Upon the arrival of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in 1194, Emperor Frederick II gave great importance to the Castle of Melfi, and ordered several modifications.

In 1231 he promulgated the Constitutions of Melfi (Liber Augustalis) at the manor, code of laws of the Kingdom of Sicily, to which the emperor personally took part in the writing together with people like his notary Pietro della Vigna and the philosopher and mathematician Michael Scot.

The structure was also a deposit for taxes collected in Basilicata and a prison for captives like the "Saracen" Uthman of Lucera, who was released after the payment of 50 ounces of gold.

After his excommunication by Pope Gregory IX, the Hohenstaufen emperor in 1241 had imprisoned in the building two cardinals and several French and German bishops, who should have been part of a papal council for his dismissal.

It was still subject to changes in the 16th century under the Aragon government and became the property of the noble Acciaioli family first, then of the Marzano, Caracciolo and finally, Doria dynasty, to which belonged until 1950.

Then entering the courtyard, it is possible to access the stables and the yards of the "lairage" and "the Mortorio", all Angevin works created between 1278 and 1281 at the behest of Charles II of Anjou.