Margaret of Durazzo ( it, Margherita di Durazzo 28 July 1347 – 6 August 1412) was
Queen of Naples
The following is a list of rulers of the Kingdom of Naples, from its first separation from the Kingdom of Sicily to its merger with the same into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Kingdom of Naples (1282–1501)
House of Anjou
In 1382, the Kin ...
and
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
and Princess of Achaea
as the spouse of
Charles III of Naples
Charles the Short or Charles of Durazzo (1345 – 24 February 1386) was King of Naples and the titular King of Jerusalem from 1382 to 1386 as Charles II, and King of Hungary from 1385 to 1386 as Charles II. In 1381, Charles created the chivalr ...
. She was regent of Naples from 1386 until 1393 during the minority of her son
Ladislaus of Naples
Ladislaus the Magnanimous ( it, Ladislao, hu, László; 15 February 1377 – 6 August 1414) was King of Naples from 1386 until his death and an unsuccessful claimant to the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Ladislaus was a skilled political and m ...
.
Life
She was the fourth daughter of
Charles, Duke of Durazzo (1323–1348), and
Maria of Calabria
Maria of Calabria (6 May 1329 – 20 May 1366), Countess of Alba, was a Neapolitan princess of the Capetian House of Anjou whose descendants inherited the crown of Naples following the death of her older sister, Queen Joanna I.
Life
Early yea ...
, but the only one to have children; her legitimate line of descent, as well as the century-old
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" ...
, ended with her daughter.
In February 1369, Margaret married her paternal first cousin
Charles of Durazzo. He was a son of
Louis of Durazzo
Louis of Durazzo (1324 – 22 July 1362) was Count of Gravina and Morrone. He was the son of John of Durazzo and Agnes of Périgord.
In 1337, he was named Vicar- and Captain-General of the Kingdom of Albania. During the ascension of the Dura ...
, another son of
John, Duke of Durazzo
John of Gravina (1294 – 5 April 1336), also known as John of Anjou, was Count of Gravina 1315–1336, Prince of Achaea 1318–1332, Duke of Durazzo 1332–1336 and ruler of the Kingdom of Albania (although he never used a royal title). He was t ...
, and his second wife
Agnes de Périgord. The bride was twenty-two years old and the groom twenty-four.
Queen
Charles managed to depose her maternal aunt Queen
Joanna I of Naples
Joanna I, also known as Johanna I ( it, Giovanna I; December 1325 – 27 July 1382), was Queen of Naples, and Countess of Provence and Forcalquier from 1343 to 1382; she was also Princess of Achaea from 1373 to 1381.
Joanna was the eldest daug ...
in 1382. He succeeded her and Margaret became his queen consort. Charles succeeded
James of Baux James of Baux or James of Les Bauxfrench: Jacques des Baux, it, Giacomo or ''Jacopo del Balzo'' (died 17 July 1383) was the Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1374 to 1383. He was the last Latin emperor to govern any imperial territory.
James be ...
as
Prince of Achaea
The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...
in 1383 with Margaret still as his consort.
By then becoming the senior
Angevin
Angevin or House of Anjou may refer to:
*County of Anjou or Duchy of Anjou, a historical county, and later Duchy, in France
**Angevin (language), the traditional langue d'oïl spoken in Anjou
**Counts and Dukes of Anjou
* House of Ingelger, a Frank ...
male, Charles was offered the Crown of Hungary. Margaret did not support the idea of deposing Queen
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 ...
and discouraged her husband from doing so. Nonetheless, he successfully deposed Mary in December 1385 and had himself crowned. She was the daughter of his deceased cousin
Louis I of Hungary
Louis I, also Louis the Great ( hu, Nagy Lajos; hr, Ludovik Veliki; sk, Ľudovít Veľký) or Louis the Hungarian ( pl, Ludwik Węgierski; 5 March 132610 September 1382), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1342 and King of Poland from 1370 ...
and
Elizabeth of Bosnia
Elizabeth of Bosnia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=/, Elizabeta Kotromanić, Елизабета Котроманић; hu, Kotromanics Erzsébet; pl, Elżbieta Bośniaczka; – January 1387) was queen consort of Hungary and Croatia, as well ...
. However, Mary's formidable mother Elizabeth arranged his assassination at
Visegrád
Visegrád (; german: Plintenburg; la, Pone Navata or ; sk, Vyšehrad) is a castle town in Pest County, Hungary. It is north of Budapest on the right bank of the Danube in the Danube Bend. It had a population of 1,864 in 2010. The town is the s ...
on 24 February 1386.
Regent
In the meantime, relationships with
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...
became strained, as he suspected that Charles was plotting against him. In January 1385 he had six cardinals arrested, and one, under torture, revealed Charles' conjure. He thus excommunicated Charles and Margaret and raised an interdict over 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 ...
.
Margaret became a
queen dowager and the regent of Naples as the guardian of her minor son from 1386 until 1393. In 1387 she poisoned her elder sister
Joanna, Duchess of Durazzo
Joanna of Durazzo (1344 – 20 July 1387) was the eldest daughter and eldest surviving child of Charles, Duke of Durazzo, and his wife, Maria of Calabria. She succeeded as duchess on the death of her father in 1348 when she was only a child of f ...
, who might have a better claim to the throne of Naples, and her husband
Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu
Robert IV of Artois (1356 – 20 July 1387), son of John of Artois, Count of Eu and Isabeau of Melun, was Count of Eu from April to July 1387.
About 1376, he married Joanna of Durazzo, daughter of Charles, Duke of Durazzo. Robert IV inherit ...
to death. She survived her husband by twenty-six years but never remarried. Their son Ladislaus succeeded to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples while Mary of Hungary was restored to her throne. Margaret insisted that her husband's death be revenged and Elizabeth was murdered. The heads of her defenders were sent to console Margaret.
Pope Boniface IX
Pope Boniface IX ( la, Bonifatius IX; it, Bonifacio IX; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope of the Western Schism.Richa ...
and Margarethe came to a peace agreement, her excommunication was lifted and with the help of Cardinal
Angelo Acciaioli Margaret could continue to serve as regent until July 1393.
Later life
In the last years of her life, the queen dowager retired first to
Salerno
Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
and then to
Acquamela, where she died of
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
in 1412. She had become a devout Catholic and a member of a
Franciscan Third Order
The Third Order of Saint Francis is a third order in the Franciscan tradition of Christianity, founded by the medieval Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi.
The preaching of Francis and his disciples caused many married men and women to ...
in her last years and requested to be buried as such; she was buried in white habit in
Salerno Cathedral
Salerno Cathedral (or duomo) is the main church in the city of Salerno in southern Italy and a major tourist attraction. It is dedicated to Saint Matthew, whose relics are inside the crypt.
The Cathedral was built when the city was the capital o ...
.
Issue
*Mary of Durazzo (1369–1371).
*
Joanna II of Naples (23 June 1373 – 2 February 1435)
*
Ladislaus of Naples
Ladislaus the Magnanimous ( it, Ladislao, hu, László; 15 February 1377 – 6 August 1414) was King of Naples from 1386 until his death and an unsuccessful claimant to the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Ladislaus was a skilled political and m ...
(11 February 1377 – 6 August 1414)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Margaret of Durazzo
House of Anjou-Durazzo
Royal consorts of Naples
Hungarian queens consort
14th-century Italian women
People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Burials at Salerno Cathedral
14th-century women rulers
15th-century deaths from plague (disease)
1347 births
1412 deaths
Princesses of Achaea
Queen mothers