Agnes Of Périgord
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Agnes of Périgord (died 1345) was Duchess consort of Durazzo, through her marriage to John of Gravina, Duke of Durazzo, who was also the ruler of the
Kingdom of Albania Kingdom of Albania may refer to: *Kingdom of Albania (medieval) — from the Capetian House of Anjou *Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939) — from the House of Zogu *Albanian Kingdom (1939–1943) — from the House of Savoy during the Italian occupati ...
. Although Agnes was never styled as Queen consort, she became politically influential. Following the death of
Robert, King of Naples Robert of Anjou ( it, Roberto d'Angiò), known as Robert the Wise ( it, Roberto il Saggio; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Ita ...
in 1343, she organised a marriage for her eldest son to Robert's granddaughter, who was second-in-line to the Neapolitan throne. Agnes's ambition was to bring her family closer to the line of succession.


Early life and marriage

Agnes was daughter of Helie VII, Count of Périgord and his second wife,
Brunissende of Foix Brunissende of Foix (died September 1324) was Countess of Périgord by marriage to Count Elias VII. According to several sources, Brunissende had influence in the politics of the newly formed Avignon Papacy due to her close relationship with Pope ...
. Amongst her siblings was Hélie de Talleyrand-Périgord, a Cardinal who would become a major figure in the
Avignon Papacy The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven successive popes resided in Avignon – at the time within the Kingdom of Burgundy-Arles, Kingdom of Arles, part of the Holy Roman Empire; now part of France – rather than i ...
. The marriage between Agnes and John was likely arranged by King Robert of Sicily due to his favour for the Avignon Papacy. The King had anti-
Ghibelline The Guelphs and Ghibellines (, , ; it, guelfi e ghibellini ) were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, rival ...
ambitions in Northern Italy and desired support from the Papacy and the French in achieving them. Agnes's family had marital ties to
Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
as her sister Rosemburge was married to Jacques de Lavie, the Pope's grand-nephew. Acting upon this during his visit to Avignon, Robert arranged for his brother to marry Jacques's sister-in-law. The marriage contract is dated 14 November 1321. The couple were married shy of fourteen years and had three sons: * Charles, Duke of Durazzo (1323–1348) *
Louis of Durazzo Louis of Durazzo (1324 – 22 July 1362) was Count of Gravina and Morrone. He was the son of John of Durazzo and Agnes of Périgord. In 1337, he was named Vicar- and Captain-General of the Kingdom of Albania. During the ascension of the Durazz ...
(1324–1362), Count of Gravina *
Robert of Durazzo Robert of Durazzo (1326 – 19 September 1356, Poitiers) was the third son of John, Duke of Durazzo and Agnes de Périgord. He was the lord of Cappacio, Muro, and Montalbano in the Kingdom of Naples. Captured in 1350 at the siege of Aversa, h ...
(1326–1356) Agnes became, through her husband's brotherly quarrel with
Philip I, Prince of Taranto Philip I of Taranto (10 November 1278 – 26 December 1331), of the Capetian House of Anjou, Angevin house, was titular Latin Empire, Latin Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip II) by right of his wife Catherine of Valois–Courtenay, Despot of Ro ...
, duchess of Durazzo. Her husband died in 1335 and he was succeeded by their son, Charles.


Political intrigues

Any plans that the Durazzo family may have had of marrying
Joanna Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from from he, יוֹחָנָה, translit=Yôḥānāh, lit=God is gracious. Variants in English include Joan (given name), Joan, Joann, Joanne (given name), Joanne, and Johanna. Other forms of the name in ...
, heiress to Robert's throne, were thwarted in 1333 when Robert arranged for her to marry Andrew of Hungary. However, in his final will and testament, Robert instructed that if Joanna were to die without issue, the Neapolitan throne should pass to her sister,
Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...
, who was unmarried. Whilst the monarch was spoken for, the heir was not. Agnes did her best to make her family appear favourable towards the royals, in the hope that Robert would consider a Durazzo match for Maria. In 1338, she supported her son's position at the head of Robert's armada to conquer
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
. However, the campaign failed due to the outbreak of
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
. Agnes used her own position at court to her advantage, making friendly overtures towards Queen Sancha and the young princesses. This too did not result in any marriage plans. King Robert died in January 1343. Agnes's tactics during his final years had proven unsuccessful therefore, she took matters into her own hands. Immediately after Robert's death, she orchestrated the marriage between her eldest son and Maria. The timing of this marriage was crucial as Joanna strongly favoured the Taranto faction, having an affair with Prince Robert, son of Catherine, and Maria was promised in marriage to one of Andrew's brothers. The two matters would only have politically isolated the Durazzo clan and thwarted their chances of reaching the throne. Agnes used her connection to her influential brother, Cardinal Talleyrand, to put aside the Hungarian match for Maria and obtain the Pope's permission for the ambitious marriage. Not relying on family feeling alone, Agnes bribed her brother with 22,000 florins left over from her dowry in order to ensure absolute support. Building up a friendship with Queen Sancha also appears to have paid off as the dowager queen supported the match. On the other hand, the Taranto clan were horrified when they discovered Agnes's scheme and used their influence over Joanna to put an end to it. Catherine instructed the young queen to oppose the match, hoping that the lack of royal favour would act as a deterrent. Much to the dismay of the Tarantos, their control over Joanna was not enough to prevent Agnes, who responded by abducting Maria one night in April 1343 and marrying her off to Charles. The marriage was a great insult to Joanna and Andrew as their royal authority was defied and the latter's family lost out on their chance for total control of the succession. The Tarantos were ready for armed warfare against their Durazzo cousins, Naples stood on the brink of civil war. To remedy the matter, the Pope wrote letters to both Joanna and Agnes, confirming the validity of the papal dispensation, asking them to put aside their differences and to urge Joanna to allow an official marriage ceremony. The letter to Agnes also informs that the Pope was sending Talleyrand's chamberlain, Roger of Vintrono, who had experience in the Papal service in Italy, to mend the breach amongst the Neapolitans. Roger's efforts clearly worked as Andrew pardoned Agnes and her family and the marriage was officially recognised on 14 July. The fact that Maria was pregnant probably also helped resolve the issue, no more scandals were desired. Agnes then became involved in the marital disputes between Joanna and Andrew. As the latter was initially refused joint authority with his wife, he wrote to his mother Elisabeth, announcing plans to flee Naples. Elisabeth decided to make a state visit and threatened to take Andrew with her when she returned home. For the first time, Agnes, Catherine and Joanna worked together to persuade Elisabeth not to do so. All three women were aware that Andrew would only return with a Hungarian army; according to Domenico de Gravina, Joanna and Catherine were motivated purely by this threat however, Agnes was genuinely concerned with the welfare of Andrew. The appeals worked and Andrew remained. Despite her assistance in this matter, Joanna did not forgive Agnes for her marital scheming.


Death

Much like her life, Agnes's death was also surrounded by political intrigue. During the early months of 1345, the duchess had managed to make herself even more unpopular with Joanna by meddling in diplomacy linked to the Papacy. In addition, she had attempted to have one of her sons married to Catherine's daughter, in the hope of penetrating the Taranto clan. In May, she fell ill. Allegedly, the doctor asked for a urine sample and when this was taken that evening, it was switched with that of a pregnant lady-in-waiting, who was a friend of Joanna's. When the doctor discovered that Agnes was supposedly pregnant, it caused a scandal and led to her son, Charles, keeping his distance from her. This made for perfect conditions for the ladies-in-waiting to poison Agnes. Although, it is quite possible that these events are fictional, they are accounted by Domenico de Gravina, whom as noted from the encounter with Elisabeth, appeared sympathetic to Agnes rather than Joanna and Catherine. It is just as possible that Agnes succumbed to a bacterial infection, worsened by the hot climate.Nancy Goldstone, ''Joanna, The Notorious Queen of Naples, Jerusalem and Sicily'', p.70 Charles and Maria never ascended the throne, the former was executed three years after the death of his mother for his own political intrigues involving Joanna and the Hungarians. Despite this,
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
, a grandson of Agnes through her son, Louis, succeeded to the throne in 1382. Much like his family, he clashed with Joanna but he managed to depose her and had her strangled. He was married to
Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...
, a daughter of Charles and Maria.


Ancestry


References


Bibliography

*Edwin Lawrence Godkin, ''The History of Hungary and the Magyars: From the Earliest Period to the Close of the Late War'' (Cassell, 1853) *Nancy Goldstone, ''Joanna, The Notorious Queen of Naples, Jerusalem and Sicily'' (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2010) *Ronald G. Musto, ''Medieval Naples: A Documentary History, 400-1400'' (New York, NY: Italica Press, 2012) *{{cite journal , first=Norman P. , last=Zacour , title=Talleyrand: The Cardinal of Périgord (1301-1364) , journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society , volume=50, No. 7 , year=1960 , publisher=American Philosophical Society 1345 deaths House of Anjou-Durazzo 14th-century French women House of Talleyrand-Périgord Court of Joanna I of Naples