CORRADINO of SEVVIA. — Born in the castle of Wolfstein, near Landshut (Niederbayern), on 25 March 1252, died in Naples on 29 Oct. 1268. The last descendant of the Hohenstaufen, son of Conrad IV, King of Germany, and of Elisabeth of Bavaria, orphaned at the age of two upon his father’s death, he was raised by his uncle Louis of Bavaria. After the death of King Manfred (1266), he was insistently invited by the Italian Ghibellines to descend into Italy to reclaim the Kingdom of Sicily by force of arms.
Having entrusted his German domains to the Duke of Bavaria, the very young prince set out on this enterprise, thereby incurring the Pope’s displeasure. He entered Rome, from which he departed on 27 July 1268 to reach the Neapolitan territory via the Abruzzi; but at Scurcola, on 23 Aug. 1268, he was defeated by Charles of Anjou and abandoned by his followers. As a last resort, he attempted to embark at Astura near Rome, but, betrayed by Giovanni Frangipane, lord of the place, he was delivered to Charles and, after a summary trial, beheaded in Naples. He was buried in the Church of the Carmine.