Euphemia of Sicily (1330–1359) was a Sicilian princess regent. She ruled the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

from 1355 until 1357 during the

minority reign The terms minority reign and royal minority refer to the period of a sovereign's rule when he or she is legally a minor. Minority reigns are of their nature times when politicians and advisors can be especially competitive. Some scholars claim tha ...

of her brother, King

Frederick the Simple Frederick III (or IV) (1 September 1341 – Messina 27 July 1377Setton, Kenneth M. (1975) " Volume III: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", Edited by Harry W. Hazzard, page 214.), called the Simple, was King of Sicily from 1355 to 1377. H ...

Life

She was the daughter of King Peter II and his wife,

Elisabeth of Carinthia Elizabeth of Carinthia (1298–1352) was Queen of Sicily by marriage to Peter II of Sicily. She was the regent of Sicily during the minority of her son Louis, King of Sicily from 1348 until her death in 1352. The daughter of the Otto, the penu ...

.Eufemia d'Aragona, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. Her father died in 1342 and her brother Louis succeeded him under the regency of their uncle and, from 1348, their mother. When their mother died in 1352, her sister succeeded her mother as regent during the minority of her brother. In 1355 she succeeded her sister

Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...

as regent, after the latter succumbed to the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

. Her regency had made marriage difficult for her position as regent, and she died unmarried. When Naples attacked Sicily, regent Euphemia organized the defense of the island and managed to push back the invasion in the Battle of Aci on 27 May 1357. Her mandate as regent finished when her brother was declared of legal majority in 1357. Euphemia died childless in 1359.

Notes

External links

*
WOMEN IN POWER 1350-1400
' 1330 births 1359 deaths 14th-century Italian women 14th-century Sicilian people 14th-century women rulers House of Barcelona (Sicily) Regents of Sicily Sicilian princesses Daughters of kings {{Italy-noble-stub