Constance of Aragon

For other people named Constance of Aragon, see Constance of Aragon (disambiguation).
Constance of Aragon
Queen consort of Hungary
Tenure 1198–1204
Queen consort of Germany
Tenure 9 December 1212/5 July 1215 – 23 April 1220
Holy Roman Empress
Tenure 22 November 1220 – 23 June 1222
Coronation 22 November 1220 (Rome)
Born 1179
Died 23 June 1222 (aged 42–43)
Italy
Spouse Emeric of Hungary
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Issue Ladislaus III of Hungary
Henry (VII) of Germany
House Barcelona
Father Alfonso II of Aragon
Mother Sancha of Castile

Constance of Aragon (1179 – 23 June 1222) was an Aragonese infanta who was by marriage firstly Queen of Hungary, and secondly Queen of Germany and Sicily and Holy Roman Empress. She was regent of Sicily from 1212–1220.

She was the second child and eldest daughter of the nine children of Alfonso II of Aragon and Sancha of Castile.

Queen of Hungary

Her father died in 1196 and Constance's fate was decided by the new King, her brother Peter II. Peter arranged her marriage with King Emeric of Hungary, and the nineteen-year-old Constance left Aragon for Hungary. The wedding took place in 1198. Two years later, in 1200, the Queen gave birth to a son, called Ladislaus.

When King Emeric was dying, he crowned his son Ladislaus co-ruler on 26 August 1204. The King wanted to secure his succession and had his brother Andrew promise to protect the child and help him govern the Kingdom of Hungary until reaching adulthood. Emeric died three months later, on 30 November.

Ladislaus succeeded him as King while Andrew became his Regent. Andrew soon took over all regal authority while Ladislaus and Constance were little more than his prisoners. Constance managed to escape to Vienna with Ladislaus.

The two found refuge in the court of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria, but Ladislaus would soon die (7 May 1205). The former Regent and now King Andrew II of Hungary took the body of his nephew and buried him in the Royal Crypt of Székesfehérvár. Duke Leopold sent Constance back to Aragon.

Holy Roman Empress

Constance of Aragon's crown

When Constance returned to Aragon, she took up residence with her mother, Queen Sancha, in the Abbey of Nuestra Senora, at Sijena; Sancha had founded the abbey after her husband's death, and now lived there in retirement. Constance spent the next five years in the abbey with her mother, until her fate, again, was changed by her brother.

Pedro II wanted to be on good terms with Pope Innocent III, since he wanted an annulment of his marriage with Maria of Montpellier, and needed the blessing of the Pope. The Pope solicited the hand of the Dowager Queen of Hungary for his pupil, the young King Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. The Aragonese King accepted the proposal; Constance left her mother and the abbey of Nuestra Senora and began her trip to Sicily (1208). She never returned to Aragon or saw her mother again. Sancha died shortly after the departure of her daughter.

Constance and Frederick were married in the Sicilian city of Messina on 15 August 1209. In the ceremony, she was crowned Queen of Sicily. By this time, Constance was thirty years old and her new husband only fourteen. Two years later, in 1211, Constance gave birth to a son, called Henry, who later had a tragic end.

On 9 December 1212, Frederick was crowned King of Germany in opposition to Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor. During the absence of her husband, Constance stayed in Sicily as regent of the Kingdom until 1220.

At first Frederick controlled Southern Germany but Otto IV was effectively deposed on 5 July 1215. This time Constance was crowned German Queen with her husband.

Pope Honorius III crowned Frederick Holy Roman Emperor on 22 November 1220. Constance was crowned Holy Roman Empress while their son Henry became the new King of Germany. She died of malaria less than two years later in Catania and was buried in the Cathedral of Palermo, in a Roman sarcophagus with a beautiful oriental tiara.

Ancestry

References

Constance of Aragon
Born: 1179 Died: 1222
Royal titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Margaret of France		 Queen consort of Hungary
1198–1204 		Succeeded by
Gertrude of Merania
Preceded by
Maria of Brabant		 Queen consort of Germany
9 December 1212/5 July 1215 – 23 April 1220 		Succeeded by
Margaret of Austria
Empress consort of
the Holy Roman Empire
22 November 1220 – 23 June 1222 		Vacant
Title next held by
Isabella II of Jerusalem
Vacant
Title last held by
Sibylla of Acerra		 Queen consort of Sicily
1209 – 23 June 1222
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