Constance of Sicily (1249–1302)

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Depiction of Constance from the 16th century

Constance of Sicily (* around 1249 in Catania ; † April 9, 1302 in Barcelona ) from the Staufer dynasty was the wife of Peter III. Queen of Aragon from 1276 to 1285 and Queen of Sicily from 1282 to 1285 .

Life

1249 to 1276

Konstanze was born as the only child of Manfred von Taranto , King of Sicily since 1258, and his first wife Beatrix of Savoy (* 1223; † May 10, 1257). Beatrix of Savoy had already from her first marriage to Margrave Manfred III. Saluzzo had a son - Thomas I del Vasto - and three daughters. Manfred of Sicily married the Greek Helena of Epirus after the death of Beatrix . There were five children from this marriage, whose lives took a tragic turn after 1266.

In July 1260, King Manfred sent negotiators to Barcelona to negotiate a marriage contract between his eldest daughter Konstanze and the Aragonese heir to the throne Peter. Since Manfred was ready to raise a huge dowry, King James I and his son Peter agreed to the connection, whereby the heir to the throne had to expressly promise to love his wife and respect her Staufer ancestry. This was a great diplomatic success for Manfred, as the treaty recognized him as the legitimate son of his father, Emperor Frederick II, and as the rightful King of Sicily. But the treaty was also important for the Aragonese side. On the one hand, the House of Aragón needed a strong partner to expand in the Mediterranean, on the other hand, it needed an ally against the French king and the Pope, both of whom threatened the property of the Aragonese crown in what is now southern France. Pope Urban IV saw the alliance between Sicily and Aragon as a political threat to the papal state. He therefore asked Jacob I not to marry his son to - in his opinion illegitimate - Constanze.

Nevertheless, in the spring of 1262, Konstanze set out for Aragon with her court. She only met her future husband in Montpellier , where the wedding took place on June 13, 1262. As a morning gift , Peter gave his wife the city of Gerona and the old royal castle of Collioure in the Pyrenees with all rights and possessions. The marriage, arranged for political reasons, turned into a happy partnership. Peter loved his beautiful, balanced and clever wife and trusted her unreservedly in political matters. Constanze also valued her husband.

Pope Clement IV , the successor of Urban IV, allied himself with Charles I of Anjou , the younger brother of the French King Louis IX. , whom he enfeoffed with Sicily, with the simultaneous request to end the rule of King Manfred. On February 26, 1266, the French defeated the Sicilian army in the battle of Benevento , Manfred fell in the battle and Charles's troops occupied the kingdom of Sicily. Manfred's widow and her children found no mercy in the face of the victor, who mercilessly implemented the Pope's call to exterminate the Hohenstaufen. Therefore Konstanze immediately offered all members of the Hohenstaufen family and partisans refuge at her court. So her aunt Konstanze , the former personal physician of Frederick II John of Procida , a member of the Lancia family and Konrad von Antioch , a grandson of Frederick II, managed to flee to Aragon. After Konradin was publicly executed in Naples on October 29, 1268 on the orders of Charles the Hohenstaufen , Konstanze began to expand her court into a rallying point for the Hohenstaufen opposition.

1276 to 1285

Jacob I died on July 27, 1276 and Peter III. became king of Aragon. Under the influence of his wife, he began to support uprisings against the Anjou regime in Sicily. After the death of the moderate Pope Nicholas III. († 1280), who tried to mediate between the partisans of the Staufer and Anjou, urged his successor Martin IV. Charles of Anjou to take tougher measures against the "Sicilian Party" . As a result, in March 1282, the population of the island of Sicily rose against Charles's tyranny.

At first the insurgents did not think of bringing the Aragonese to Sicily instead of the French. However, after the massacres of the French, the Sicilian nobles fear that Charles of Anjou will initiate a campaign of revenge. For this reason they demanded Peter III. on to become King of Sicily, to reorganize the country and to protect the people of Sicily. Thereupon the King of Aragon - accompanied by Constance's relative Conrad of Antioch († 1301) - set out with his Armada for Sicily, where he landed on August 28, 1282 and was crowned King of Sicily a little later. Martin IV then excommunicated Peter III.

Konstanze had not accompanied her husband to Sicily because he needed her as regent in Aragon while he was away. But already in March 1283 he allowed her and her younger children to follow him to Sicily. The popular Staufer was adopted before her departure with great sympathy from the population. Countless nobles and ordinary citizens flocked to the port of Barcelona to see their queen farewell and receive her blessing. At the beginning of April 1283 the Aragonese arrived in Palermo . The population gave Konstanze a triumphant welcome, and a little later she was crowned Queen of Sicily. But in the meantime Karl von Anjou and his nephew, the French King Philip III. , a campaign declared as a crusade against the excommunicated Peter III. initiated. Pope Martin IV even offered Philip III. to enfeoff his younger son Charles of Valois with the Kingdom of Aragón and the county of Barcelona. However, the heir to the throne, who later became Philip IV , opposed these plans. He tried to resolve the conflict with his uncle Peter III. to defuse.

Before he returned to Aragon, Peter III called. on April 25, 1283 a parliament, which confirmed Constance's appointment as governor and John of Procidas appointment as Grand Chancellor of Sicily. It was also decided that the second eldest son Jacob would remain in Sicily. Konstanze ruled resolutely and energetically. She also tried to convince her followers to win back the former Hohenstaufen provinces of Apulia, Calabria and Campania. So the queen did not hesitate to answer the call for help from Calabrian cities and to conquer the "toe of the boot" of the Italian peninsula. They also fended off some attempts by the French to occupy the island of Sicily militarily. Finally, the Admiral Ruggiero di Lauria , a longtime partisan of the Hohenstaufen, defeated Charles's fleet in a sea battle in the Gulf of Naples . Charles' son, Charles the Lame , was taken prisoner in Sicily. Many Staufer partisans demanded the immediate execution of Charlemagne in retaliation for the death of Konradin, but Konstanze opposed this request. Instead, she offered her enemy Karl von Anjou to exchange his son for her half-sister Beatrice.

Charles of Anjou agreed to Constance's proposal and Beatrice was brought to Messina in 1284 , where she received a triumphant reception and met her sister. It is now considered certain that Konstanze knew nothing of the cruel fate of her half-brothers. It is not known whether she unreservedly believed Karl's disinformation about the death of her brothers or, for reasons of Aragonese reasons of state, did not allow the fate of her brothers to be fathomed, as they would endanger their own position in Sicily.

Peter III died in 1285. Since he wanted to defuse the conflict with the Pope, he determined in his will that Sicily was and is a papal fiefdom. Thereupon he received papal absolution. In addition, Peter determined the division of his empire. The eldest son Alfons III. should follow him in Aragon, the second oldest Jacob in Sicily. Konstanze ended her governorship in Sicily after the death of her husband. Before she returned to Aragon, she met the new Pope Honorius IV in Rome , whom she asked for reconciliation. The Pope, who was also trying to find a balance, granted her "great honor and everything she desired" .

1285 to 1302

Her grave in Barcelona Cathedral .

Alfons III died in 1291, his brother Jacob II disregarded the will of Peter III. and from then on wore both crowns again. However, in order to maintain peace with the Pope, he was willing to renounce Sicily in favor of the Anjou. But the Sicilians were unwilling to accept renewed rule by the French. Therefore, in 1296, the Sicilians elevated Peters and Constance's youngest son Friedrich, who had been governor in Sicily for several years, to the new King of Sicily. Although this was only the second Sicilian king with the name Friedrich, he called himself Friedrich III. to show a bond with his great-grandfather Friedrich II and his politics.

Despite his mother's misgivings, Frederick was ready to rekindle the old conflict with the Pope and the Anjou. Constanze, fighting for reconciliation, saw this with great concern, especially after her son Jakob II decided to support the Anjou in the war against his brother Friedrich. To end the war, Konstanze agreed in 1297 to marry her daughter Yolande (Violante) to the grandson of Charles of Anjou - Robert the Wise . After this wedding, the former queen went to the monastery of San Francisco (Catalan: Sant Francesc) in Barcelona, ​​where she died on April 9, 1302 and was buried. After the monastery was demolished, her tomb was moved to the left side of the main altar of Barcelona Cathedral in 1835 .

Pope Boniface VIII confirmed Frederick's rule in Sicily in the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302 . The treaty stipulated that no member of the House of Aragon should rule over both kingdoms. This means that the “Kingdom of the Island of Sicily” or “Kingdom of Trinakria” became a secundogeniture of the Aragonese. The Anjou - de facto kings of Naples - were allowed to continue to call themselves kings of Sicily. The division of the former Norman and Hohenstaufen kingdom lasted until 1442, before the descendants of Peter III. and Constanze - Alfonso V of Aragon - managed to occupy the Kingdom of Naples and restore the "old empire" within almost the same boundaries.

progeny

From the marriage between Konstanze and Peter III on June 13, 1262. the following children came from Aragon:

ancestors

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Emperor Heinrich VI. (1165–1197)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Emperor Friedrich II. (1194–1250)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Constance of Sicily (1154–1198)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Manfred of Sicily (1232-1266)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bonifacio d'Agliano (?)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bianca Lancia (* 1200/10; † 1244/46)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bianca Lancia the Elder (?)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Constance of Sicily (1249–1302)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thomas I of Savoy (1177-1233)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Amadeus IV of Savoy (1197–1253)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Margarete / Beatrix of Geneva (1180–1257)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Beatrix of Savoy (around 1223–1257)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hugo III of Burgundy (1148–1192)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Anna of Burgundy (1192-1243)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Beatrix of Albon (1161-1228)
 
 
 
 
 
 

literature

Web links

Commons : Constance of Sicily  - Collection of images

Remarks

  1. ↑ Constance's mother Beatrix of Savoy was the eldest daughter of Count Amadeus IV of Savoy (1197–1253) from his 1st marriage to Anna of Burgundy (1192–1243). She was born in 1223 and died on a May 10th before 1258, probably May 10th, 1257.
  2. ↑ a b c Helena of Epirus and her five children - between 1 and 6 years old - were taken prisoner while fleeing in Trani. She was separated from her children and died in 1271 as a prisoner of Charles of Anjou. Her three sons grew up chained and isolated in the dungeon of Castels del Monte . Completely neglected and blind, they were moved to the Castel dell'Ovo in Naples in 1296 . Anselm (Enzio) died there in 1299, his brother Heinrich died on October 31, 1318 after 52 years in prison. The Hohenstaufen dynasty went out with him. The third brother Friedrich managed to escape between 1300 and 1305. The blind, unsocialized man wandered around, was not accepted anywhere and died in Egypt in 1312. Helena and Manfred's daughters Beatrix and Flordelis lived as prisoners under less cruel circumstances in the Castel dell'Ovo. Beatrice († 1307) was released on the initiative of her half-sister Konstanze in 1284, as did Flordelis († 1297) - for reasons that have not yet been clarified - her freedom. Both then lived in Aragon until their deaths.
  3. ↑ “Shouldn't it hurt you bitterly if offspring were born to you from such a daughter-in-law, which would be your whole house, all your relatives, but most of all you would have such a defilement of your honor, far from a decision that would affect the malicious opponent of God and the Church would strengthen so much and join our enemies. " Quotation from: Oster, Die Frauen Kaiser Friedrichs II., p. 243
  4. ^ The Sicilians' appeal for help to Peter III. read: “Firstly, because you are the most pious and righteous king in the world. Secondly, because the island of Sicily and the whole kingdom belong to your wife, the Queen and afterwards your sons by right, since they come from the family of the Blessed Emperor Frederick and the Blessed King Manfred, who were legally our masters. According to divine law, Queen Constance, your wife, should be our ruler, and after her your sons should be our kings and lords. Third, because it is the duty of every pious king to protect orphans, widows and minors. ” Quotation from: Oster, Die Frauen Kaiser Friedrichs II., P. 251f.
  5. ^ Conrad of Antioch (Corrado de Antioch) was the son of Frederick of Antioch and grandson of Frederick II. He had been married to Beatrice Lancia, a niece of Bianca Lancias , since 1258 . His descendants took on high offices in Sicily, Aragon.
  6. ↑ Philip IV and his brother Karl von Valois came from the first marriage of Philip III. with Isabella of Aragón († 1271), a sister of Peter III.
  7. ↑ Quotation from: Oster, Die Frauen Kaiser Friedrichs II., P. 256
  8. ^ Peter Koblank: Staufer graves on stauferstelen.net. Retrieved December 19, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Constance of Sicily
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Constance of Aragon; Constance of Aragon; Konstanze von Hohenstaufen; Costanza de Siilia, Constantia d'Aragonia
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Queen of Aragon and Sicily
DATE OF BIRTH around 1249
PLACE OF BIRTH Catania
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1302
Place of death Barcelona