{"id":1367,"date":"2020-03-23T09:35:45","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T09:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.magistrimediterranei.org\/?post_type=portfolio&p=1367"},"modified":"2021-05-10T11:37:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T11:37:38","slug":"1367","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/www.magistrimediterranei.org\/en\/item\/1367\/","title":{"rendered":"of ARAGON and NAVARRA, CONSTAN\u00c7A (CONSTANCE)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Name<\/h2>
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of ARAGON and NAVARRA, CONSTAN\u00c7A (CONSTANCE).<\/p>\n

(Queen consort of Sicily,\u00a0 1361-1363).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Chronological framework<\/h3>
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ca. July 1342 \u2013 18 July 1363<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Geographical framework<\/h3>
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Catalonia, Sicily.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Profile and historiographical debate<\/h3>
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Constan\u00e7a was born in Poblet (Conca de Barber\u00e0, Tarragona) in the last days of July 1342 (CINGOLANI, 2019; ACA reg. 1305, f. 60v)*. She was the firstborn of Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s (1319-1387) and Maria de Navarra (ca. 1327-1347).<\/p>\n

Her father, Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s, was son of the earls of Urgell, Alfons el Benigne (1299-1336) and Teresa d\u2019Enten\u00e7a (ca. 1301-1327). He ruled over more than fifty years which were full of conflicts and big changes. The obsession of this sovereign to preserve the dignity and the power of the House of Aragon should be noted (CINGOLANI, 2007). That is why he needed to collect writings, ordinances, books, tombs, relics, artworks and other items with the clear intention of \u201cvenerating his dynasty and his person\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maria of Navarra, the mother of Constan\u00e7a, was the second daughter of Joana II of Navarra (1311-1349) and Felip d\u2019\u00c9vreux (1306-1343), both of the Capetian dynasty. Thus, she was the great granddaughter of the king of France, Llu\u00eds l\u2019Obstinat (1289-1316).<\/p>\n

She married the king of the Catalan-Aragonese crown in July 1338 in Alag\u00f3n (Arag\u00f3n), when she was not yet twelve years old. She brought with herself all the traditions and the world of the French court. She was in her early twenties and mother of four children when she died. We have few details of her short life, but it should be remembered that the Book of Hours of Maria de Navarra<\/em> is named after her. This book was commissioned by Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s to the workshop of Ferrer Bassa<\/strong>. At the present time, it is guarded at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana of Venice.<\/p>\n

In 1347 Constan\u00e7a was proclaimed legitimate heir to the Crown of Aragon, with the consequent protest of the king\u2019s brother, Jaume d\u2019Urgell (ca. 1320-1347), and the clashes with the Unions <\/em>(Aragon and Valencia). The problem was solved with the birth of a male heir, the future Joan I (1350-1396), son of the third wife of Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s, Leonor of Sicily (ca. 1325-1375). From this moment, Queen Leonor, described as the \u201csplendid and machiavellian night queen\u201d (SCIASCIA, 2010\/12), negotiated the marriage of her brother Luis the Child, king of Sicily, with the Infanta Constan\u00e7a in order to maintain and reaffirm an alliance with the island kingdom.<\/p>\n

We know little about Constan\u00e7a\u2019s childhood, but we can imagine her in close relation with her sisters. Apparently, she was of delicate complexion since, during her first year of life, her mother commissioned some images to be delivered as votive offerings to the Montserrat monastery and the Santa Eulalia chapel. The only direct reference to her family life in the Cr\u00f2nica <\/em>of Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s (SOLDEVILA, 2014) is the trip of his wife Maria and his daughters Constan\u00e7a and Joana from Barcelona to Perpignan in December 1344.<\/span> He says: \u201cDimecres, a vint-e-dos de desembre de propdit, n\u00f3s estant a Perpeny\u00e0, venc la reina dona Maria, muller nostra, ab les infantes Na Constan\u00e7a e Na Joana, filles nostres, de les parts de Barcelona<\/em>\u201d. Constan\u00e7a was already two years old and Joana was in her second month of life.<\/p>\n

Among the writings and letters of Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s preserved at the Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, some help us to know the relationship that the monarch had with his daughters*. For instance, in 1350, the king ordered his daughters Constan\u00e7a and Joana to dress in mourning after the death of their grandmother, Joana de Navarra (ACA, reg. 1133, f. 26r). Shortly thereafter, the monarch refused to give permission to his daughters to attend the coronation of the king of Navarra on June 27, 1350 (ACA, reg. 1134, f. 37r-v); he writes as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201c1350, abril, 1. Saragossa. Lo rey d\u2019Arag\u00f3.<\/em><\/p>\n

Cara filla, reebudes dues letres vostres, et les coses en aquelles contengudes b\u00e9 enteses, respon\u00e9n vos fem saber que, merc\u00e8 de Nostre Senyor, som sans et en bona disposici\u00f3 de nostra persona, e havem ha\u00fct et havem gran goig et plaer de la salut vostra et de la alta infanta dona Johana, filla nostra et sor vostra molt cara. E res-no-menys vos fem saber que havem manats dar al feel porter vostre Sanch[o] d\u2019U[n]castiello M solidos barchinonenses per comprar un mul a obs de les andes; altra moneda, quant a ad\u00e9s, no us o po[de]m trametre, mas volem que manlevets a\u00e7\u00f2 que mester haurets tro a Perpeny\u00e0, car n\u00f3s, qui, si a D\u00e9u plau, serem dins breus dies en Cathalu[n]ya, farem pagar complidament \u00e7o que manlevant haurets. Quant \u00e9s de \u00e7o que\u00b7ns havets fet saber de la reyna de Ffran\u00e7a, havem ha\u00fct gra[n] plaer, et ja o sab\u00edem ans que les vostres letres reeb\u00e9ssem. A\u00e7\u00f2 que deyts, que v\u00f3s et la dita infanta an\u00e0ssets a la conoraci\u00f3 del rey de Navar[r]a, no\u00b7ns sembla cosa covinent, ans volem que, ab la benedicci\u00f3 [de] D\u00e9u, tingats vostre cam\u00ed vers Perpeny\u00e0. E porets fer resposta sob[r]e a\u00e7\u00f2 a la comtessa de Ffoix, que v\u00f3s et la dita infanta, de manament et ordinaci[\u00f3] nostre, anats a Perpeny\u00e0, et con serets l\u00e0, et ella ser\u00e0 en lo comtat de Ffoix, v\u00f3s porets ve[n]ir dins nostra t[err]a en alcu[n] loch covi[n]ent, notiffic\u00e0n-li [que la?] havets gran desig de veer.<\/em><\/p>\n

D[ata] en \u00c7arago\u00e7a sots nostre segell secret [l]o dia primer del mes d\u2019abril en l\u2019any de Nostre Senyor MCCCL. <\/em>Rex Petrus<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Dominus rex mandavit Matheo Adriani<\/em>.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A few days later, on April 19, 1350, in another record (ACA, reg. 1134, f. 44v), the king summons his daughters to meet in Tarragona and follow him to Poblet for the transfer of the corpse of their mother Maria de Navarra.<\/p>\n

We also have a letter of the \u201cCerimoni\u00f3s\u201d addressed to his uncle, Pere de Ribagor\u00e7a and Muntanyes de Prades, dated on April 1354, asking for advice on the marriage project between his daughter Constan\u00e7a and the King of Sicily. He tells him that as her guardian, he begs him that \u201cporti totes les joy[e]s de la dita infanta, per tal que, si finarem de fer lo dit matrimoni, que no calla laguiar per aquellas.\u201d<\/em> (ACA, reg. 1067, f. 90r). According to the will of Maria de Navarra, the princesses were to come under the tutelage of Pere de Ribagor\u00e7a when her husband remarried.<\/p>\n

The court of the infantas<\/em> lived on the income that came from the maternal legacy and the allowances that the king stipulated and, it seems, they never arrived on time. So, continuous loans had to be processed to cover the day to day costs. In a note from the Arxiu Hist\u00f2ric de Protocols de Barcelona, year 1359, (AHPB, 23\/8, f. 62r 17-4-1359), it is stated that both princesses had to pawn their crowns in Perpignan to maintain their court.<\/p>\n

The infantas\u2019<\/em> court was constantly moving (Barcelona, Perpignan, Huesca, Lleida, Montblanc, Tarragona, Val\u00e8ncia, etc.), often following the queen or king\u2019s movements due to change of residence. One of the places, where they probably made a brief stay, was the residence of the last wife of their great grandfather, Queen Elisenda of Montcada (1292-1364), since she was the godmother of princess Joana. In those years, Queen Elisenda lived in the palace of the monastery of Pedralbes (Barcelona), where the Sant Miquel\u2019s cell had already been painted with the frescoes of Ferrer Bassa<\/strong>\u2019s workshop.<\/p>\n

We know little about the relationship between Constan\u00e7a and her stepmother, Elionor of Sicily, except for some commissions of costumes and gifts for the princesses. Aiming the control over the kingdom of Sicily, after many negotiations and arduous machinations, in 1354, the marriage agreement was signed between Constan\u00e7a and Llu\u00eds I the Child of Sicily (1337-1355). On his death, the agreement passed to his little brother, Frederic IV (III) the Simple (1342-1377). And finally, on September 21, 1356, in Perpignan, the matrimonial agreement was signed, but it was not until April 15, 1361, that the wedding took place in Catania (Sicily), after circumventing the surveillance of the Sicilian nobles who wanted to avoid this union.<\/p>\n

During the few years that she was queen of Sicily, the Constan\u00e7a\u2019s Court, or C\u00e0mera r\u00e8ginale di Costanza<\/em>, was active under the regulation of the Ordinacions sobre lo regiment de tots los officials de la sua cort,<\/em> of Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s, of 1344. This court met in Castle Ursino in Catania or in Castle Maniace in Siracusa until the death of the queen. Among the documents still preserved, we should remark a note from the Curia, kept in the Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3 (MR, 472, f. 17v.), in which the queen commissioned artworks by the painter Jaume Serra<\/strong> from Barcelona (AGNELLO, 2005). Whether an altarpiece or paint from the Serra brothers arrived in Sicily during her brief reign or not is unknown.<\/p>\n

At the end of 1362 or during the first months of the year 1363, her only daughter, Maria de Sicilia<\/strong> (ca. 1362-1401), was born. A few months later, on July 18, 1363, the queen died of an epidemic. The last news that we have from Constan\u00e7a is that her father, in December 1363, ordered to buy some \u201cbrandons<\/em>\u201d for the celebration of the queen of Sicily\u2019s anniversary in Perpignan (MR, 347, f. 203r.). The blurred image of Constan\u00e7a\u2019s stamp says a lot about this forgotten queen.<\/p>\n

She was queen of the insular Sicily during little more than two years, from 1361 to 1363, but the sumptuousness of the set of objects that she possibly brought to her marriage had to be of great value (SANTORO, 2007). She was buried in the Catania\u2019s cathedral in a marble sarcophagus of which it is believed that only remains the cover or gisant<\/em><\/strong>. It is the tomb known as \u201cSarcofago di Costanza di Aragona\u201d preserved at the Chapel of la Madonna at Catania\u2019s cathedral.<\/p>\n

* I appreciate the collaboration of Stefano Maria Cingolani.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Epigraphic sources<\/h3>
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Inscription above the coat of arms of The Kingdom of Sicily (left wall of the main apse of Catania\u2019s cathedral, until 1952).<\/p>\n

CONSTANTIA PETRI III<\/p>\n

REGIS ARAG[ON]UM<\/p>\n

FILIA<\/p>\n

AC FEDERICI III UXOR CATANIE<\/p>\n

OBI[I]T ANNO SALU[T]IS MC[CC]LXIII<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Documentary sources<\/h3>
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Catania, Biblioteche Riunite Civica e. A. Ursino Recupero, Catania, 0542, 0546.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Cancelleria, reg. 1067, f.90r.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Cancelleria, reg. 1133, f.26r.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Cancelleria, reg. 1134, f.37r-v.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Cancelleria, reg. 1134, f.44v.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Patrimoni, MR, 347, f.203r.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu de la Corona d\u2019Arag\u00f3, Reial Patrimoni, MR, 472, f.17v.<\/p>\n

Barcelona, Arxiu Hist\u00f2ric de Protocols de Barcelona, AHPB 23\/8, f.62r 17-4-1359.<\/p>\n

Text: Pilar Viladomiu.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Abbreviated bibliography<\/h3>
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AGNELLO 2005, 30\u201332; CINGOLANI 2019, \u201c<\/em>ACA reg. 1305, f.60v\u201d; 2007, 226\u2013227; SCIASCIA 2010\/12, 111; FERRER I MALLOL 1992, 35\u201340; GIUNTA 1992, 17\u201327; SANTORO 2007, 71\u2013106; SOLDEVILA 2014, 245; YARZA 1996, 95\u2013106.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>
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Bibliography<\/h3>
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AGNELLO Giuseppe, 2005, Ufficiali e gentiluomini al servizio della corona. Il governo di Siracusa dal Vespro all\u2019abolizione della Camera reginale<\/em>;<\/em> CINGOLANI Stefano Maria, 2006, Les quatre grans cr\u00f2niques. Jaume I, Bernat Desclot, Ramon Muntaner i Pere III; <\/em>2007, La mem\u00f2ria dels reis. Les quatre grans cr\u00f2niques; <\/em>FERRER MALLOL Maria Teresa, 1992, \u00abLa pol\u00edtica siciliana de Pere el Cerimoni\u00f3s\u00bb Els Catalans a Sic\u00edlia; <\/em>GIUNTA Francesco, 1992, \u00abLa Sic\u00edlia catalana\u00bb Els Catalans a Sic\u00edlia;<\/em> LO FORTE SCIRPO M. Rita, 2003, C\u2019era una volta una regina\u2026 Due donne per un regno: Maria d\u2019Aragona e Bianca di Navarra; <\/em>SANTORO Daniel, 2007, \u00abIl Tesoro recuperato. L\u2019inventario dei beni delle regine di Sicilia confiscato a Manfredi Alagona nel 1393\u00bb Anuario de Estudios Medievales<\/em>; SCIASCIA Laura, 2011, \u00abLes reines d\u2019Arag\u00f3 i Sic\u00edlia\u00bb La pol\u00edtica de les dones; <\/em>SOLDEVILA Ferran, 2014, Cr\u00f2nica de Pere III el Cerimoni\u00f3s;<\/em>TASIS Rafael, 1961, La vida del rei en Pere III;<\/em> VILADOMIU Pilar, 2009, Guia de les tombes reials del Casal de Barcelona; <\/em>YARZA Joaquin, 1996,\u00a0 \u00abMaria de Navarra y la ilustraci\u00f3n del Libro de horas de la Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana\u00bb. Libro de horas de la reina Mar\u00eda de Navarra<\/em>; ZURITA Jer\u00f3nimo, 2003, Anales de Arag\u00f3n.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>

Images<\/h3>
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Sello de la reina Constanza. Biblioteche Riunite Civica e A. Ursino Recupero, Catania. Sigillo pergamena 0542.<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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