Eleanor of Sicily

Eleanor of Sicily (* 1325 ; † April 20, 1375 in Lleida ) was the third wife of Peter IV. From 1349 to 1375 Queen of Aragon .

Life

Eleanor of Sicily was a daughter of King Peter II of Sicily and his wife Elisabeth of Carinthia . She had eight siblings, including Ludwig and Friedrich III. (or IV.) who ruled Sicily one after the other.

On August 27, 1349 Eleanor married the Aragonese King Peter IV in Valencia , for whom this marriage was already the third marriage. From his previous marriages Peter IV had no surviving sons, but Eleanor gave him male offspring. In total the couple had three sons and one daughter:

• John I (* 1350; † 1396), King of Aragón 1387–1396
• Martin I (* 1356; † 1410), King of Aragón 1396–1410
• Eleonore (* 1358; † 1382), wife of John I of Castile since 1375
• Alfonso (* 1362; † 1364), died as an infant

Although Eleonore inherited Carinthia and Tyrol from her mother Elisabeth , she never made any claims in this regard. Because Bernhard II of Cabrera , an influential advisor to Peter IV, advocated a balancing policy towards Castile and against the expansion of the Mediterranean empire, he became hostile to Eleanor. The latter turned against a cooperation with Castile and not only wanted the duchies of Athens and Neopatras (who were subordinate to their brother Frederick III) to come to Aragon, but ultimately also Sicily itself. Apparently, Bernhard von Cabrera prevented Aragon from intervening vigorously in Sicily Matters until he was executed in 1364 as a result of a political process - accelerated by Eleanor -. Finally, Eleonore's second son Martin received an (alleged) right to the crown of Sicily from his father.

Eleanor, who also emerged as the patroness of literature, made Sibilla de Fortia her lady-in-waiting. In 1375 Eleanor died in Lleida at the age of about 50 and was buried in the monastery of Monestir de Santa Maria de Poblet . In 1377, two years after Eleonore's death, Sibilla de Fortia became the fourth wife of Peter IV. This marriage led to considerable tension between the old king and the heir to the throne, Eleonore's eldest son John (I).

literature

• S. Fodale: Eleonore 3 . In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . 3: 1805 (1986).