He was deposed for two years. Benevento was the cornerstone of the papacy's temporal powers in southern Italy. The papacy ruled it by appointed rectors, seated in a palace, and the principality continued to be a papal possession until 1806, when Napoleon granted it to his minister Talleyrand with the title of sovereign prince. Talleyrand was never to settle down and actually rule his new principality; in 1815 Benevento was returned to the papacy. It was united with Italy in 1860. Several popes personally visited Benevento. In 1128 Honorius II tried inviting Roger II of Sicily into the city in order to discuss peace terms, however, Roger refused to enter the city, for he felt unsafe within the city. Thus the two instead met on a bridge near Benevento. Only a year later, the city revolted against the Papal rule and Honorius had to beg Roger for assistance. In 1130, Anacletus II fled from Rome to the safety of Benevento after hearing that his rival, Innocent II was gaining recognition in the north. When Anacletus created Roger the king of Sicily, he granted Roger the right to conscript the citizens of the city into military service, despite city itself remaining under Papal rule. The declaration was not well received, as the citizens became afraid that the city was about to be annexed into the newly found kingdom. Therefore, when Roger made his move against Robert of Capua and began the civil war, Benevento sided with Robert and ousted Anacletus's supporters from the city. Manfred of Sicily lost his life in 1266 in battle with Charles of Anjou not far from the town, in the course of the Battle of Benevento. After the Italian unification After the unification of Italy, Benevento was made provincial capital of the new Province of Benevento, comprising territories formerly belonging to the dissolved Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (, Molise, Terra di Lavoro, Capitanata). In the following decades, the town saw considerable expansion and modernization; the local economy became increasingly diversified, with the traditional agricultural sector (especially the cultivation of tobacco and cereals) being joined by growing confectionery, mechanical, liquor, lumber and brickmaking industries. During World War II, Benevento's key position in the railway communications between Rome and Apulia resulted in the town being heavily bombed by the Allied air forces in the summer of 1943. These raids caused 2,000 deaths and left 18,000 homeless out