Manfred (Sicilian: Manfredi di Sicilia; 1232 – 26 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death.

The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II,[1] Manfred became regent over the kingdom of Sicily on behalf of his nephew Conradin in 1254.

After an initial attempt to appease Pope Innocent IV he took up the ongoing conflict between the Hohenstaufens and the papacy through combat and political alliances.

[4] Manfred, who initially bore his mother's surname, studied in Paris and Bologna and shared with his father a love of poetry and science.

[6] When Conrad IV, Manfred's legitimate brother, appeared in southern Italy in 1252, his authority was quickly and generally acknowledged.

Aided by Saracen allies, he defeated the papal army at Foggia on 2 December 1254,[13] and soon established his authority over Sicily and the Sicilian possessions on the mainland.

[7] In that year Manfred supported the Ghibelline communes in Tuscany, in particular Siena, to which he provided a corps of German knights that was later instrumental in the defeat of Florence at the Battle of Montaperti.

[11] In 1257, however, Manfred crushed the papal army and settled all the rebellions, imposing his firm rule of southern Italy and receiving the title of vicar from Conradin.

The falsehood of this report was soon manifest; but the new king, supported by the popular voice, declined to abdicate and pointed out to Conradin's envoys the necessity for a strong native ruler.

Undeterred by the excommunication Manfred sought to obtain power in central and northern Italy, where the Ghibelline leader Ezzelino III da Romano had disappeared.

After Montaperti he was recognized as protector of Tuscany by the citizens of Florence, who did homage to his representative, and he was chosen "Senator of the Romans" by a faction in the city.

In 1263 he was most successful with Charles I of Anjou, a brother of King Louis IX of France, who accepted the investiture of the kingdom of Sicily at his hands.

Hearing of the approach of Charles, Manfred issued a manifesto to the Romans, in which he not only defended his rule over Italy but even claimed the imperial crown.

With this statement, Manfred reveals that one's time in Purgatory can lessen if someone still alive can pray on their behalf, anticipating one of the recurring themes in Purgatorio.

[7] Manfred's name was borrowed by the English author Horace Walpole for the main character of his short novel The Castle of Otranto (1764).

Montague Summers, in his 1924 edition of this work, showed that some details of Manfred of Sicily's real history inspired the novelist.