Anastasia de Montfort, Countess of Nola (born c. 1274), was an Italian noblewoman and a wealthy heiress. She was the eldest daughter of
Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola, himself the son of
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. She held the title
suo jure Countess of
Nola after her father's death in 1291. She also held the titles of ''suo jure'' Dame de
Chailly and ''suo jure'' Dame de
Longjumeau. She was the wife of Romano
Orsini,
Senator of Rome
Summus Senator is a medieval title of Rome for the head of the civil government in the city.
The ancient Senate continued to function after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, but it became increasingly irrelevant and seems to have disappeare ...
.
Family
Anastasia was born in Italy about 1274, the eldest daughter of Guy de Montfort, Count of Nola, and Margherita
Aldobrandeschi, Countess of
Sovana and
Pitigliano.
Anastasia's father, Guy, fled England in 1266 after he had escaped from prison, eventually arriving in Italy. He entered the service of
Charles of Anjou who made him Count of Nola and
Vicar-general of
Tuscany. On 10 August 1270, Guy married Margherita Aldobrandeschi at
Viterbo. In 1271, her father was excommunicated for killing his cousin
Henry of Almain inside San Silvestro church. Later he was captured by the Aragonese and died in a Sicilian prison in 1291.
Upon his death, Anastasia became the ''suo jure'' Countess of Nola. In an effort to retain her lands, Anastasia's mother married four more times after Guy's death. Her four additional husbands were: Orsello Orsini, Loffredo
Caetani, her cousin Guido Aldobrandeschi di
Santa Fiora
Santa Fiora is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto, in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Grosseto. Santa Fiora borders the following municipalities: Abbadia San Salvatore, Arc ...
, and Nello de' Pannocchieschi.
Marriage and issue
On 8 June 1293 Anastasia married Romano Orsini (1268–1327), Senator of Rome and son of Gentile II Orsini, Senator of Rome and Claricia de Ruffo. The marriage had been arranged by Cardinal Napoleon Orsini, who was her mother's guardian. Anastasia, being Margherita's eldest daughter and heiress, eventually brought the rich Aldobrandeschi and Sovana inheritances into the Orsini family.
Together Romano and Anastasia had:
* Roberto Orsini, Count of Nola (1295 - 15 January 1345), married Sibilla de Balzo de Baux (1296 - 1375) the daughter of Hugues del Balzo, Count of Soleto and
Seneschal
The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...
of Naples and Jacopa della Marra.
* Guido Orsini, first Count of Pitigliano (died after 1348), married Agostina
della Gherardesca
The House della Gherardesca was an old noble family of the Republic of Pisa, dating back as early as the 11th century of Longobard origin.
They were an important one of the most prominent initially in Pisa, then of Volterra and eventually and of F ...
, by whom he had issue.
* Giovanna Orsini, married in 1334 Nicolo Caetani by whom she had issue.
Anastasia died on an unknown date, which occurred sometime before her eldest son, Roberto's death on 15 January 1345 as he had succeeded her as Count of Nola. Her husband Romano died in 1327.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:de Montfort, Anastasia
1270s births
13th-century Italian women
14th-century deaths
Italian countesses
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death unknown