| Frederick III | |
|---|---|
 14th-century mosaic in the central apse of theMessina Cathedral | |
| King of Sicily | |
| Reign | 11 December 1295 – 25 June 1337 |
| Coronation | 25 March 1296 (Palermo) |
| Predecessor | James I |
| Successor | Peter II |
| Born | 13 December 1272 Barcelona,Crown of Aragon |
| Died | 25 June 1337(1337-06-25) (aged 64) Paternò,Kingdom of Sicily |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Eleanor of Anjou |
| Issue among others... | |
| House | House of Barcelona |
| Father | Peter III of Aragon |
| Mother | Constance II of Sicily |
Frederick III (alsoFrederick II,Latin:Federicus,Italian:Federico,Sicilian:Fidiricu); 13 December 1272 – 25 June 1337) was theregent of theKingdom of Sicily from 1291 until 1295 and subsequentlyKing of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son ofPeter III of Aragon and served in theWar of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers,Alfonso ΙΙΙ andJames ΙΙ. He was confirmed as king by thePeace of Caltabellotta in 1302. His reign saw important constitutional reforms: theConstitutiones regales,Capitula alia, andOrdinationes generales.
Although the second Frederick of Sicily, he chose to call himself "Frederick III" (being one of the rare medieval monarchs who actually used aregnal number) – presumably because only some fifty years before, his well-known and remembered great-grandfather had ruled Sicily and also used an official ordinal:Fridericus secundus, imperator etc.. Thus,Fridericus tertius was better in line with the precedent of his ancestor's ordinal. However, an anecdote attributes Frederick's choice of numeral to him being the third son of Peter. The next man called Frederick to occupy the Sicilian throne was dubbed by later generations of historians as Frederick III:Frederick the Simple, though he himself did not use an ordinal.
Frederick was born inBarcelona.[1]
When his father died in 1285, he left theKingdom of Aragon to his eldest son,Alfonso, and that of Sicily to his second son,James. When Alfonso died in 1291, James became king of Aragon and left Frederick as regent in Sicily. The war between theAngevins, who contested the title to Sicily from their peninsular possessions centred onNaples (the so-calledKingdom of Naples), and theCrown of Aragon for the possession of the island was still in progress, and although the Crown of Aragon was successful in Italy, James’ position inSpain became very insecure due to internal troubles andFrench attacks. Peace negotiations were begun withCharles II of Naples, but were interrupted by the successive deaths of two popes. At last, under the auspices ofPope Boniface VIII, James concluded a treaty, by which, in exchange for being left undisturbed in the rest of the territories belonging to the Crown of Aragon and promised possession ofSardinia andCorsica, he gave up Sicily to theChurch, for whom it was to be held by the Angevins (Treaty of Anagni, 10 June 1295). The Sicilians refused to be made over once more to the hated French they had expelled in 1282 (in theSicilian Vespers), and found a national leader in the regent Frederick. In vain the pope tried to bribe him with promises and dignities; he was determined to stand by his subjects, and was crowned king by the nobles atPalermo in 1296.[2]
When Frederick heard that James was preparing to go to war with him, he sent a messenger, Mountainer Pérez de Sosa, to Catalonia in an effort to stir up the barons and cities against James in 1298.[3] Mountainer carried with him anOccitan poem,Ges per guerra no.m chal aver consir, intended as a communication with his supporters in Catalonia. This communiqué seems to have had in mind Ponç Hug as a recipient, for the count penned a response (under the titlecon d'Empuria),A l'onrat rei Frederic terz vai dir, in which he praised Frederick's tact and diplomacy, but told him bluntly that he would not abandon his sovereign.[3] This poetic transaction is usually dated to January–March, Spring, or August 1296, butGerónimo Zurita in the seventeenth century specifically dated the embassy of Mountainer to 1298.
Frederick reformed the administration and extended the powers of the Sicilianparliament, which was composed of thebarons, theprelates, and the representatives of the towns.[2]
His refusal to comply with the pope's injunctions led to a renewal of the war. Frederick landed inCalabria, where he seized several towns, encouraged revolt inNaples, negotiated with theGhibellines ofTuscany andLombardy, and assisted the house ofColonna against Pope Boniface. In the meantime, James, who received many favours from the Church, married his sister Yolanda to Robert, the third son of Charles II. Unfortunately for Frederick, a part of the Catalan-Aragonese nobles of Sicily favoured King James, and bothJohn of Procida andRoger of Lauria, the heroes of thewar of the Vespers, went over to the Angevins, and the lattercompletely defeated the Sicilian fleet offCapo d'Orlando. Charles's sons Robert and Philip landed in Sicily, but after capturingCatania were defeated by Frederick, Philip being taken prisoner (1299), while several Calabrian towns were captured by the Sicilians.[2]
For two years more the fighting continued with varying success, untilCharles of Valois, who had been sent by Boniface to invade Sicily, was forced to sue for peace, his army being decimated by disease. In August 1302 theTreaty of Caltabellotta was signed, by which Frederick was recognised king ofTrinacria (the name Sicily was not to be used) for his lifetime, and was to marryEleanor of Anjou, daughter ofCharles II of Naples andMaria Arpad of Hungary.[4] At Frederick's death, the kingdom was to revert to the Angevins (this clause was inserted chiefly to allow Charles to save face) and Frederick's children would receive compensation elsewhere. Boniface tried to induce King Charles to break the treaty, but the latter was only too anxious for peace. Finally, in May 1303, the pope ratified the treaty, albeit with changes and additions, which included Frederick agreeing to pay him a tribute.[5]
For a few years Sicily enjoyed peace, and the kingdom was reorganised. However, on the descent of the emperorHenry VII, Holy Roman Emperor into Italy, Frederick entered into an alliance with him, and in violation of the pact of Caltabellotta made war on the Angevins again (1313) and capturedReggio. He set sail for Tuscany to cooperate with the emperor, but on the latter's death he returned to Sicily. Robert, who had succeeded Charles II in 1309, made several raids into the island, which suffered much material injury. A truce was concluded in 1317, but as the Sicilians had helped the north Italian Ghibellines in the attack onGenoa, and Frederick had seized some Church revenues for military purposes,Pope John XXIIexcommunicated him and placed the island under aninterdict (1321) which lasted until 1335. An Angevin fleet and army, under Robert's sonCharles, was defeated at Palermo byGiovanni da Chiaramonte in 1325, and in 1326 and 1327 there were further Angevin raids on the island, until the descent into Italy of the next Holy Roman EmperorLouis the Bavarian distracted their attention. The election ofPope Benedict XII (1334), who was friendly to Frederick, promised a respite; but after fruitless negotiations the war broke out once more, and Chiaramonte went over to Robert, owing to a private feud.[6]
In 1337 Frederick died atPaternò, and in spite of thePeace of Caltabellotta his sonPeter II of Sicily succeeded him.[6]
From his marriage (1303) withEleanor of Anjou were born:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Frederick III., King of Sicily".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 57–58.{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{citation}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (a comprehensive bibliography of Frederick III's reign up to 2007)Frederick III of Sicily Born: 13 December 1272 Died: 25 June 1337 | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | King of Sicily 1296–1337 | Succeeded by |
