Exile after the Guelphs expelled the Ghibellines from Florence

Exile after the Guelphs expelled the Ghibellines from Florence is presented as the political aftermath of Charles the Old’s victory over Manfred: the Ghibellines are driven from Florence, while the Guelphs return. The story gives this upheaval a personal scale through Neri degli Uberti, a gentleman who leaves the city with his household and considerable money and seeks refuge under the victorious king’s protection.

Political Background

The expulsion follows the victory of Charles the Old over Manfred. The account treats the Ghibellines’ removal and the Guelphs’ return as consequences of that victory, linking a change in Florence’s political order to the departure of people associated with the defeated side. It does not detail the expulsion’s broader course; instead, it follows one household as it makes a new life beyond the city.

Neri degli Uberti in Exile

Neri leaves Florence with his entire household and much money, intending to take refuge under Charles. He goes to Castellamare di Stabia and buys an estate apart from the settlement, among olive, walnut, and chestnut trees. There he builds a commodious house and makes a garden with running water and a clear fishpond stocked with fish. The account gives his exile a material form: political displacement becomes the work of establishing a home and cultivating a place of his own.

The King’s Visit and the Exile’s Setting

When Charles comes to Castellamare to rest during the hot season, he hears of Neri’s beautiful garden and learns who owns it. Knowing that Neri belongs to the opposing party, the king decides to approach him all the more familiarly and sends word that he will dine privately in the garden with four companions. Neri welcomes him with elaborate preparations. The supper beside the fishpond, with Guy de Montfort seated beside the king and Neri on the other side, places the exiled gentleman and his political victor in a shared setting of hospitality. The episode makes Neri’s refuge more than a retreat: his cultivated estate becomes the scene of a cordial encounter across the factional divide that caused his departure.