Maria of Calabria (6 May 1329 – 20 May 1366), Countess of Alba, was a
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
princess 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" ...
whose descendants inherited the crown of Naples following the death of her older sister,
Queen Joanna I.
Life
Early years
Maria was the fifth and posthumous child of
Charles, Duke of Calabria
Charles, Duke of Calabria (1298 – 9 November 1328), was the son of King Robert of Naples and Yolanda of Aragon.
Charles was born in Naples in 1298, during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King Charles II, the second king of the Angevin ...
(eldest son of King
Robert the Wise of Naples) and
Marie of Valois (half-sister of King
Philip VI of France). She was born approximately six months following her father's death, on 9 November 1328. At the time of her birth, from her older three sisters and one brother, only her sister Joanna, born in March 1325, was alive. Two years later, on 23 October 1331, Maria's mother Marie of Valois died during a pilgrimage to
Bari, leaving Maria and her older sister Joanna (now heiress of the throne of Naples) orphans. Both were raised at the court of their paternal grandfather King Robert 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 ...
.
By a
bull
A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions,
includin ...
dated on 30 June 1332,
Pope John XXII officially decreed that Maria and her older sister would be married to the sons of the King
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I, also known as Charles Robert ( hu, Károly Róbert; hr, Karlo Robert; sk, Karol Róbert; 128816 July 1342) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1308 to his death. He was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou and the only son of ...
: Joanna was betrothed with
Andrew of Hungary, while Maria was destined to his older brother and heir of the Hungarian throne,
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 ...
; however, this engagement was conditioned that if Joanna died before her marriage could be consummated, then Maria would marry his younger brother Andrew.
[Nancy Goldstone: ''Joanna: The Notorious Queen Of Naples, Jerusalem And Sicily''](_blank)
etrieved 7 January 2015 In this way, King Robert wanted to reconcile his bloodline with the descendants of his older brother, deprived from the crown of Naples in his favor.
Maria's grandfather died on 20 January 1343. By the provisions of his will, her elder sister Joanna was to become ruler of Naples, while Maria was not only given the County of Alba and a vast inheritance
but also was confirmed to be betrothed to Louis I of Hungary, or in the case that this union never happened, the King of Naples instructed that she then could marry
John, Duke of Normandy, heir of the French throne (although he was already married since 1332).
First marriage
However, shortly after the death of her grandfather King Robert, Maria was abducted by
Agnes of Périgord, widow 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 ...
who arranged the marriage of Maria to her son,
Charles, Duke of Durazzo. The marriage took place on 21 April 1343, the bride being almost fourteen years old and the groom twenty.
They had five children:
* Louis of Durazzo (December 1343 – 14 January 1344)
*
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 ...
(1344 – 20 July 1387); married firstly on 19 June 1366 to Infante
Louis, Count of Beaumont
Louis of Évreux (also called "of Navarre"; 1341 – 1376) was the youngest son of Philip III of Navarre and Joan II of Navarre. He inherited the county of Beaumont-le-Roger from his father (1343) and became Duke of Durazzo in right of his sec ...
(d. 1372), and secondly on 1376 to
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 ...
(d. 1387). There was no issue from either marriage.
*
Agnes of Durazzo
Agnes of Durazzo (1345 – 10 February 1383) was the wife of James of Baux, titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople. She was the last woman to claim the title of empress of the Latin Empire.
Agnes was the second daughter of Charles, Duke of D ...
(1345 – 15 July 1388, Naples), married firstly on 6 June 1363
Cansignorio della Scala, Lord of Verona (d. 1375), and secondly on 1382 to
James of Baux, Emperor of Constantinople (d. 1383). There was no issue from either marriage.
* Clementia of Durazzo (1346 – 1363, Naples)
*
Margaret of Durazzo
Margaret of Durazzo ( it, Margherita di Durazzo 28 July 1347 – 6 August 1412) was Queen of Naples and Hungary and Princess of Achaea as the spouse of Charles III of Naples. She was regent of Naples from 1386 until 1393 during the minority of he ...
(28 July 1347 – 6 August 1412,
Mela), married in January 1369 to
Charles of Durazzo, Conte of Gravina and Morrone, who later became King of Naples and Hungary.
Maria and her husband Charles headed a faction opposing Maria's sister Queen Joanna of Naples and her second husband,
Louis of Taranto Louis may refer to:
* Louis (coin)
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
Derived or associated terms
* Lewis ...
. On 15 January 1348, Maria's husband was named Lieutenant General and Governor of 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 ...
. Charles apparently seeing an opportunity to claim power when the King and Queen of Naples had fled Naples in the face of an invasion by King
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 ...
. He was however captured by the Hungarians only days later, near
Aversa. On 23 January 1348, Maria's husband was decapitated in front of
San Pietro a Maiella. His period of power had lasted less than a week.
Maria thus became a nineteen-year-old widow.
Second marriage
With Charles dead, Maria fled Naples for
Avignon
Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...
. She sought refuge at the court of
Pope Clement VI
Pope Clement VI ( la, Clemens VI; 1291 – 6 December 1352), born Pierre Roger, was head of the Catholic Church from 7 May 1342 to his death in December 1352. He was the fourth Avignon pope. Clement reigned during the first visitation of the Bl ...
. In 1348, the
Black Death
The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...
reached the
Italian Peninsula, forcing the King of Hungary and the majority of his army to retreat back to their homeland in hope of escaping the spreading epidemic. Maria returned to Naples and settled at the
Castel dell'Ovo
Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle") is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in ...
.
According to the ''Chronicle of Parthénope'', the Neapolitan Princes, whom King Louis I of Hungary had imprisoned during his first campaign in Southern Italy, proposed him to marry Maria, his previous bride. During the siege of Aversa in the summer of 1350, the Hungarian King met her envoy in the nearby
Trentola-Ducenta
Trentola Ducenta is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about southwest of Caserta.
Trentola Ducenta borders the following municipalities: Aversa, Casapes ...
and the terms of their marriage were accepted. However before the marriage could take place, she was abducted again, this time by Hugh IV, Count of Avellino and Lord of Baux, who forced Maria to marry with his eldest son and heir, Robert of Avellino.
They had no children.
Count Hugh IV of Avellino was murdered on the orders of Maria's brother-in-law Louis of Taranto in 1351. Two years later (1353), Maria was finally rescued by King Louis I, however her husband Robert was captured and imprisoned by her brother-in-law at Castel dell'Ovo, where he was killed by Maria's orders. She reportedly witnessed the murder first hand.
Third marriage
Shortly after her second husband's death, Maria was again imprisoned, this time by her brother-in-law himself, Louis of Taranto, and was released only after her marriage in April 1355 to
Philip II of Taranto
Philip II (1329 – 25 November 1373) of the Angevin house, was Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip III) from 1364 to his death in 1373.
He was the son of Philip I of Taranto and Catherine ...
, the younger brother of Louis. Maria and Philip had three sons who died young: Philip (1356), Charles (1358), and Philip (1360). They also had two stillborn sons, in 1362 and in 1366. In 1364, Philip succeeded as titular
Latin Emperor of Constantinople
The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 1261 ...
and
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 ...
and
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
on the death of his oldest brother,
Robert II of Taranto, Emperor of Constantinople.
Due to her grandfather's will, Maria was the heiress to 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 ...
in the event that her elder sister Joanna I died childless. When Maria died in 1366, her claims passed to her three surviving daughters, of whom
Charles of Durazzo –husband of her third daughter Margaret– eventually claimed the throne of Naples in 1382 as King Charles III after deposed and killed Joanna I.
[Marcelle-René Reynaud, ''Le temps des princes: Louis II & Louis III d’Anjou-Provence 1384-1434'', Collection d’histoire et d’archéologie médiévales 7 (Lyon, France: Presses Universitaires, 2000), pp 20-21.] Maria died at age 37, probably from childbirth complications, and was buried at
Santa Chiara Basilica, Naples.
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maria of Calabria
1329 births
1366 deaths
House of Anjou-Naples
House of Anjou-Durazzo
House of Anjou-Taranto
Latin Empresses of Constantinople
Princesses of Taranto
Princesses of Achaea
14th-century Italian women
Deaths in childbirth
Joanna I of Naples