Battle of Gagliano

Battle of Gagliano
Part ofWar of the Sicilian Vespers
Ruins of the castle at Gagliano, the fortress targeted by the Angevin advance prior to the battle.
Date February 1300 Location Gagliano Castelferrato,Kingdom of Sicily Result Sicilian victory
Belligerents
Kingdom of Sicily	Kingdom of Naples
Commanders and leaders
Blasco I d'Alagona	(POW)Walter V, Count of Brienne
Strength
200 knights 300 light infantry (almogavars)	300 knights 200 horsemen
Casualties and losses
22 horsemen 34 infantry	Heavy

TheBattle of Gaglianowas a military engagement between the forces of theKingdom of Sicilyand theAngevin Kingdom of Naples.Fought in early 1300 during theWar of the Sicilian Vespers,the battle involved the entrapment and routing of a Angevin heavy cavalry detachment by a Sicilian force near the fortified town ofGagliano Castelferratoin central Sicily.

Background

Main articles:War of the Sicilian VespersandAngevin invasion of Sicily

After years of war (starting with the titularSicilian Vespersin 1282), in 1299 an alliance of Angevin, Aragonese, and papal forces began to conduct a successful land campaign on the island of Sicily. Led by Aragonese–Sicilian admiralRoger of Lauriaand Angevin princeRobert of Anjou,the allied army moved throughout eastern Sicily, attacking cities and towns in an attempt to erode Sicilian resistance. Despite fierce resistance by theSicilian royal army,by the summer of 1299 the allies had captured the key Sicilian city ofCatania,cutting off the major Sicilian cities ofSyracuseandMessinain the east while also forcingFrederick II of Sicilyto retreat into the Sicilian heartland. Planning on attacking Frederick's remaining forces from both sides, in the fall of 1299 an Angevin army landed atTrapani,seeking to march inland while the allied armies in the east marched west. This approach ended in disaster when in November 1299 the western Angevin army was routed at theBattle of Falconaria.The defeat of the western army caused Roger of Lauria to sail for Naples to procure more men and supplies, leaving Robert to command the Sicilian campaign; before departing, Roger advised Robert to hold off attacking the Sicilians until the spring of 1300.

In early 1300 an AragonesecastellannamedMontaner di Sosastarted a plot to entrap the Angevins. As part of the plot, di Sosa convinced a prisoner (a French noble namedCharles Morelet,who had been captured at Falconaria in November) that he wished to defect to the allied cause, citing his desire to remain loyal to the pope. The noble was then allowed to leak news of di Sosa's alleged defection to Robert, to whom the supposed defector offered to open the gates of the castle of Gagliano. Robert received the intelligence and summoned a council of war to discuss a plan to seize Gagliano; the castle was a tempting target, as it was located close to Frederick's Sicilian army headquarters inEnna.Robert considered leading the attack in person but, heeding the advice of his Aragonese wife that the surrender may be a ruse, placed a junior commander in command.

Battle

In February 1300 a mounted force of Angevin knights and mercenaries under the command ofWalter V, Count of Briennewere ordered to secure the surrender of Gagliano. Walter's mounted force was composed of young Angevin-French nobles, many of whom had lost family members in the nearly 20-year long war of the vespers. According to the contemporaryMuntaner Chronicle,the nobles referred to themselves as the "Knights of Death" and had vowed vengeance on Sicily for their slain relatives.The total force numbered 300 men of the Knights of Death, complemented with 200 mounted men-at-arms. The Sicilians shadowed the advancing force, setting up watches in the mountainous approaches to Gagliano.

When the force arrived a Gagliano, they founded that the castle had not opened its gates. They were quickly confronted by 300 Sicilian knights (likely ethnic Catalans loyal to Frederick)and 300almogavars,the elite light infantry of Catalonia and Aragon.The Sicilians deployed their infantry in a double-lined 'V' formation in the hills, forcing the Angevins to attack them in disadvantageous terrain. At dawn, the Sicilian infantry sparked their weapons against the rocks before launching waves of deadly throwing spears into the Angevin ranks. The almogavars defied chivalric tradition, ignoring the heavy-armored Angevin knights and instead killing their horses. With the Angevins now disoriented, the Sicilian cavalry charged downhill, routing them. Groups of Angevin knights attempted to hold out on rocky outcroppings, but were gradually captured or killed, with Walter being among the prisoners taken.

Aftermath

The battle resulted in the routing and destruction of the Angevin force; few of the horsemen made it back to friendly territory. Sicilian casualties were light. The second major Sicilian victory in the winter of 1299–1300, the battle and its outcome raised Sicilian morale.