Battle of the Counts

The naval Battle of the Counts took place on 23 June 1287 at

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, when an Aragonese- Sicilian

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

fleet commanded by

Roger of Lauria Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305) was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talent ...

defeated a large combined

Angevin Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to: *County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France **Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou **Counts and Dukes of Anjou * House of Ingelger, a Frank ...

(

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

) galley fleet commanded respectively by Reynald III Quarrel of Avella and Narjot de Toucy. Lauria had taken his fleet to Augusta, eastern

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, after a report of an Angevin galley fleet landing invasion troops there. He landed his troops, who recaptured the town, leaving the Angevins holed up in the

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

. However, the invasion was a decoy and the Angevin galleys had sailed around the south of Sicily and linked up with their allies, forming a fleet about twice the size of Lauria's. Their plan was to land troops in the south-west of Sicily. Lauria searched for the allied fleet and finally found it at Naples. Unable to attack it close to the city, he bombarded the nearby coast to lure it out, as he had done in 1284, and sent in a formal challenge. The Angevin fleet came out arranged in five squadrons, each commanded by a count (hence the name of the battle). They were Reynald III Quarrel of Avella,

Hugh of Brienne Hugh, Count of Brienne and Lecce ( 1240 – 9 August 1296) was the second surviving son of Count Walter IV of Brienne and Marie de Lusignan of Cyprus. Life His father, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon in Palestine, was murdered in 1244 in Cairo, and ...

, the Count of Aquila, Count

Jean de Joinville Jean de Joinville (, c. 1 May 1224 – 24 December 1317) was one of the great chroniclers of medieval France. He is most famous for writing the ''Life of Saint Louis'', a biography of Louis IX of France that chronicled the Seventh Crusade.''V ...

and

Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola (1244–1291) was the son of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Eleanor of England. Biography He participated in the Battle of Evesham against the royalist forces of his uncle, King Henry III of England, ...

. Each of their flag-galleys was surrounded to each side by four other galleys and to the rear by two galleys. The fleet flag-galley had two galleys to its front also. This made 63 galleys, and there may have been a small reserve since about 70 of the about 84 Angevin galleys are said to have come out to fight. Two

taride Horse transports in the Middle Ages were boats used for effective means of transporting horses over long distances, whether for war or general transport. They can be found from the Early Middle Ages, in Celtic, Germanic and Mediterranean tradition ...

s carried the Papal and Angevin banners. Lauria had around 40-45 galleys. He followed his usual tactic and retreated until the Angevin galleys had become disorganized, weathered their initial attack, then counter attacked from the sides, damaging the Angevin galleys oars. In a battle lasting much of the day, Henry di Mari again fled, leaving about 40 Angevin galleys to be captured, along with 5,000 prisoners, including many counts and barons. {{coord, 40, 50, N, 14, 15, E, region:IT_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title

Counts Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty'' ...

1287 in Europe 13th century in Aragon 13th century in the Kingdom of Naples 13th century in the Kingdom of Sicily

the Counts The Counts were a doo-wop group from Indianapolis, Indiana, formed in the 1950s. The group included Chester Brown, James Lee, Robert Penick, Robert Wesley, and Robert Young. The Counts were also known as the Original Counts, as they performed with ...