, and ancestral goddess of the Julian clan . Caesar dedicated
16986-494: The rudder of a ship, found in some Pompeian examples of the regal Venus Physica . A form of Venus usually identified as Venus Felix was adopted by the dictator Sulla to legitimise his victories over his domestic and foreign opponents during Rome's late Republican civil and foreign wars; Rives finds it very unlikely that Sulla would have imposed this humiliating connection on unwilling or conquered domestic territories once allied to Samnium, such as Pompei. The emperor Hadrian built
17135-428: The same Roman love-god, the son of Venus, fathered by Mercury , Vulcan or Mars. Childlike or boyish winged figures who accompany Venus, whether singly, in pairs or more, have been variously identified as Amores, Cupids , Erotes or forms of Greek Eros . The most ancient of these is Eros, whom Hesiod categorises as a primordial deity , emerging from Chaos as a generative power with neither mother nor father. Eros
17284-422: The sense of "a charm, magic philtre ". Venus seems to have had no origin myth until her association with Greek Aphrodite. Venus-Aphrodite emerged, already in adult form, from the sea foam (Greek αφρός, aphros ) produced by the severed genitals of Caelus - Uranus . Roman theology presents Venus as the yielding, watery female principle, essential to the generation and balance of life. Her male counterparts in
17433-540: The springtime blossoming of trees and flowers. In the interpretatio romana of the Germanic pantheon during the early centuries AD, Venus became identified with the Germanic goddess Frijjo , giving rise to the loan translation " Friday " for dies Veneris . Veneralia (April 1) was held in honour of Venus Verticordia ("Venus the Changer of Hearts"), and Fortuna Virilis (Virile or strong Good Fortune )), whose cult
17582-633: The stories within The Golden Ass , by the Roman author Apuleius , the plot and its resolution are driven by Cupid's love for Psyche ("soul"), his filial disobedience, and his mother's envy. Images of Venus have been found in domestic murals, mosaics and household shrines ( lararia ). Petronius , in his Satyricon , places an image of Venus among the Lares (household gods) of the freedman Trimalchio 's lararium . The Venus types known as Venus Pompeiana ("Venus of Pompeii") and Venus Pescatrice ("Venus
17731-458: The support of France against Frederick II, Pope Innocent IV accepted their proposal. Charles hurried to Aix-en-Provence at the head of an army to prevent other suitors from invading Provence, and married Beatrice on 31 January 1246. Provence was a part of the Kingdom of Arles and so of the Holy Roman Empire , but Charles never swore fealty to the emperor. He ordered a survey of
17880-508: The temple during his extraordinarily lavish quadruple triumph. At the same time, he was pontifex maximus and Rome's senior magistrate; the festival is thought to mark the unprecedented promotion of a personal, family cult to one of the Roman state. Caesar's heir, Augustus, made much of these personal and family associations with Venus as an Imperial deity. The festival's rites are not known. As with most major gods and goddesses in Roman mythology ,
18029-459: The title of King of Albania and appointed Gazzo Chinardo as his vicar-general. He also sent his fleet to Achaea to defend the principality against Byzantine attacks. Charles hurried to Rome to attend the enthronement of Pope Gregory X on 27 March 1272. The new pope was determined to put an end to the conflicts between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines. While in Rome Charles met with
18178-536: The townspeople surrendered their arms, but the town retained its autonomy. Louis IX decided to support Charles's military campaign in Italy in May 1263. Pope Urban IV promised to proclaim a crusade against Manfred, while Charles pledged that he would not accept any offices in the Italian towns. Manfred staged a coup in Rome, but the Guelphs elected Charles senator (or the head of the civil government of Rome). He accepted
18327-454: The traditional sexual proprieties and morality known to please the gods and benefit the State. During her rites, her image was taken from her temple to the men's baths, where it was undressed and washed in warm water by her female attendants, then garlanded with myrtle. Women and men asked Venus Verticordia's help in affairs of the heart, sex, betrothal and marriage. For Ovid , Venus's acceptance of
18476-450: The treaty concluded by Charles and Maria of Antioch on 18 March which transferred her claims to Jerusalem to Charles for 1,000 bezants and a pension of 4,000 livres tournois . Charles appointed Roger of San Severino to administer the Kingdom of Jerusalem as his bailiff . San Severino landed at Acre on 7 June 1277. Hugh III's bailiff, Balian of Arsuf , surrendered the town without resistance. Although initially only
18625-520: The virtuous offer by Roman matrons of their own hair to make bowstrings during a siege of Rome. In another, king Ancus Marcius ' wife and other Roman women lost their hair during an epidemic; in hope of its restoration, unafflicted women sacrificed their own hair to Venus. Venus Cloacina ("Venus the Purifier"); a fusion of Venus with the Etruscan water goddess Cloacina , who had an ancient shrine above
18774-507: The wedding"; the nature of the gift, and its timing, are unknown. The wedding ceremony itself, and the state of lawful marriage, belonged to Juno – whose mythology allows her only a single marriage, and no divorce from her habitually errant spouse, Jupiter – but Venus and Juno are also likely "bookends" for the ceremony; Venus prepares the bride for "conubial bliss" and expectations of fertility within lawful marriage. Some Roman sources say that girls who come of age offer their toys to Venus; it
18923-538: The widest possible spacing between the temple columns, producing a light and airy space, and he offers Venus's temple in Caesar's forum as an example of how not to do it; the densely spaced, thickset columns darken the interior, hide the temple doors and crowd the walkways, so that matrons who wish to honour the goddess must enter her temple in single file, rather than arm-in arm. In 135 AD the Emperor Hadrian inaugurated
19072-526: Was vowed to Venus Obsequens by Q. Fabius Gurges in the heat of a battle against the Samnites . It was dedicated in 295 BC, at a site near the Aventine Hill , and was supposedly funded by fines imposed on Roman women for sexual misdemeanours. Its rites and character were probably influenced by or based on Greek Aphrodite 's cults, which were already diffused in various forms throughout Italian Magna Graeca . Its dedication date connects Venus Obsequens to
19221-455: Was Conradin's only partisan to be released, but only after his wife threatened to execute the Guelph lords she held captive in her castle. The Ghibelline noblemen of the Regno fled to the court of Peter III of Aragon , who had married Manfred's daughter, Constance . Charles's wife, Beatrice of Provence, had died in July 1267. The widowed Charles married Margaret of Nevers in November 1268. She
19370-449: Was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou . He was Count of Provence (1246–1285) and Forcalquier (1246–1248, 1256–1285) in the Holy Roman Empire , Count of Anjou and Maine (1246–1285) in France; he was also King of Sicily (1266–1285) and Prince of Achaea (1278–1285). In 1272, he was proclaimed King of Albania , and in 1277 he purchased
19519-481: Was absent from Provence, Marseille , Arles and Avignon —three wealthy cities, directly subject to the emperor—formed a league and appointed a Provençal nobleman, Barral of Baux , as the commander of their combined armies. Charles's mother-in-law put the disobedient Provençals under her protection. Charles could not deal with the rebels as he was about to join his brother's crusade . To pacify his mother-in-law he acknowledged her right to rule Forcalquier and granted
19668-599: Was again elected senator in September. He appointed new officials to administer justice and collect state revenues. New coins bearing his name were struck. During the following decade, Rome was ruled by Charles's vicars, each appointed for one year. Conradin was captured at Torre Astura . Most of his retainers were summarily executed, but Conradin and his friend, Frederick I, Margrave of Baden , were brought to trial for robbery and treason in Naples. They were sentenced to death and beheaded on 29 October. Conrad of Antioch
19817-465: Was central to many religious festivals , and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles. The Romans adapted the myths and iconography of her Greek counterpart Aphrodite for Roman art and Latin literature . In the later classical tradition of the West , Venus became one of the most widely referenced deities of Greco-Roman mythology as the embodiment of love and sexuality. As such, she
19966-402: Was co-heiress to her father, Odo , the eldest son of Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy . Pope Clement died on 29 November 1268. The papal vacancy lasted for three years, which strengthened Charles's authority in Italy, but it also deprived him of the ecclesiastic support that only a pope could provide. Charles returned to Lucera to personally direct its siege in April 1269. The Saracens and
20115-436: Was convinced that al-Mustansir of Tunis was ready to convert to Christianity. The 13th-century historian Saba Malaspina stated that Charles persuaded Louis to attack Tunis, because he wanted to secure the payment of the tribute that the rulers of Tunis had paid to the former Sicilian monarchs. The French crusaders embarked at Aigues-Mortes on 2 July 1270; Charles departed from Naples six days later. He spent more than
20264-514: Was extended to the town. Some coins of Venusia of this period exist. It took part in the Social War , and was recaptured by Quintus Metellus Pius ; it then became a municipium , but in 43 BC its territory was assigned to the veterans of the triumvirs , and it became a colony once more. Horace was born here in 65 BC. His father's estate in Venusia was confiscated by Augustus after his victory in
20413-411: Was ill and could not prevent the election of Giovanni Gaetano Orsini as Pope Nicholas III on 25 November. The Pope soon declared that no foreign prince could rule in Rome and reminded Charles that he had been elected senator for ten years. Charles swore fealty to the new pope on 24 May 1278 after lengthy negotiations. He had to pledge that he would renounce both the senatorship of Rome and
20562-431: Was introduced in the whole county. Income from the salt trade made up about 50% of state revenues by the late 1250s. Charles abolished local tolls and promoted shipbuilding and grain trade . He ordered the issue of new coins, called provencaux , to enable the use of the local currency in smaller transactions. Emperor Frederick II, who was also the ruler of Sicily, died in 1250. The Kingdom of Sicily , also known as
20711-616: Was moved to Acerenza . The Lombards made it a gastaldate in 570/590. In 842 Venosa was sacked by the Saracens , who were later ousted by Emperor Louis II . Next rulers in the 9th century were the Byzantines , who lost control of it after their defeat in 1041 by the Normans . Under the latter, Venosa was assigned to Drogo of Hauteville . In 1133 the town was sacked and set on fire by Roger II of Sicily . His later successor Frederick II had
20860-593: Was no longer destined for a Church career. Raymond Berengar V of Provence died in August 1245, bequeathing Provence and Forcalquier to his youngest daughter, Beatrice , allegedly because he had given generous dowries to her three sisters. The dowries were actually not fully discharged, causing two of her sisters, Margaret (Louis IX's wife) and Eleanor (the wife of Henry III of England ), to believe that they had been unlawfully disinherited. Their mother, Beatrice of Savoy , claimed that Raymond Berengar had willed
21009-410: Was patron of the strongest, purest, sacrificial grade wine, and controlled the weather on which the autumn grape-harvest would depend. At this festival, men and women alike drank the new vintage of ordinary, non-sacral wine (pressed at the previous year's vinalia rustica ) in honour of Venus, whose powers had provided humankind with this gift. Upper-class women gathered at Venus's Capitoline temple, where
21158-414: Was probably by far the older of the two. Venus Verticordia was invented in 220 BC, in response to advice from a Sibylline oracle during Rome's Punic Wars , when a series of prodigies was taken to signify divine displeasure at sexual offenses among Romans of every category and class, including several men and three Vestal Virgins . The statue of Venus Verticordia was dedicated by a young woman, chosen as
21307-493: Was staying in the nearby Vetralla, he could not directly influence the election, because his vehement opponent, Cardinal Giovanni Gaetano Orsini , dominated the papal conclave . Pope John XXI , who was elected on 20 September, excommunicated Charles's opponents in Piedmont and prohibited Rudolf from coming to Lombardy, but did not forbid the Lombardian Guelph leaders swearing fealty to Rudolf. The Pope also confirmed
21456-562: Was taken by the Romans after the Third Samnite War in 291 BC and became a colony for its strategical position between Apulia and Lucania . No fewer than 20,000 men were sent there, owing to its military importance. Throughout the Hannibalic wars, it remained faithful to Rome , and had a further contingent of colonists sent in 200 BC to replace its losses in the war. In 190 BC the Appian Way
21605-633: Was the patron deity of Thespiae , where he was embodied as an aniconic stone as late as the 2nd century AD. From at least the 5th century BC he also had the form of an adolescent or pre-adolescent male, at Elis (on the Peloponnese ) and elsewhere in Greece, acquiring wings, bow and arrows, and divine parents in the love-goddess Aphrodite and the war-god Ares. He had temples of his own, and shared others with Aphrodite. At Elis, and in Athens , Eros shared cult with
21754-533: Was the first Capetian to be named for Charlemagne . Louis VIII died in November 1226 and his eldest son, Louis IX , succeeded him. The late King willed that his youngest sons were to be prepared for a career in the Roman Catholic Church . The details of Charles's tuition are unknown, but he received a good education. He understood the principal Catholic doctrines and could identify errors in Latin texts. His passion for poetry, medical sciences, and law
21903-551: Was the first town to surrender to them in April 1251. In May they forced Avignon to acknowledge their joint rule. A month later Barral of Baux also capitulated. Marseilles was the only town to resist for several months, but it also sought peace in July 1252. Its burghers acknowledged Charles as their lord, but retained their self-governing bodies. Charles's officials continued to ascertain his rights, visiting each town and holding public enquiries to obtain information about all claims. The count's salt monopoly (or gabelle )
22052-410: Was the youngest child of King Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile . The date of his birth has not survived, but he was probably born posthumously in early 1227. Charles was Louis' only surviving son to be " born in the purple " (after his father's coronation), a fact he often emphasised in his youth, as the contemporaneous chronicler Matthew Paris noted in his Chronica Majora . He
22201-577: Was used in the purification rites of Cloacina , the Etruscan-Roman goddess of Rome's main sewer ; later, Cloacina's association with Venus' sacred plant made her Venus Cloacina . Likewise, Roman folk-etymology transformed the ancient, obscure goddess Murcia into "Venus of the Myrtles, whom we now call Murcia". Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/1227 – 7 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou or Charles d'Anjou ,
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