miércoles, 5 de marzo de 2014

Constance of Sicily.

She was queen consort of Aragon and Valencia and Countess of Barcelona and Queen of Sicily. Beatified by the Catholic Church.

She married in 1262 with Prince Peter of Aragon, son of King James I "the Conqueror" and Violant of Hungary. This marriage that sealed the alliance between Catalonia and Sicily, served as a lever for that to spread abroad the Catalan influence the central Mediterranean at the expense of French interests.

When in 1266 Charles I of Anjou seized the throne of Sicily to Manfred, the main leaders of the Sicilian Ghibellinism were welcomed in the Catalan court of Prince Peter and Constance, which became the new rulers of the Kingdom of Aragon in 1276. When the revolt of the Sicilian Vespers occur in the year 1282, king Peter, as husband of Constance, heiress of the Kingdom of Sicily, was proclaimed king by the Sicilians and both were crowned on August 30, 1282, in the Cathedral of Palermo. Peter King entrusted the government of the island to the Queen and James Federico and princes, but Constance chose to leave government in the hands of their children.

Marriage and descendants.

The dowry of Constance of Sicily totaled 50,000 ounces of gold and consisted of valuables, intended to represent a tangible way the rich cultural and political heritage that Constance brought the kingdom of Aragon between these objects a throne was manufactured with solid gold.

On June 13, 1262 she married, in the cathedral of Montpellier, Prince Peter of Aragon, son and heir of King James I "the Conqueror". From this marriage were born:

- Prince Alphonsus III of Aragon. Count of Barcelona and King of Aragon.
- Prince James II of Aragon. Count of Barcelona and King of Aragon.
- Princess Elizabeth of Aragon. Queen consort of Portugal and Saint of the Catholic Church.
- Prince Frederick of Aragon. King of Sicily.
- Princess Violant of Aragon. Queen Consort of Naples.
- The Prince Peter of Aragon. Died in infancy.

In 1285 it became a widow, in 1297, he moved permanently to Catalonia. With the income from her husband's will, he ordered the construction of two hospitals for the poor in Barcelona and Valencia, run by the Mendicant Order of Franciscans. She retired to the convent of Santa Clara in Barcelona, where he died on April 2, 1302, the day of Holy Friday.


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