THE CLOSE : MIDDLE EUROPE 213 dominions controlled by the last of the Luxemburg dynasty, together with his own Austrian dominions. Albert did not long survive, and his actual heir was a son born after his death called Ladislaus Posthumus. On the other hand, the electors chose as German king Albert's Hapsburg cousin Frederick of Carinthia, who was also guardian of the baby Ladislaus. The Crowns of the two kingdoms went to the child who remained under Frederick's care, while in effect the regencies were after a time placed in the hands of the Bohemian noble, George Podiebrad, and the great Hungarian warrior, John Hunyadi or Hunyadi Janos. When young Ladislaus died at the age of eighteen, George was elected King of Bohemia, and the Hun- garian nobles chose for their king Matthias Corvinus, the son of John Hunyadi. Frederick succeeded to the Austrian dominions. It was not till the next century that Bohemia and Hungary passed definitely into the hands of the house of Hapsburg. In Italy we saw with the close of the crusades and the dis- appearance of the house of Hohenstaufen, that Charles of Provence and Anjou had become king of the two The two Sicilies. In the island of Sicily, however, the rule Sicilies, of the French was the rule of aliens and oppressors. Moreover, the action of Charles in executing Conradin had roused against him a feeling of the most intense hostility. The daughter of King Manfred, who was killed at the battle of Benevento, which had secured Charles's throne, was married to King Pedro of Aragon, to whom the young Conradin had appealed to be his avenger. In 1282, there was a sudden uprising of The gi Cilian the Sicilians against their oppressors; a fearful Vespers, massacre of all the French in the island took place, 1282, which is known as the Sicilian Vespers, because the signal was given by the tolling of the vesper bell. The Sicilians appealed to Pedro to come to their aid. He did so, and a long war with Charles followed, which ended in the establishment of an Aragonese dynasty in Sicily. The Angevin dynasty, however, held its own on the mainland, and retained the kingdom of Naples or Southern Italy. For the sake of clearness this will be referred to as the kingdom of Naples, although its monarchs did not surrender the title of Kings of Sicily. At the beginning
