Costanza Chiaramonte ( – 1423) was a queen consort of Naples in 1389–1392, married to King

Ladislaus of Naples Ladislaus the Magnanimous (, ; 15 February 1377 – 6 August 1414) was King of Naples from 1386 until his death and an unsuccessful claimant to the kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Ladislaus was a skilled political and military leader, protector ...

. With changing political circumstances, their marriage was annulled.

Life

Costanza was a daughter of Manfredi III Chiaramonte, count of Modica and Malta, and a powerful figure in Palermo.

Queen

Her marriage to King Ladislaus, took place celebrated in

Gaeta Gaeta (; ; Southern Latian dialect, Southern Laziale: ''Gaieta'') is a seaside resort in the province of Latina in Lazio, Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is from Rome and from Naples. The city has played ...

in 1389 when she was 12, was calculated to bring her family's financial and military support, and not adversity, to his rule. The fortunes of the Chiaramonte family changed after her father died in 1391, and her brother was caught and executed by the forces of King

Martin of Aragon Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). He failed to secure th ...

, who had declared himself

king of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which oc ...

. With this turn of fortunes, Ladislaus obtained an annulment by decree of the pope

Boniface IX Pope Boniface IX (; ; c. 1350 – 1 October 1404, born Pietro Tomacelli) was head of the Catholic Church from 2 November 1389 to his death, in October 1404. He was the second Roman pope during the Western Schism.Richard P. McBrien, ''Lives of th ...

. In July 1392, the bishop of Gaeta and Cardinal Acciaioli announced the dissolution of the marriage in church. The supposed reason for the annulment was either the age of the couple or the accusation that Costanza's mother was living dissolutely in concubinage.

Later life

The following year Constance was forced to marry the count of Altavilla, Andrea di Capua, son of Bartolomeo, and protonotary of the kingdom, who was residing in the Palazzo Marigliano, Naples. At the public wedding ceremony, Costanza was said to have proclaimed to her groom that he should take pride in having the king's wife and queen as his concubine.

Legacy

Constanza's fate attracted later storytellers and songwriters. Even in the 20th century, it was pointed as an example of ecclesiastical hypocrisy over the sanctity of marriage.El divorcio
By Setembrino E. Pereda, Montevideo, 1902, page 83.

References

{{Authority control Chiaramonte family 1370s births 14th-century Neapolitan people 14th-century Sicilian people 14th-century Italian women 15th-century Italian women