Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Full Ebook of Photonic Quantum Technologies Science and Applications 1St Edition Mohamed Benyoucef Editor Online PDF All Chapter
Full Ebook of Photonic Quantum Technologies Science and Applications 1St Edition Mohamed Benyoucef Editor Online PDF All Chapter
Full Ebook of Photonic Quantum Technologies Science and Applications 1St Edition Mohamed Benyoucef Editor Online PDF All Chapter
https://ebookmeta.com/product/electroanalytical-applications-of-
quantum-dot-based-biosensors-micro-and-nano-technologies-1st-
edition-bengi-uslu-editor/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/business-intelligence-6th-
international-conference-cbi-2021-beni-mellal-morocco-
may-27-29-2021-proceedings-1st-edition-mohamed-fakir/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/aryl-diazonium-salts-and-related-
compounds-surface-chemistry-and-applications-1st-edition-mohamed-
mehdi-chehimi/
Quantum entanglement engineering and applications F. J.
Duarte
https://ebookmeta.com/product/quantum-entanglement-engineering-
and-applications-f-j-duarte/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/quantum-and-blockchain-for-modern-
computing-systems-vision-and-advancements-quantum-and-blockchain-
technologies-current-trends-and-challenges-adarsh-kumar/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/classical-hopf-algebras-and-their-
applications-algebra-and-applications-29-pierre-cartier-frederic-
patras/
https://ebookmeta.com/product/mediterranean-fruits-bio-wastes-
chemistry-functionality-and-technological-applications-mohamed-
fawzy-ramadan-editor/
Photonic Quantum Technologies
Photonic Quantum Technologies
Volume 1
Contents
Contents to Volume 1
Preface xv
Abstracts and Keywords xvii
Contents to Volume 2
Preface xv
Abstracts and Keywords xvii
Index 737
xv
Preface
This book has been inspired by the growing interest in emerging quantum
technologies. The ongoing miniaturization of photonic structures due to the
availability of sophisticated nanofabrication has provided huge opportunities for
physical research of novel phenomena in photonic quantum systems and quantum
technological applications. These include quantum information processing such as
quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum metrology, and quantum
sensing.
The aim here is to bring together scientists with different expertise from across
different disciplines. The manuscript provides selected topics on photonic quantum
systems from research to applications. The chapters will represent a flavor of the
cutting-edge research that is going on in this area. The studied material systems will
range from ions, atoms, and molecules through color centers and other solid-state
quantum emitters. The intention here is to provide an important guide for the stu-
dents and researchers of the community. It is dedicated to one of today’s most active
and rapidly expanding fields of research and development in photonic quantum
technologies, in particular the growing number of experimental implementations
and practical applications of quantum systems. This book will be unique because it
will provide researchers and scientists with various aspects of material development
on different platforms and their applications in quantum technologies in one place.
Progress in the realization of quantum devices and circuits enables breakthroughs
in experimental tests of quantum physics and in practical applications of quantum
technologies in imaging, secure communication, ultrasensitive metrology, and
quantum computing. Based on the current worldwide interdisciplinary research
activities in these emerging quantum technologies, I strongly believe that the real-
ization of a practical quantum device (e.g. quantum repeaters) will most probably
be based on hybrid quantum systems. Therefore, the intention of this publication
is to provide an overview of the latest cutting-edge research on photonic quantum
technologies and to provide readers (academia and industry), researchers, and
scientists with several ingredients in one location. This will help to bridge the gap
between scientists working in academia and industry and guide them to understand
the current development, the remaining challenges toward the realization of
practical quantum systems, and the necessary requirements to overcome such
challenges.
xvi Preface
Mohamed Benyoucef
Kassel, November 2022
xvii
The second quantum revolution was first conceptual, with the understanding and
the experimental demonstration of the extraordinary character of entanglement, as
evidenced by Bell inequalities violations. These experiments were permitted by the
possibility to observe and manipulate individual quantum objects. The second quan-
tum revolution is now at the stage of using these conceptual advances to develop
quantum technologies that are able to go beyond those based on the first quantum
revolution.
Keywords: second quantum revolution; entanglement; bell inequalities; quantum
computing; quantum cryptography.
This chapter gives a tutorial overview of the key parameters that are used to assess
solid-state quantum emitters for applications in quantum photonics. Specifically,
xviii Abstracts and Keywords
We argue that, in the quest for the translation of fundamental research into actual
quantum technologies, two avenues that have – so far – only partly explored should
be pursued vigorously. On first entails that the study of energetics at the funda-
mental quantum level holds the promises for the design of a generation of more
energy-efficient quantum devices. On second route to pursue implies a more struc-
tural hybridization of quantum dynamics with data science techniques and tools, for
a more powerful framework for quantum information processing.
Keywords: quantum technologies; quantum thermodynamics; quantum machine
learning.
Controlling neutral atoms one by one has opened the path to create new experimen-
tal platforms for investigating their individual as well as their collective dynamics
in a bottom-up approach. We discuss the tools for precisely detecting and prepar-
ing all degrees of freedom of trapped atoms at the ultimate quantum level, includ-
ing their internal spin state, their motional state, and also their position, which
has relevant quantum character. We summarize applications including single-atom
interferometry and quantum walks.
Keywords: cold atoms; trapped neutral atoms; quantum information; quantum
walks; single atoms; atom interferometry.
Since the first observation of quantum effects, scientists have striven to gain a
deeper knowledge and understating of these characteristics with the ultimate
goal of implementing them in practical applications. Today, due to important
contributions of many pioneers, we are at the point in which quantum effects can
be exploited, prompting the proposal of several futuristic technological applications
such as quantum sensing, quantum simulation, quantum computing, and quantum
communication. These technologies share some common ground: they rely on the
manipulation and read-out of the electronic or nuclear states; hence, their quantum
properties must fulfill certain characteristics. To accomplish these tasks, several
systems have been proposed; however, among the several prospects, molecular
systems have been shown to possess several advantageous characteristics, as
compared to common platforms. In this chapter, key aspects of single-molecule
magnets allowing their proposal in applications in quantum sensing, quantum
simulation, quantum computing, and quantum communications will be revised.
Keywords: quantum sensing; quantum simulations; quantum computing; quan-
tum communications; spin transistor; spin valve; quantum bit; qudit; quantum error
correction; quantum tunneling of the magnetization.
xxii Abstracts and Keywords
Based on the development of atomic clocks and the definition of the unit of time via
an atomic resonance frequency, time and frequencies are the most precisely mea-
surable physical quantities. Over the past 30 years, the development of methods of
cooling and trapping of atoms and ions and the development of low-noise laser oscil-
lators and the invention of the optical frequency comb that establishes a link between
microwave and optical frequencies with nearly perfect fidelity have led to impressive
progress in the field. Optical clocks based on laser-cooled and trapped atoms and
ions reach a systematic uncertainty in the low 10−18 range and below. This chapter
presents the principles and methods that have enabled these performances.
Keywords: atomic clock; laser cooling and trapping; optical frequency comb; unit
of time.
tion, and quantum computing. The realization of a quantum memory with high
efficiency, long lifetime, high fidelity, large bandwidth, and multimode capacity
is of great significance for its applications. Atomic ensemble, serving as one of
the most appealing physical platforms for quantum memories, has been widely
explored toward improving memory performance. Over the past decades, significant
progress based on atomic ensembles has been made in developing new schemes
and improving memory performances experimentally through various approaches.
In this chapter, we first introduce the working principle of quantum memory by
reviewing the widely used schemes. Next, we present several key figures of merit
for judging memory performance. Afterward, we review the experimental progress
made in several different systems. Finally, we give discussions on its application in a
number of different directions. The scope of this chapter is limited to single-photon
storage with atomic ensembles.
Keywords: quantum memory; atomic ensemble; rare-earth ions; electromagneti-
cally induced transparency; atomic frequency comb; DLCZ.
Quantum dots (QDs), also known as artificial atoms, are among the recently
explored hardware platforms for photonic quantum technologies. They offer a
range of advantages that make them particularly well-suited for building quantum
communication networks over optical fiber channels. One of the most prominent
features of QDs is the ability to be easily and deterministically integrated into pho-
tonic devices and photonic circuits. They also exhibit near-unity internal quantum
efficiency and emit nearly Fourier-transform-limited single photons of high purity
and entangled photons. QDs emitting at optical fiber communication wavelengths,
especially in the telecom C-band, which corresponds to the spectral range of the
lowest attenuation in silica fibers, are very promising for long-distance quantum
communication. This makes the development of QD-based quantum light sources
for these wavelength ranges of particular interest. This chapter gives an overview of
recent developments in InP-based QDs, which are one of the candidates providing
emission in this spectral window. These advancements include lowering the spatial
density of nanostructures in this material system, increasing their in-plane sym-
metry, developing high-reflectivity distributed Bragg reflectors, and incorporating
them in microcavities and other photonic structures to increase photon extraction
efficiency to generate the highest-purity single photons at 1550 nm.
Keywords: quantum dots; III-V semiconductor nanostructures; molecular beam
epitaxy growth; telecom wavelengths; single-photon sources; magneto-optics;
photonic crystal cavities; fiber quantum network; extraction efficiency; symmetric
InAs/InP quantum dots; internal quantum efficiency.
Abstracts and Keywords xxv
With the chapter “Quantum Optics with Solid-State Color Centers,” we provide a
comprehensive overview of color centers in wide-bandgap materials: We describe
their generation and energy level schemes, how they are controlled both optically
and via microwaves, and how they are used in quantum optics and technology. The
chapter summarizes landmark experiments including applications ranging from
single photon generation, over quantum memories, quantum gates, to entangle-
ment generation. We structured the chapter such that the reader has access to a
bottom-up introduction but can also directly jump to sections of interest. This work
is directed at graduate students up to the principal investigator level.
Keywords: quantum optics; quantum technology; color centers; wide-bandgap
materials; diamond; silicon carbide; review; single photon emitters; optically active
solid-state spin defects.
In this chapter, we introduce the main properties of the most popular van der Waals
materials for single-photon generation: hexagonal boron nitride(hBN), group-VI
transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors (TMDs), and 2D quantum devices
consisting of different 2D crystals assembled into van der Waals heterostructures.
We then focus primarily on quantum emitters (QEs) hosted by TMD semiconduc-
tors, including a description of their typical spin and optical properties. Finally, we
consider the different means to engineer the QEs and their coupling to cavities and
integrated photonic chips.
Keywords: 2D materials; nanophotonics; single photon; van der Waals heterostruc-
ture
Some photonic systems also provide suitable working platforms for qudit quantum
computing because qudit systems can be encoded naturally and conveniently
with photons given the multidimensional nature in many photon properties.
This chapter first introduces the basic knowledge and concepts of qudit quantum
computing that include qudit gates, universality, and important qudit algorithms
such as the quantum Fourier transform and the Phase Estimation Algorithm
(PEA). It then reviews two implementations of qudit computing with photonic
systems. The first system is an electro-optic platform that integrates on-chip
modulators, pulse shapers, and other well-established fiber-optic components.
This platform is capable of performing high-fidelity quantum Fourier transform
pulse shaping and the two-qudit SUM gate via the time and frequency degrees of
freedom, which paves the way to demonstrate a proof-of-principle qutrit PEA. The
second system consists of microwave cavities and transmon qubits to implement a
two-mode superconducting bosonic processor that enables the scalable simulation
of molecular vibronic spectra.
Keywords: quantum information; quantum computing; qudit space; quantum
phase estimation algorithm; electro-optic platform; superconducting bosonic
processor and open quantum dynamics.
Quantum repeaters are the primary platform for the reliable exchange of quantum
data in future quantum communications networks. In this chapter, I provide a brief
overview of how different classes of quantum repeaters work, and, in particular, how
they manage the two key challenges of loss and noise in quantum channels and
systems. Along the way, the required resources for such repeaters and their expected
performance will be discussed.
Keywords: quantum communications; quantum repeaters; quantum networks;
quantum error correction codes; quantum data transfer; entanglement distribution;
quantum memories.
challenges. The satellite moves fast and also has rotation and vibration. Besides,
the environment of space is also complex. Many scientific research teams from
different countries have spent the past decade performing systematic ground tests
for satellite-based quantum communications to overcome all these difficulties.
The world’s first quantum science satellite Micius was launched on 16th August
2016, demonstrating a series of scientific experiments. Since then, many satellite
plans have been proposed, making this field into focus. In this chapter, we briefly
review the progress in long-distance satellite-based quantum communication,
including step-by-step ground-based feasibility studies and developments of the
critical technologies required, a series of satellite-ground quantum communication
experiments with Micius, and ending with an outlook on the future work that needs
to be done to build global-scale practical quantum networks eventually.
Keywords: quantum information; quantum communication; quantum key distri-
bution; quantum entanglement.
The research and industrial communities are concentrating their efforts in two main
trends in communications, which are seen as the new drivers not only in telecom-
munications but also in all the aspects of our lives: sixth generation (6G) and the
Quantum Internet. While their research and standardization efforts are still inde-
pendently faced, the limitations and challenges of these two systems can experience
significant benefits from their integration. This chapter aims at making the reader
familiar with current status of 6G and the Quantum Internet architectural design
and how they can be integrated to gain a mutual advantage.
Keywords: 6G; quantum communication networks; entanglement-assisted com-
munication; quantum campus network; quantum three-dimensional network.
Photonic Quantum Technologies
Photonic Quantum Technologies
Volume 2
Contents
Contents to Volume 1
Preface xv
Abstracts and Keywords xvii
Contents to Volume 2
Preface xv
Abstracts and Keywords xvii
Index 737
1
The photon is the quantum particle of light. The concept of a photon was first intro-
duced by Max Planck and Albert Einstein. The “birth” of a photon was described
by Niels Bohr: in the shell-model of the atom, a photon is created when an electron
jumps from a higher-lying shell to a lower-lying shell. All this work predated the
development of formal quantum mechanics. In the meantime, quantum optics has
developed into a highly coherent and well-tested branch of quantum physics. That
light consists of quantum particles, photons, and that these photons exhibit both
wave-like and particle-like behavior is uncontested. A new theme is the extent to
which these quantum properties make the photon useful in quantum technology.
In classical physics, the energy associated with an electromagnetic field in a single
cavity mode is divided equally between the electric and magnetic components. In
quantum optics, the electric and magnetic fields constitute conjugate variables,
corresponding to position and momentum, and are replaced with operators [1, 2].
In terms of the photon annihilation and creation operators, â and ↠, which
satisfy the commutation relation [â, ↠] = 1, the single-mode Hamiltonian becomes
Ĥ = ℏ𝜔(↠â + 1 ) where ℏ𝜔 is the photon energy. The eigenstates of this Hamilto-
2
nian are the Fock states (equivalently, the number states), |n⟩ with n = 0,1, 2,3, ….
The Fock state with n = 0 represents the vacuum state. The fluctuations in the
vacuum state constitute an important source of noise in quantum optics. The Fock
state with n = 1 represents the single-photon state.
All the number states are highly quantum in the sense that their properties are
very different to those of a classical electromagnetic wave. One example concerns
the intensity autocorrelation function, g(2) (𝜏). For the Fock state |1⟩, g(2) (𝜏 = 0) = 0.
This reflects the particle-like nature of the photon: on detecting one photon at time
𝜏 = 0, there is zero probability of detecting a second if the input state consists of just
one photon. By contrast, for an ideal laser output, g(2) (𝜏) = 1 for all 𝜏. A measurement
of g(2) (𝜏), for instance with a Hanbury Brown–Twiss interferometer, is widely used
to characterize quantum light.
Photonic Quantum Technologies: Science and Applications, First Edition. Edited by Mohamed Benyoucef.
© 2023 WILEY-VCH GmbH. Published 2023 by WILEY-VCH GmbH.
2 1 Introduction to Quantum Photonics
A second example concerns the behavior at a beam splitter. Assuming that two
identical Fock states |1⟩ arrive simultaneously at a 50:50 beam splitter, the output
state is √i (|0⟩A |2⟩B + |2⟩A |0⟩B ) where A and B describe the two output modes [3].
2
This reflects the wave-like nature of the photon: the |1⟩A |1⟩B state is not part of the
output as a consequence of an interference phenomenon called two-photon interfer-
ence. Although the two input states may be produced by completely different atoms,
a highly entangled state is created at the output. The two-photon interference is only
complete if the two input states are identical, “indistinguishable” in the language
of quantum optics. A measurement of the |1⟩A |1⟩B fraction is used as a metric to
quantify the extent to which the two input states are indistinguishable.
The theory of quantum optics applies at all frequencies. However, the optical
band covering approximately 200–600 THz is particularly important. On the one
hand, highly coherent laser sources exist in this band. These sources are essential to
create quantum states of light via the light–matter interaction. On the other hand,
single-photon detectors also exist in this frequency range with both a high quantum
efficiency and low timing jitter. The detectors are essential to probe the quantum
states of light. These detectors also exploit the light–matter interaction.
A photon can be used as a quantum bit. One degree of freedom, for instance the
polarization or the arrival time, is used to define the “north” and “south” poles
on the Bloch sphere; superpositions cover all points on the sphere. By making a
good choice, the quantum state of the photon can be preserved as it propagates over
large distances. This feature renders the photon crucial in quantum communica-
tion and in interconnecting quantum computers in a future quantum internet. Here
too photons at optical frequencies play a crucial role as optical fiber technology is
highly developed: there are two windows with particularly low transmission loss,
the O-band at wavelength 1300 nm and the C-band at 1550 nm. Photons at these
wavelengths can be used to transport quantum information over large distances via
standard optical fibers.
The temporal wave packet of single photons created via spontaneous emission
from a two-level system consists of an abrupt turn-on and subsequent exponential
decay. Single photons with arbitrary wave packets can be created using a three-level
atom in which both ground states couple to a common excited state, a Λ-system. The
ground-state splitting can be engineered by using different spin states of the atom.
In fact, a Λ-system together with photonic engineering is a very powerful system.
It can be used to create spin–photon entangled pairs in which the spin of the atom
and one degree-of-freedom of the photon are entangled. Furthermore, by combin-
ing single-photon emission with spin control, cluster states can be created, a linear
chain of photons in which each photon is entangled with its nearest neighbor [7].
Color centers with highly coherent spin states enable a Λ-system to be created in
a solid-state host. For instance, the NV− color center in diamond possesses a very
coherent spin [8]. A Λ-system can be engineered in a semiconductor quantum dot
by adding one electron (or hole) and using the spin state. The spin tends to dephase
rather quickly on account of magnetic noise in the host material. However, schemes
are now in place to suppress this noise by preparing the spin’s environment [9].
measurements can be carried out quickly and reliably. It remains to be seen to what
extent these ideas are practicable and to what extent they are competitive with
respect to other approaches to quantum computing.
Some suggestions for further reading are included in the (highly incomplete)
bibliography.
References
1 Gerry, C.C. and Knight, P.L. (2005). Introductory Quantum Optics. Cambridge
University Press.
2 Fox, M. (2006). Quantum Optics An Introduction. Oxford University Press.
3 Hong, C.K., Ou, Z.Y., and Mandel, L. (1987). Measurement of subpicosecond
time intervals between two photons by interference. Physical Review Letters 59:
2044–2046.
4 Purcell, E.M., Torrey, H.C., and Pound, R.V. (1946). Resonance absorption by
nuclear magnetic moments in a solid. Physical Review 69: 37–38.
5 Lodahl, P., Mahmoodian, S., and Stobbe, S. (2015). Interfacing single photons
and single quantum dots with photonic nanostructures. Reviews of Modern
Physics 87: 347–400.
6 Senellart, P., Solomon, G., and White, A. (2017). High-performance semiconduc-
tor quantum-dot single-photon sources. Nature Nanotechnology 12: 1026–1039.
7 Lindner, N.H. and Rudolph, T. (2009). Proposal for pulsed on-demand sources
of photonic cluster state strings. Physical Review Letters 103: 113602.
8 Balasubramanian, G., Neumann, P., Twitchen, D. et al. (2009). Ultralong spin
coherence time in isotopically engineered diamond. Nature Materials 8: 383–387.
9 Gangloff, D.A., Ethier-Majcher, G., Lang, C. et al. (2019). Quantum interface of
an electron and a nuclear ensemble. Science 364: 62–66.
10 Hadfield, R.H. (2009). Single-photon detectors for optical quantum information
applications. Nature Photonics 3: 696–705.
11 Gol’tsman, G.N., Okunev, O., Chulkova, G. et al. (2001). Picosecond supercon-
ducting single-photon optical detector. Applied Physics Letters 79: 705.
12 Marsili, F., Verma, V.B., Stern, J.A. et al. (2013). Detecting single infrared
photons with 93% system efficiency. Nature Photonics 7: 210–214.
13 Bennett, C.H. and Brassard, G. (1984). Quantum cryptography: public key
distribution and coin tossing. Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on
Computers, Systems and Signal Processing 175: 8.
14 Acín, A., Brunner, N., Gisin, N. et al. (2007). Device-independent security of
quantum cryptography against collective attacks. Physical Review Letters 98:
230501.
15 Zhong, H.-S., Wang, H., Deng, Y.-H. et al. (2020). Quantum computational
advantage using photons. Science 370: 1460–1463.
16 Knill, E., Laflamme, R., and Milburn, G.J. (2001). A scheme for efficient quan-
tum computation with linear optics. Nature 409: 46–52.
17 Raussendorf, R. and Briegel, H.J. (2001). A one-way quantum computer. Physical
Review Letters 86: 5188–5191.
7
Part I
Such was the man who, on the 15th May 1265, embarked at
Marseilles for Rome, with a thousand chosen knights upon thirty
galleys, leaving the main body of his army at Lyons to cross the Alps
with the Countess Beatrix, under the nominal command of the young
Robert de Bethune Dampierre, heir to the county of Flanders, and
the real guidance of Gilles de Traisignies, constable of France. At the
moment of his departure, timid counsellors magnified the peril of the
enterprise, and the superiority of the hostile fleet that watched to
intercept him; but nothing could shake the determination of the
Count of Anjou. “Good conduct,” he said, as he put foot on his
galley’s deck, “overcomes ill fortune. I promised the Pope to be at
Rome before Pentecost, and I will keep my word.” If fortune had not
favoured him, however, it is doubtful if he would have succeeded in
running the gauntlet through the sixty Sicilian galleys, manned with
the practised mariners of Pisa, Naples, and Amalfi, that waited to
pounce, like hawk on sparrow, upon his feeble armament.
Independently of this formidable squadron, the entrance of the port
of Ostia was encumbered, by Mainfroy’s order, with beams and huge
stones, against which the French ships were expected inevitably to
shatter themselves. Altogether, the marine preparations were so
formidable, they were proclaimed with such ostentation, and
Mainfroy appeared so convinced of their efficacy, that at Rome the
partisans of Charles and the Pope lost courage. The decisive moment
arrived, and no fleet appeared; when suddenly a rumour spread that
Charles was shipwrecked and drowned. The Ghibellines, or
imperialists, hailed the report with delight, the Guelfs with terror.
Friends and enemies alike believed the fatal intelligence, when at
break of day, on the eve of Pentecost, a boat, containing ten men,
entered the Tiber. Amongst these ten men was Charles of Anjou. He
owed his safety to his peril; deliverance had grown out of impending
destruction. A violent storm had had a double result: Mainfroy’s
fleet, which for some days past had blockaded the Tiber, was
compelled to put to sea, and the thirty Provençal galleys were
dispersed in view of Pisa. Charles was wrecked on the coast of
Tuscany; to escape capture by one of Mainfroy’s lieutenants, he
threw himself into a skiff, and the wind guided him into the Tiber,
which he entered unperceived by the Sicilian admiral. Such was the
fortunate chance that served him. Men believed him at the bottom of
the sea, and at that moment he landed in Italy.
Mainfroy prepared for defence, affecting boundless confidence in
the result of the approaching strife, but in reality uneasy at the
approach of his formidable foe. His hatred found vent in sarcasm
and abusive words. “Although the name of the terrible Charles of
Anjou did not encourage childish diminutives, Mainfroy and his
flatterers never spoke of him otherwise than as Carlotto” (Charley.)
This was not very dignified or in good taste. But Charles was at no
loss for a retort. When his wife had joined him, at the head of thirty
thousand men, and the royal pair had been crowned in the Church of
the Lateran, in sight and amidst the acclamations of an immense
multitude, King and Queen of Sicily, he marched upon Naples. At the
frontier, Mainfroy, after a vain attempt to intimidate the Pope,
endeavoured to delay his progress by negotiation. “Tell the Sultan of
Lucera,” replied Charles to the Swabian envoys, “that between us
there can be neither peace nor truce; that soon he shall transport me
to paradise or I will send him to hell.” And having thus branded his
opponent as an infidel, and his opponent’s cause as unjust, he
resolutely entered the Neapolitan states. The first barrier to his
progress, the fortified bridge of Ceprano, was opened to him by
Riccardo d’Aquino, Count of Caserte, out of revenge for the alleged
seduction or violation of his wife by Mainfroy. The count was about
to defend the post, when news of his dishonour reached him. He
vowed a terrible revenge; but, scrupulous even in his anger, he sent
to consult the casuists of the French camp, whether a vassal had the
right to punish the liege lord who had outraged him in his honour.
The casuists made an affirmative reply, and Caserte gave free
passage to Charles of Anjou. History is more positive of the count’s
treason than of the outrage said to have induced it. The occupation of
the bridge was but a small step towards the conquest of the Two
Sicilies. Charles’s path was beset with obstacles, augmented by the
difficulty of transporting his warlike engines, and by fierce
dissensions in his army. These alone were sufficient to ruin the
enterprise; but the valour and military science of the French prince
supplied all deficiencies. His operations were sometimes, however, a
little impeded from pious scruples; as, for instance, when he put off
the assault of a town for two days, in order not to fight on Ash
Wednesday. Nevertheless his progress was rapid and triumphant,
and soon the silver fleur-de-lis of France, and the crimson ones of
the Guelfs, floated above the walls or over the ruins of Mainfroy’s
strongest forts. All the Saracens who fell into Charles’s hands were
immediately put to the sword. At last, in the valley of Santa Maria de
Grandella, and at four miles from the town of Benevento, the French
army—to which were now united the levies of many disaffected
Neapolitan nobles—came in sight of Mainfroy’s host, drawn up in
order of battle. The strength of the two armies is variously stated, but
it appears certain that the numerical advantage was considerably on
the side of Charles. Before engaging, each leader made a speech to
his troops. That of Charles reminds us of Cromwell’s well-known
exhortation to his men, to trust in God and keep their powder dry.
“Have confidence in God,” said the valiant and pious Frenchman,
“but neglect not human means; and be attentive, when battle begins,
to what I now tell you: strike at the horses rather than at the men,
not with edge, but with point; so that, falling with his horse and
being unable to rise quickly, on account of the weight of his armour,
the cavalier may immediately have his throat cut by the ribauds. Let
each of you be always accompanied by one of those varlets, and even
by two. Forget not that, and march!” The manœuvre prescribed by
Charles of Anjou, and which he had already essayed in Palestine, was
forbidden by chivalrous etiquette, which stigmatised as disloyal the
act of striking at the horses’ heads. But Charles was not at a
tournament. His aim was victory, and his injunction was well
received by his knights, whom his words excited, says a chronicler, as
the huntsman excites the dogs. There was neither blame nor
murmur. Nevertheless his chevaliers were the flower of nobility; but
they did not hold themselves engaged in a regular war; they looked
upon the expedition as a crusade against infidels. The bishop of
Auxerre gave a final benediction; the trumpets sounded, and the
signal of battle echoed through both camps.
Neither army had left its ground when the clamour of many
thousand voices was heard; and, like a whirlwind, the Saracen
archers from Lucera poured upon the field. Crossing the little river
Calora, they fell upon the French infantry with a discharge of arrows.
The French, with loud cries of “Down with the Saracens! Down with
the swine!” rushed furiously to meet them. The medley was terrible,
and at first victory favoured the turban. Charles’s troops broke and
fled, when Ruggiero San Severino rallied them, waving, by way of
banner, a bloody shirt, stripped from a soldier’s corpse. Philip de
Montfort brought up the reserve, and threw himself upon the
Saracens, whom he cut to pieces with cries of “Montfort, chevaliers!”
“Swabia, chevaliers!” replied Gualvano Lancia, who, without waiting
orders from Mainfroy, hurried forward a thousand men of the best
German troops. He fell upon the French, who were weary with
striking, and made a great slaughter of them. Charles of Anjou, who
in his part of the field performed, as usual, prodigies of valour, now
left the wing he commanded and attacked Gualvano Lancia. The
Germans and Saracens were cut to pieces and dispersed; but the
Italian battalions, commanded by nobles of the country, had not yet
shared the combat. Mainfroy had kept them as a reserve, and now
called upon them to follow him. Instead of so doing, they turned
their backs and fled. At the same moment a silver eagle, surmounting
Mainfroy’s helm, fell and broke in pieces. At this evil omen, the son
of the Hohenstauffe felt himself lost. He turned towards the faithful
few who still stood by him, and said in the words of the Catholic
Church: Hoc est signum Dei. Then, followed by Tibaldo Annibaldi,
he plunged into the thickest of the hostile squadrons, and was seen
no more alive. For three days nothing was heard of him, and Charles
of Anjou thought he had escaped, when a soldier led his war-horse
past the window of Gualvano Lancia and two other Ghibelline
prisoners. On recognising the steed, the captives burst into tears, and
implored the soldier, a Picard, to tell them the fate of its rider,
whether prisoner, slain, or fugitive. “The Picard, having learned who
the prisoners were, replied thus: ‘I will tell you the truth; during the
fight, the man who mounted this horse came up, uttering terrible
cries. He rushed into the mêlée, followed by another cavalier much
less than himself, and fell upon us with such courage that, had he
been supported by others as brave, he would have beaten us or given
us much to do. I showed front to this knight and wounded his
charger in the head with a lance-thrust; the horse, feeling itself
wounded, threw its rider; then the ribauds despoiled him of his arms
and made an end of him. As his scarf was very beautiful, I took it, as
well as his horse; and here they both are.’ Such was the noble end of
Manfred, or Machtfried, of Stauffen, whom the French were wont to
call Mainfroy of Sicily.” With great difficulty, the royal corpse was
found, amidst heaps of slain, and the French chevaliers entreated
Charles to allow it honourable burial. “Willingly,” replied Charles,
“were he not excommunicated.” The new King of Sicily could not
reasonably be expected to grant ecclesiastical interment to the man,
whom he had fought and supplanted on the sole ground of his being
out of the pale of the church. So a trench was dug at the foot of the
bridge over the Calora, the body was laid in it, the army filed by, and
each soldier, as he passed, threw a stone upon the unconsecrated
grave. As great warriors have had worse monuments. But papal
hatred followed Mainfroy even beyond the tomb. Under pretence
that the remains of the excommunicated hero infected the pontifical
soil, Clement IV.’s nuncio had them unearthed and dragged at night,
without torches, to the banks of the Garigliano. There they were
abandoned to the pelting storm and prowling beast of prey. “Whilst a
savage fanaticism thus insulted the ashes of Sicily’s King, poetry
prepared him a glorious revenge. Eight months before the battle of
Benevento, a child was born at Florence, in May 1265, whose name
was Dante Alighieri. Dante protected the memory of Mainfroy.”
For eight days the unfortunate town of Benevento was abandoned
to the horrors of the sack. At the end of that time Charles called his
greedy soldiers from pillage and excess, rallied them round his
standard and marched to Naples. The magnificence of his entrance
dazzled and delighted the people, surpassing even the vaunted
splendour of the proud Hohenstauffen. In every respect Charles’s
victory was complete. The Anjevine banner floated throughout the
kingdom of Naples; and after very slight resistance on the part of
Gualvano Lancia and of Conrad of Antioch, an illegitimate grandson
of the Emperor Frederick, Sicily and Calabria were also reduced and
tranquillised. But the triumphant king was still surrounded with
difficulties. His pecuniary obligations were numerous and heavy, and
his new kingdom offered no resources for their acquittal. The
population was greatly reduced, agriculture had disappeared,
commerce was at the very lowest ebb, the nobility were ruined, and
revenue there was none. On the other hand, Charles’s troops were
clamorous for arrears; and the Pope, who had pledged the treasures
of the Roman churches to Tuscan bankers for funds to carry on the
war, was urgent in his demands of repayment, and went so far as to
threaten his debtor with excommunication. Charles the First was in
great perplexity. The clergy, who alone had some means, he was
forbidden to tax, by the terms of his treaty with the Pope. In this
dilemma, the King was compelled to resort to imposts and
extortions, which rendered him odious to his subjects. In this respect
he was no worse, perhaps, than his immediate predecessors, who
seldom scrupled to raise a forced contribution, even by the armed
hand; but his manner of procuring his supplies was particularly
obnoxious to the Neapolitans. He reduced it to a regular system,
based upon the French fiscal forms. The people preferred the
occasional swoop of a party of Saracens to the tax-gatherer’s
systematic spoliation. The irritation became general. Murmurs and
complaints were heard on all sides, mingled with regrets for
Mainfroy. The Pope, unwilling to share Charles’s unpopularity,
dissatisfied at the nonpayment of his advances, and but slightly
appeased by the present of a golden throne and candelabra sent him
from the sack of Benevento, wrote harsh letters to his ally, and sent
him long lectures and instructions as to how he should govern,
bidding him, above all things, to be amiable. This was not much in
Charles’s way; neither did his political views at all agree with those of
his Holiness Clement IV. He was certainly by no means amiable, and,
moreover, he committed a grievous blunder, common enough with
his countrymen, and which alienated the affections of his subjects.
He tried to Frenchify his new dominions. Obstinately bent on
moving the mountain, he would not even meet it half-way. He
scorned to take a lesson from the Norman founders of the kingdom,
who “governed Sicily not as conquerors but as old hereditary
sovereigns,” and were cautious of the too sudden introduction of
foreign innovations. His object, according to M. de St Priest’s own
showing, was at least as much the increase of the power and
importance of France, as the happiness of the people he had come to
reign over. His historian admires him for this, and for his wish “to
make half Europe, not a vassal, but a dependency of France.” He
introduced the forms of French administration, abolished the offices
and etiquette that had existed since the days of King Roger, and
replaced them by those of the court of Vincennes, changes which
excited great hatred and dislike to their author. He abandoned the
Castel Capuano, the residence of Frederick II., and built the Castel
Nuovo, on the model of the Paris Bastile. The copy has survived the
original. But we must pass over, for the present, the merits and
errors of Charles, and his ambitious designs upon Italy and the East,
to bring upon the scene the last heir of the house of Stauffen.
Conrad, known in history by the diminutive of Conradin,[18] was
born at Landshut, in Bavaria, on the 25th of March 1252, and was
hailed in his cradle by the high-sounding titles of king of Jerusalem
and Sicily, king of the Romans, future emperor, &c. Not one of these
imaginary crowns did he ever enjoy; even his paternal heritage was
wrested from him whilst yet an infant; the grandson of Frederick II.
knew want and poverty, and was more than once indebted to faithful
friends and adherents for a roof to cover his head. The events of his
life were as remarkable as the years composing it were few. “Born in
1252, he died in 1268. The interval embraces but sixteen years, and
yet that short period is animated by all the passions, emotions, and
tumult of a virile mind. We find in it, in a high degree, ambition,
courage, friendship, and, in a more doubtful perspective—love. In
reality, Conradin had no childhood. His life had nothing to do with
the laws regulating human growth. From the cradle his existence was
one of agitation.”
An anecdote, whose truth modern writers have contested, but to
which M. de St Priest gives credit, confirms, in conjunction with
many other circumstances, the child’s extraordinary precocity of
intelligence and feeling. Considering his mother as widow of an
emperor, although his father had never legally borne the imperial
title, since he had not been crowned at Rome, Conradin treated her
with the utmost ceremony and observance of etiquette. Suddenly,
weary of living in dependence at the court of her brother, Louis the
Severe, Duke of Bavaria, Queen Elizabeth-Margaret married
Meinhard de Gorice, brother of the Count de Tirol, and from queen
became a mere countess.[19] This alliance, unequal but not low,
greatly shocked Conradin: in the words of a chronicler, he was
moved by it beyond power of expression, and from that moment he
abstained from paying his mother the usual honours. She asked him
the reason. “Mother,” replied Conradin, “I rendered you the homage
due to an emperor’s widow; now you are married to one less than
him, and I, a king and an emperor’s son, can no longer render you
the honours due to an empress.” He who spoke this was but seven
years old, and hence many writers have treated the words as fiction.
But it must be borne in mind that from his very cradle he had been
nourished with the hopes of his party, whose pretensions and dreams
of triumph had been unceasingly instilled into him. The talk of all
around him had been of sceptres to reconquer, victories to win,
rebels to chastise; and the pathetic but deceitful picture of an
oppressed people, sighing for his return, had been kept continually
before his eyes. Every act of his life was premature. Brought up in a
political hot-bed, he showed early symptoms of imperfect mental
growth, and was crushed and annihilated by the first storm. Whilst
yet a very young child, he was surrounded by the empty forms of
sovereignty, and made to think himself both a man and a king. His
uncle and stepfather dragged him from town to town, dressed in
regal robes, and compelled him to hold provincial diets. Whilst thus
parading, they unscrupulously despoiled him. Before he was ten
years old, the Duke of Bavaria made him sign a will bequeathing to
him the whole of his possessions, in case of his death without heirs.
Even this did not satisfy the greedy Bavarian, who soon afterwards
extracted from him, by manner of donation, some of his richest
domains in Rhineland and the Palatinate. The example found
imitators. Princes, bishops, cities, and abbeys fell tooth and nail
upon the heritage of the unfortunate child. The bishops of Augsburg
and Constance, the counts of Wurtemburg, the burgraves of
Nuremberg, the king of Bohemia, and several others, shared the
spoils. The houses of Austria and Prussia date their rise from that
time—the nucleus of the two monarchies was formed by fragments of
Conradin’s dominions; and the whole of Germany as it now appears,
in its kingdoms and divisions, may be traced back to the fragments of
this total wreck and infamous spoliation. Thus plundered, nothing
remained but to start the victim on his travels; a royal Quixote in
search of a crown. At first he showed small disposition to such an
adventure, and more than one deputation of Ghibellines, and even of
Guelfs, departed unsuccessful from before the young king’s footstool;
until at last Gualvano Lancia, Mainfroy’s relative and faithful
adherent, and Corrado and Marino Capece, presented themselves at
the gate of the ancient castle of Hohenschwangau. Lancia had been
amnestied after the battle of Benevento, at the request of the Pope,
but much against the will of Charles of Anjou. He took the oaths to
the new king, but soon afterwards left the kingdom, and now
appeared before Conradin as deputy from the whole body of
Ghibellines, which had reconstituted itself throughout the entire
kingdom of the Sicilies, and sent to the grandson of the Emperor
Frederick assurances of its devotion, the promise of an army, and
considerable sums of money. Lancia was the bearer of one hundred
thousand gold florins. Thus was it, says the chronicler, Saba
Malaspina, that the little sleeping dog was roused up: “ad
suscitandum catulum dormientem.” In spite of the tears and
entreaties of his mother, who had a foreboding of his fate, and urged
him to remain with her, Conradin published a lengthy manifesto,
asserting his rights to the crown of Sicily, put himself at the head of
ten thousand men, hired by Ghibelline gold, and entered Italy, full of
confidence, hope, and enthusiasm, accompanied by his bosom
friend, Frederick, Duke of Austria, son of the Margrave of Baden, and
followed by the Duke of Bavaria, and by other nobles, who promised
him support, but shamefully abandoned him at Verona, upon the
most absurd and frivolous pretexts. The poor boy was born to be
every body’s dupe. He believed implicitly the hypocritical professions
of his treacherous kinsman, made over to him one of the last shreds
of his German possessions, and parted from him with tears in his
eyes, remaining alone at Verona, with Frederick of Austria, who was
only three years his senior, for sole ally—his troops reduced by the
defection of his uncle and the others to about three thousand men.
Instead of marching at once to Pisa, and taking ship for Sicily, whose
inhabitants were ripe for insurrection, he sent Corrado Capece
thither, and himself lingered two months in total inaction. Pisa was
devoted to the house of Swabia; Capece had no difficulty in obtaining
a galley (Conradin would have found a fleet as easily), and after
calling at Tunis for the Spanish Infante Don Fadrique, with four
hundred Spaniards and Saracens, he landed at Sciacca, gained an
advantage over the French, and saw the greater part of Sicily declare
for Conradin. After a while, Conradin, having raised money from the
Ghibelline towns, and recruited his forces, moved forward to Pavia;
whilst Charles of Anjou, advancing northward to meet his rival,
entered Pisa sword in hand, upset its towers and ruined its port. It
would lead us too far, and be of no great interest, to trace the
singular complications of Italian affairs at this moment, and the
perplexities of the Pope, who was at least as jealous of the abode of
Charles in Tuscany, as of the feeble attempt of the old German
dynasty to regain its seat upon the Neapolitan throne. We must
confine ourselves to the career of Conradin, and follow his fortunes,
now drawing to a lamentable close. There was a bright flash,
however, before the final setting of his star. He occupied Pisa—still
the first port in Italy—in spite of the devastations of Charles of
Anjou; on all sides the Ghibelline party raised its head, and his
enterprise assumed a serious aspect. Clement IV. became alarmed,
and sent, for the third time, an order to Conradin to lay down his
arms, and appear in person before the pontifical chair to justify his
conduct, under pain of all manner of excommunication. Conradin,
who seems to have inherited a wholesome contempt for the Pope,
replied by despatching a fleet of four-and-twenty Pisan galleys to
Sicily. This was another blunder. He should have gone himself, with
all his forces, and certain success awaited him. Charles of Anjou
absent, his troops dispersed and surprised, Sicily was lost to the
French dynasty. But Conradin, like a child as he was, thought only of
a triumphant march on Rome and Naples. For a paltry pageant, he
threw away a kingdom. Whilst his adherents gained ground in Sicily,
Apulia, Calabria, and other provinces, he nullified their advantages
by folly and delay. His only forced marches were upon the road to
ruin. A successful but unimportant ambuscade, in which fifty of the
enemy were cut off, completely turned his head. The prisoners were
conducted in triumph to Sienna; and Conradin and his army, brimful
of confidence, scoffing at pontifical anathemas, and followed by a
crowd of Ghibellines which every hour augmented, marched upon
Rome, taking the longest route by way of Viterbo, in order to show
themselves to Clement IV., then resident in that city. They passed
under its walls, crowned with verdure and flowers, more like
bacchanals and vintagers than men-at-arms. From the window of his
palace Clement witnessed the loose array. “Behold!” said he, “the
sheep led to the slaughter!” The prelates surrounding him remained
silent, in respectful doubt. The pontiff, penetrating their thoughts,
persisted in his assertion. “Truly,” he said, “in eight days nothing will
remain of that army.” His firm voice, his imposing countenance, his
fervent piety, impressed the hearers with a conviction that he spoke
prophetically. The event justified the prediction, the result of
political clear-sightedness rather than of divine inspiration.
Conradin’s reception at Rome completed his intoxication. He was
accompanied into the city by a chorus of young girls, singing and
tambourine-playing in the midst of the soldiers. Magnificently
dressed ladies showed themselves at the windows of the palaces; the
people thronged the streets. Every where he passed under triumphal
arches, hastily raised in his honour. They consisted of cords tied
across the street, and supporting, instead of the usual garlands of
laurels and flowers, the most precious objects the Romans possessed;
rich furs and garments, bucklers, rings, bracelets, arms and jewellery
of all kinds. Amidst public acclamations in honour of his courage and
beauty, Conradin ascended to the Capitol, escorted by the most
illustrious Romans of the Imperial party. What head of sixteen would
not have been turned by such incense! At last he quitted Rome at the
head of five thousand German and Italian men-at-arms, and of nine
hundred Spanish cavaliers; surrounded and pressed on all sides by a
clamorous and jubilant multitude. He had formed a plan which
showed resolution and some military skill. Instead of marching to
Ceprano, the usual route of the conquerors of Naples, and in which
direction he was persuaded Charles (then besieging Lucera) would
advance to meet him, he conceived the bold project of turning his
enemy’s flank by penetrating into the Abruzzi, effecting a junction
with the Saracens of Lucera, and thence proceeding to Naples. But
Charles was too old a soldier to be easily outwitted. Advised from
Rome of Conradin’s departure and route, he abruptly raised the siege
he was engaged in, and marched day and night to Aquila, the key of
the Abruzzi. Thence he pushed on to the heights of Androssano, near
the ruins of the old Roman town of Alba, and appeared before the
astounded Conradin, who thus suddenly beheld in his immediate
front an enemy he deemed far in his rear. A day passed without
blows: Charles made a reconnaissance; Conradin, to frighten his
opponent, to whom the fidelity of the inhabitants of Aquila was most
important, caused false deputies to be introduced into his camp,
dressed in municipal robes, and bearing apparently the keys of their
town. Informed of this event, Charles felt very uneasy, but concealed
his anxiety from all but three knights, with whom he set out at
nightfall and galloped to Aquila. He arrived at midnight; the
inhabitants were asleep. He struck upon the gates of the citadel, and
cried with a loud voice, “For whom do you hold this fort?” “For King
Charles,” replied the sentinel. “Then open, for I am the king!”