Frederick II (or III) (13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was the
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 ...
of the
Kingdom of Sicily from 1291 until 1295 and subsequently
King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of
Peter III of Aragon and served in the
War of the Sicilian Vespers
The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, C ...
on behalf of his father and brothers,
Alfonso ΙΙΙ and
James ΙΙ. He was confirmed as king by 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 ...
in 1302. His reign saw important constitutional reforms: the ''Constitutiones regales'', ''Capitula alia'', and ''Ordinationes generales''.
Name
Although the second Frederick of Sicily, he chose to call himself "Frederick III" (being one of the rare medieval monarchs who actually used a
regnal number
Regnal numbers are ordinal numbers used to distinguish among persons with the same name who held the same office. Most importantly, they are used to distinguish monarchs. An ''ordinal'' is the number placed after a monarch's regnal name to differ ...
) – presumably because only some fifty years before, his well-known and remembered great-grandfather had ruled Sicily and also used an official ordinal: ''Fridericus secundus, imperator etc.''. Thus, ''Fridericus tertius'' was better in line with the precedent of his ancestor's ordinal. However, an anecdote attributes Frederick's choice of numeral to him being the third son of Peter. The next man called Frederick to occupy the Sicilian throne was dubbed by later generations of historians as Frederick III:
Frederick III the Simple
Frederick III (or IV) (1 September 1341 – Messina 27 July 1377Setton, Kenneth M. (1975) "iarchive:AHistoryOfTheCrusades14th15thC, Volume III: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries", Edited by Harry W. Hazzard, page 214.), called the Simple, ...
, though he himself did not use an ordinal.
Biography
Early years
Frederick was born in
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
When his father died in 1285, he left the
Kingdom of Aragon to his eldest son,
Alfonso
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
, and that of Sicily to his second son,
James. When Alfonso died in 1291, James became king of Aragon and left Frederick as regent in Sicily. The war between the
Angevins, who contested the title to Sicily from their peninsular possessions centred on
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
(the so-called
Kingdom of Naples), and the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of ...
for the possession of the island was still in progress, and although the Crown of Aragon was successful in Italy, James’ position in
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
became very insecure due to internal troubles and
French attacks. Peace negotiations were begun with
Charles II of Naples, but were interrupted by the successive deaths of two popes. At last, under the auspices of
Pope Boniface VIII, James concluded a shameful treaty, by which, in exchange for being left undisturbed in the rest of the territories belonging to the Crown of Aragon and promised possession of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
and
Corsica, he gave up Sicily to the
Church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
, for whom it was to be held by the Angevins (
Treaty of Anagni
{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
The Treaty of Anagni was an accord between the Pope Boniface VIII, James II of Aragon, Philip IV of France, Charles II of Naples, and James II of Majorca. It was signed on 20 June 1295 at Anag ...
, 10 June 1295). The Sicilians refused to be made over once more to the hated French they had expelled in 1282 (in the
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of ...
), and found a national leader in the regent Frederick. In vain the pope tried to bribe him with promises and dignities; he was determined to stand by his subjects, and was crowned king by the nobles at
Palermo in 1296.
When Frederick heard that James was preparing to go to war with him, he sent a messenger, Mountainer Pérez de Sosa, to Catalonia in an effort to stir up the barons and cities against James in 1298.
[Riquer, 1687–1688.] Mountainer carried with him an
Occitan poem, ''Ges per guerra no.m chal aver consir'', intended as a communication with his supporters in Catalonia. This communiqué seems to have had in mind Ponç Hug as a recipient, for the count penned a response (under the title ''con d'Empuria''), ''A l'onrat rei Frederic terz vai dir'', in which he praised Frederick's tact and diplomacy, but told him bluntly that he would not abandon his sovereign.
This poetic transaction is usually dated to January–March, Spring, or August 1296, but
Gerónimo Zurita in the seventeenth century specifically dated the embassy of Mountainer to 1298.
Reign
Frederick reformed the administration and extended the powers of the Sicilian
parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
, which was composed of the
barons, the
prelate
A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...
s, and the representatives of the towns.
His refusal to comply with the pope's injunctions led to a renewal of the war. Frederick landed in
Calabria, where he seized several towns, encouraged revolt in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, negotiated with the
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 ...
s of
Tuscany
it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Citizenship
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 = Italian
, demogra ...
and
Lombardy, and assisted the house of
Colonna
The House of Colonna, also known as ''Sciarrillo'' or ''Sciarra'', is an Italian noble family, forming part of the papal nobility. It was powerful in medieval and Renaissance Rome, supplying one pope (Martin V) and many other church and politic ...
against Pope Boniface. In the meanwhile James, who received many favours from the Church, married his sister Yolanda to Robert, the third son of Charles II. Unfortunately for Frederick, a part of the Catalan-Aragonese nobles of Sicily favoured King James, and both
John of Procida and
Roger of Lauria
Roger of Lauria (''c''. 1245 – 17 January 1305) was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most successful and talen ...
, the heroes of the
war of the Vespers, went over to the Angevins, and the latter
completely defeated the Sicilian fleet off
Capo d'Orlando. Charles's sons Robert and Philip landed in Sicily, but after capturing
Catania were defeated by Frederick, Philip being taken prisoner (1299), while several Calabrian towns were captured by the Sicilians.
For two years more the fighting continued with varying success, until
Charles of Valois
Charles of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, whose rule over France would start in 1 ...
, who had been sent by Boniface to invade Sicily, was forced to sue for peace, his army being decimated by the plague. In August 1302 the
Treaty of Caltabellotta was signed, by which Frederick was recognized king of
Trinacria (the name Sicily was not to be used) for his lifetime, and was to marry
Eleanor of Anjou
Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth.
She was the third daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hunga ...
, daughter of
Charles II of Naples and
Maria Arpad of Hungary
Mary of Hungary (c. 1257 – 25 March 1323), of the Árpád dynasty, was Queen of Naples by marriage to King Charles II. She was a daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and his wife Elizabeth the Cuman. Mary served as regent in Provence in 1290–1 ...
. At Frederick's death, the kingdom was to revert to the Angevins (this clause was inserted chiefly to allow Charles to save face) and Frederick's children would receive compensation elsewhere. Boniface tried to induce King Charles to break the treaty, but the latter was only too anxious for peace. Finally, in May 1303, the pope ratified the treaty, albeit with changes and additions, which included Frederick agreeing to pay him a tribute.
For a few years Sicily enjoyed peace, and the kingdom was reorganized. However, on the descent of the emperor
Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor into Italy, Frederick entered into an alliance with him, and in violation of the pact of Caltabellotta made war on the Angevins again (1313) and captured
Reggio. He set sail for Tuscany to cooperate with the emperor, but on the latter's death he returned to Sicily. Robert, who had succeeded Charles II in 1309, made several raids into the island, which suffered much material injury. A truce was concluded in 1317, but as the Sicilians had helped the north Italian Ghibellines in the attack on
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...
, and Frederick had seized some Church revenues for military purposes,
Pope John XXII excommunicated
Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...
him and placed the island under an
interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
(1321) which lasted until 1335. An Angevin fleet and army, under Robert's son
Charles, was defeated at Palermo by
Giovanni da Chiaramonte in 1325, and in 1326 and 1327 there were further Angevin raids on the island, until the descent into Italy of the next Holy Roman Emperor
Louis the Bavarian distracted their attention. The election of
Pope Benedict XII (1334), who was friendly to Frederick, promised a respite; but after fruitless negotiations the war broke out once more, and Chiaramonte went over to Robert, owing to a private feud.
In 1337 Frederick died at
Paternò
Paternò ( scn, Patennò) is a southern Italian town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale.
Geography
Paternò ...
, and in spite of 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 ...
his son
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 ...
succeeded him.
Family
From his marriage (1303) with
Eleanor of Anjou
Eleanor of Anjou (August 1289 – 9 August 1341) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Frederick II of Sicily. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou by birth.
She was the third daughter of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hunga ...
were born:
*
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
(1304–1342), successor
*Roger (1305–died young).
*
Manfred (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 ...
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 (1307 – after 19 June 1344), married in 1317 to
Henry II of Cyprus
Henry II (June 1270 – 31 August 1324) was the last crowned King of Jerusalem (after the fall of Acre on 28 May 1291, this title became empty) and also ruled as King of Cyprus. He was of the Lusignan dynasty.
He was the second surviving so ...
; on 29 December 1331 to
Leo V of Armenia; and in 1343 to
John of Lusignan, brother of
Peter I of Cyprus
Peter I (9 October 1328 – 17 January 1369) was King of Cyprus and titular King of Jerusalem from his father's abdication on 24 November 1358 until his death in 1369. He was invested as titular Count of Tripoli in 1346. As King of Cyprus ...
. She died childless.
*
Elisabeth (1310–1349), married (1328)
Stephen II of Bavaria
*
William
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
(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 ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
*
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
(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 ...
,
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 ...
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 ...
, Regent of Sicily (from 1338)
*Catherine (1320–1342), Abbess of Santa Chiara at
Messina.
*
Margaret (1331–1377), married (1348)
Rudolf II of the Palatinate
Notes
Sources
*
*Bozzo, S.V. ''Note storiche siciliano del secolo XIV''. Palermo, 1882.
*
*
*
Riquer, Martín de. ''Los trovadores: historia literaria y textos''. 3 vol. Barcelona: Planeta, 1975.
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 03 Of Sicily
1272 births
1337 deaths
13th-century Kings of Sicily
14th-century Kings of Sicily
People excommunicated by the Catholic Church
House of Barcelona (Sicily)
Aragonese infantes
Burials at Catania Cathedral