Henry VI occupies Sicilian treasury

1195

After the death of the last Hauteville king of Sicily, the Hohenstaufen emperor finally secured the island kingdom by military force, loaded onto 150 mules the contents of the Palermo treasury, and carted it north to Germany. It paid for his German schemes and funded his crusade plans. The seizure of the Norman treasure made Henry VI the wealthiest ruler in Christendom and financed his dream of a hereditary universal monarchy.