Constance I of Sicily

Common card · No. 229762

Constance I (Italian: Costanza; 2 November 1154 – 27 November 1198) was the queen of Sicily from 1194 until her death and Holy Roman Empress from 1191 to 1197 as the wife of Emperor Henry VI. As queen regnant of Sicily, she reigned jointly with her spouse and later with her infant son, the future Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. She is particularly notable for her actions against her own family, the Norman kings of Sicily; she played an important role in the end of the Hauteville presence in Sicily. Despite being the sole heir to the throne of Sicily, she did not marry until she was 30 due to a prophecy; shortly after becoming empress, she was involved in the succession war against her illegitimate nephew King Tancred for the Sicilian throne, during which she was captured, though she was later released unharmed. In the history of the Holy Roman Empire, only two empresses were captured, with the other being her mother-in-law Empress Beatrice. Shortly before ascending the Sicilian throne...

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