Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was

Queen of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which oc ...

as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the

Capetian House of Anjou The Capetian House of Anjou or House of Anjou-Sicily, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct French House of Capet, part of the Capetian dynasty. It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as ''Angevin'', meaning "from Anjou" ...

by birth. She was the third daughter of King

Charles II of Naples Charles II, also known as Charles the Lame (french: Charles le Boiteux; it, Carlo lo Zoppo; 1254 – 5 May 1309), was King of Naples, Count of Provence and Forcalquier (1285–1309), Prince of Achaea (1285–1289), and Count of Anjou and Maine ( ...

and

Mary of Hungary Mary, also known as Maria of Anjou (, , ; 137117 May 1395), reigned as Queen of Hungary and Croatia (officially 'king') between 1382 and 1385, and from 1386 until her death. She was the daughter of Louis the Great, King of Hungary and Poland ...

. Eleanor was firstly married in 1299 to Philippe II de Toucy, son of Narjot de Toucy, Lord of Laterza, and

Lucia of Tripoli Lucia (died aft. 1292 or ca 1299) was the last countess of Tripoli, a Crusader state in the Levant. Biography She was the daughter of Bohemund VI, Prince of Antioch and Sibylla of Armenia. Her brother was Bohemund VII of Tripoli. When Bohemund ...

. Their marriage was dissolved on 17 January 1300 by

Pope Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of b ...

because they were related and had not sought permission from the pope to marry. On 17 May 1302, Eleanor married secondly to the

King of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occ ...

, Frederick II. Her father and her new husband had been engaged in a war for ascendancy in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

and especially

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

and the

Mezzogiorno Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion A macroregion is a geopolitical subdivision that encompasses several traditionally or politically defined regions or countries. The meaning ...

. The marriage was part of a diplomatic effort to establish peaceful relations which would lead to the

Peace of Caltabellotta The Peace of Caltabellotta, signed on 31 August 1302, was the last of a series of treaties, including those of Tarascon and Anagni, designed to end the conflict between the Houses of Anjou and Barcelona for ascendancy in the Mediterranean and esp ...

(19 August 1302). The peace divided the old

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 ...

into an island portion and a peninsular portion. The island, called the Kingdom of

Trinacria Trinacria may refer to: *the ancient Name of Sicily **Sicily in the classical Greek period, see History of Greek and Hellenistic Sicily **Name for the Kingdom of Sicily during the 1300s **Name for the emblem of Sicily (the triskeles with the Go ...

, went to Frederick, who had been ruling it, and the Mezzogiorno, called the Kingdom of Sicily contemporaneously, but called the Kingdom of Naples by modern scholarship, went to Charles II, who had been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy ''

status quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...

''. Eleanor and Frederick had nine children: *

Peter II of Sicily Peter II (1304 – 8 August 1342) was the King of Sicily from 1337 until his death, although he was associated with his father as co-ruler from 1321. Peter's father was Frederick III of Sicily and his mother was Eleanor, a daughter of Charles II of ...

(1304–1342), successor *Roger (born 1305), died young * Manfred, Duke of Athens and Neopatria (1306–1317),

Duke of Athens The Duchy of Athens (Greek: Δουκᾶτον Ἀθηνῶν, ''Doukaton Athinon''; Catalan: ''Ducat d'Atenes'') was one of the Crusader states set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade as part of th ...

and

Neopatria The Duchy of Neopatras ( ca, Ducat de Neopàtria; scn, Ducatu di Neopatria; gr, Δουκάτο Νέων Πατρών; la, Ducatus Neopatriae) was a principality in southern Thessaly, established in 1319. Officially part of the Kingdom of Sici ...

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 ...

, married on December 29, 1331 to

Leo IV of Armenia Leo IV or Leon IV ( hy, Լեւոն Դ, ''Levon IV'') (also numbered Leo V; ) (1309 – August 28, 1341) was the last Hethumid king of Cilicia, ruling from 1320 until his death. He was the son of Oshin of Armenia and Isabel of Korikos, and came ...

* Elisabeth (1310–1349),(also known as Isabella), married (1328)

Stephen II of Bavaria }) was Duke of Bavaria from 1347 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian by his first wife Beatrice of Silesia and a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty. Biography During the reign of Emperor Louis IV his son Step ...

* William, Prince of Taranto (1312–1338),

Prince of Taranto The Principality of Taranto was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of A ...

and

Giovanni di Randazzo John, Duke of Randazzo (1317–1348) was duke of Randazzo, Athens, and Neopatria, Count of Malta and regent of Sicily (1342–1348). The fourth son of Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou, he was the most powerful nobleman in Sicily dur ...

(1317–1348), Duke of

Randazzo Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta. Randazzo ( scn, Rannazzu) is a town and '' comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. It is situated at the northern foot of Mount Etna, c. northwest of Catania. It is the nearest ...

and

, Regent of Sicily (from 1338) *Catherine (1320–1342) * Margaret (1331–1377), married (1348) Rudolf II of the Palatinate Eleanor died on the 9 August 1341 at the Monastery of San Nicolo di Arena (

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

), she had been a widow since 1337. She was buried at a Franciscan monastery in

References

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eleanor Of Anjou, Queen Of Sicily 1289 births 1341 deaths Capetian House of Anjou Royal consorts of Sicily 14th-century Sicilian people Princesses of Antioch Daughters of kings 14th-century Italian women Queen mothers