THE UNLIKELY WINNER: CHARLES ROBERT’S RISE TO POWER

Abstract

The author is analyzing the circumstances surround-ing the planning, launching and carrying out the expedition intended to transfer Charles Robert from Southern Italy to Eastern Adriatic so that he could realize his inherited right to Crown of St. Stephen and the throne of the Kingdom of Hungary-Croatia. Contrary to the conventional wisdom in historiography, the author ad-vocates a thesis that the expedition was organized not to enable Charles to realize his claim, but to remove him from Naples where he, being the heir to the local throne, was a potential source of political disputes and conflicts. Analyzing the details of the expedition and the contem-poraries’ views on it (as found in the preserved sourc-es), the author finds arguments for such a viewpoint. He also analyzes the developments that, in the early 14th century, generated a whole new political situation that in turn created an opportunity for Charles Robert to ac-tually realize his potential claim to the throne.