County of Modica

The County of Modica was a feudal territory within the Kingdom of Sicily from 1296 to 1812. Its capital was Modica, on the southern tip of the island, although the cities of Ragusa and Scicli housed some government offices for a period. Today it perpetuates as a title only held by the head of the House of Alba, Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 19th Duke of Alba.

On 25 March 1296, the Aragonese King Frederick III of Sicily conceded the great County of Modica to Manfredi I Chiaramonte, who fought the Angevin and their king, James, and married Isabella Mosca, daughter of the rebel count Federico Mosca.

The king gave the first dynasty of counts many fiefdoms in Agrigento, Caccamo, Licata and Palermo, where they built the Palazzo Chiaramonte, also known as Palazzo Steri; once the residence of the Aragonese-Spanish viceroys of Sicily and later the tribunal of the Inquisition, it now belongs to the University of Palermo. On its ceilings is one of the most important wood-based pictorial cycles of the Italian Middle Ages.

The Chiaramonte family built many castles at Mussomeli, Caccamo, Chiaramonte Gulfi, Ragusa and all over Sicily, in a very typical Gothic style.

On the death of King Frederick IV of Sicily, Manfredi III Chiaramonte became viceroy and tried to defend the throne of Sicily from Martin I of Sicily. Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. In 1389 he married Maria of Sicily, who was the only child and daughter of King Frederick IV. In 1392 he returned with Maria to Sicily with a military force and to defeat a group of opposing noblemen. However, the city of Palermo fell and the new King Martin I of Sicily had its governor, Andrea Chiaramonte, son of the late Manfredi, 8th Count of Modica, beheaded on 1 July 1392 in front of his palace in the Marina Square in Palermo.

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