Constance of Sicily
| Constance | |
|---|---|
Henry VI and Constance of Sicily (from Liber ad Honorem Augusti by Peter of Eboli, 1196)
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| Queen regnant of Sicily | |
| Reign | 1194 – 27 November 1198 |
| Predecessor | William III |
| Successor | Frederick II |
| Empress consort of the Holy Roman Empire; Queen consort of the Romans | |
| Tenure | 1191–1197 |
| Born | 2 November 1154 Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | 27 November 1198 (aged 44) Palermo, Sicily, Italy |
| Spouse | Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor |
| Issue | Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor |
| House | Hauteville |
| Father | Roger II of Sicily |
| Mother | Beatrice of Rethel |
Constance (2 November 1154 – 27 November 1198) was the heiress of the Norman kings of Sicily and the wife of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor. She was Queen of Sicily in 1194–98, jointly with her husband from 1194 to 1197, and with her infant son Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1198.
Constance was the posthumous daughter of Roger II by his third wife Beatrice of Rethel.
Rather strange for a princess Constance was not betrothed until she was thirty which later gave rise to stories that she had become a nun and required papal dispensation to marry. Boccaccio related in his De mulieribus claris that a prediction that "her marriage would destroy Sicily" led to her remain celibate. Her betrothal to Henry was announced 29 Oct 1184 at the Augsburg episcopal palace. In 1185 Constance traveled to Milan to celebrate the wedding accompanied by a grand procession of princes and barons. Henry accompanied her to Salerno but had to return to Germany for the funeral of his mother. They were married on 27 January 1186 at Milan.
The death of her younger nephew Henry of Capua in 1172 made Constance heiress presumptive to the Sicilian crown, since her elder nephew King William II did not marry until 1177 and his marriage remained childless. Abulafia (1988) points out that William did not foresee the union of German and Sicilian crowns as a serious eventuality; his purpose was to consolidate an alliance, with an erstwhile enemy of Norman power in Italy.
The papacy, also an enemy of the emperors, did not want to see the kingdom of southern Italy (then one of the richest in Europe) in German hands, but Henry pressed Pope Celestine III to baptize and crown his son: the Pope put him off.
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