Coat of Arms of Constance of Sicily, Queen of Aragon

Constance II of Sicily ( – ) was

Queen consort of Aragon ::''See also List of Aragonese monarchs'' This is a list of consorts of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Aragon. Blanche II of Navarre and Philip I of Castile died before their spouses inherited the crown. Countesses Queens House of Aragon ...

as the wife of Peter III of Aragon and a pretender to the Kingdom of Sicily from 1268 to 1285. She was the only daughter of

Manfred of Sicily Manfred ( scn, Manfredi di Sicilia; 123226 February 1266) was the last King of Sicily from the Hohenstaufen dynasty, reigning from 1258 until his death. The natural son of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Manfred became regent over the ...

and his first wife,

Beatrice of Savoy Beatrice of Savoy (c. 1198 – c. 1267) was Countess consort of Provence by her marriage to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence. She served as regent of her birth country Savoy during the absence of her brother in 1264. Early life She was th ...

Life

Constance was largely raised by Bella d'Amichi, who remained her favorite and confidante as queen. On 13 June 1262, Constance married

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 ...

, eldest son of King

James I of Aragon James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 12 ...

. Her father was killed in the

Battle of Benevento The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Ch ...

(26 February 1266) while fighting against his rival,

Charles of Anjou Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...

. She inherited his claim to the Sicilian throne. According to author E.L. Miron in her book "''The Queens of Aragon''" Constance was the first Queen of Aragon whose coronation was recorded as taking place, in Zaragossa on November 17, 1276. James I died on 27 July 1276 and Peter succeeded to the throne with Constance as queen. During 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 ...

(1282–1302), Peter and then their sons claimed the throne of Sicily in her right. The war resulted in the partition of the Kingdom of Sicily and the creation of the

Kingdom of Trinacria 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 unt ...

under her heirs and the Kingdom of Naples under the heirs of Charles of Anjou. Peter III died on November 1285. Constance died as a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...

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 ...

Role in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''

Though most historical sources have little information about her, Constance occupies a place in Dante Alighieri's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

.'' Constance's appearance in Canto III of ''

Purgatorio ''Purgatorio'' (; Italian for "Purgatory") is the second part of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', following the '' Inferno'' and preceding the '' Paradiso''. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of D ...

'' of the ''Divine Comedy'' is understated and shadow-like. The reader learns of Constance through the speech of her father,

, whom

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

meets in the space of Mount

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

reserved for

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 ...

souls. Manfred begs the poet to bring the truth "if another tale is told o hisfair daughter, mother of the pride of Sicily and Aragon." Manfred proceeds to tell Dante of how he repented and confessed to God for his "horrible" sins shortly before his death, and was thus saved from an afterlife in Hell, contrary to what others may have thought. Manfred concludes his speech by telling Dante that his sentence in Purgatory may be lessened if those still alive on Earth pray for him, and subsequently by asking Dante to tell Constance of his current placement and of how her "holy prayers" can aid in his movement toward Paradise.

Children

Constance and Peter III of Aragon had six children: *

Alfonso III of Aragon Alfonso III (4 November 1265, in Valencia – 18 June 1291), called the Liberal (''el Liberal'') or the Free (also "the Frank," from ''el Franc''), was the king of Aragon and Valencia, count of Roussillon, Cerdanya and Barcelona (as ) from 12 ...

( – ). *

James II of Aragon James II (Catalan: ''Jaume II''; Spanish: ''Jaime II;'' 10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327), called the Just,, an, Chaime lo Chusto, es, Jaime el Justo. was the King of Aragon and Valencia and Count of Barcelona from 1291 to 1327. He ...

( – ). * Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal ( – ). Married Denis of Portugal. *

Frederick III of Sicily Frederick II (or III) (13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was the regent 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 th ...

( – ). * Yolande, Duchess of Calabria ( – ). Married

Robert 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 I ...

. *

Peter of Aragon Peter of Aragon may refer to * Peter I of Aragon and Navarre (c. 1068–1104), King of Aragón and Navarre since 1094 * Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Provence (1158 - 1181), born as Peter of Aragón, Count of the Provence since 1173 * Peter II ...

( – ). Married Guillemette of Béarn, daughter of

Gaston VII, Viscount of Béarn Gaston VII de Montcada ( la, Guasto de Biarde) (1225 – 26 April 1290), called ''Froissard'', was the twentieth Viscount of Béarn from 1229. He was the son and heir of Guillermo II de Montcada and of Garsenda, daughter of Alfonso II of Provence ...

Ancestry

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Constantia Of Sicily Aragonese queen consorts Countesses of Barcelona Royal consorts of Sicily 1249 births 1302 deaths Hohenstaufen House of Aragon People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers Burials at Barcelona Cathedral 13th-century Italian women 13th-century Sicilian people 13th-century people from the Kingdom of Aragon Women in medieval European warfare Women in 13th-century warfare 13th-century women rulers Roman Catholic royal saints Queen mothers