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 Peter III of Aragon ( November 1285) was King of Aragon, King of Valencia (as ), and Count of Barcelona (as ) from 1276 to his death. At the invitation of some rebels, he conquered the Kingdom of Sicily and became King of Sicily in 1282, pres ...

and a pretender to 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 ...

from 1268 to 1285. She was the only daughter of Manfred of Sicily and his first wife, Beatrice of Savoy.

Life

Constance was largely raised by

Bella d'Amichi Bella d'Amichi or Bella d'Amico ( fl. 1245-1282), was an Italian noble and mother of Roger of Lauria. She was from the lesser nobility of Calabria, married to Richard of Lauria and a nurse and governess of the future Constance of Sicily, Queen of ...

, who remained her favorite and confidante as queen. On 13 June 1262, Constance married Peter, eldest son of King James I of Aragon. Her father was killed in the Battle of Benevento (26 February 1266) while fighting against his rival, Charles of Anjou. 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 (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 under her heirs and the

Kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...

under the heirs of Charles of Anjou. Peter III died on November 1285. Constance died as a nun 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 ...

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 and ...

.'' Constance's appearance in Canto III of '' Purgatorio'' of the ''Divine Comedy'' is understated and shadow-like. The reader learns of Constance through the speech of her father, Manfred of Sicily, whom

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

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

had six children: * Alfonso III of Aragon ( – ). * James II of Aragon ( – ). * Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal ( – ). Married

Denis of Portugal Denis (, ; 9 October 1261 – 7 January 1325 in Santarém), called the Farmer King (''Rei Lavrador'') and the Poet King (''Rei Poeta''), was King of Portugal. The eldest son of Afonso III of Portugal by his second wife, Beatrice of Castile, and ...

. *

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 the W ...

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

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 The Béarn (; ; oc, Bearn or ''Biarn''; eu, Bearno or ''Biarno''; or ''Bearnia'') is one of the traditional provinces of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Bas ...

, 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