In 1266, Manfred had a troop of Luceran archers with him when he was defeated at the Battle of Benevento. The next year Lucera rebelled against the Angevin conquerors. After a hard and exacting siege, Charles of Anjou preserved the Muslim colony, confirming it in all of its existing privileges, in exchange for the payment of a heavy levy. The new French lords then established a Provençal colony of 240 families in control of the fortress of Monte Albano, which dominated the city.