Camiola

Camiola Turinga was a Sicilian woman who lived at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Originally from Messina, she was the daughter of Lawrence of Thuringia, and the wife of Roland of Sicily, illegitimate son of Frederick III of Sicily. When her husband and parents died she inherited much wealth and was known for handling this large fortune in a moral fashion.

Roland of Sicily

Boccaccio, as a medieval historian and early Renaissance archaeologist, describes the events that caused her to become a widow when she was still a young lady. He says in his De mulieribus claris that when king Frederick III of Sicily died, a conflict began under his eldest son Peter, who succeeded him. Following a battle at Lipari, many of the townspeople were taken prisoner in Naples, including Roland of Sicily, who was hated by his brother, King Peter, who refused to pay his ransom, alone among the prisoners.

At this point, Camiola Turinga, who knew Roland when they were children, saw that Peter and his other brothers were willing to let Roland rot in jail, and offered to marry him to get him released, secretly sending Roland a proposition on this matter. Roland readily agreed, and Camiola prepared the necessary documents for his release. She had to pay 2,000 ounces of silver for his release, which was half her wealth.

Roland was returned to Messina a free man, but immediately began to show ingratitude, and act as if there had been no marriage. Camiola, surprised and unhappy at his attitude, confronted him. She first attempted to arrange for the marriage to take place, but Roland was unwilling. The case ended up before an ecclesiastical judge. Camiola proved to the judge that she had a legal contract for marriage in return for Roland's release from prison, and that Roland had agreed to this.

The judge ruled that Roland was wrong in not fulfilling his obligation. He admitted to his mistake, but still did not want to marry her, and his brothers and friends had to convince him before he finally agreed. From that time forward, she was known for her unshakeable high moral standards, and Roland was scorned by everyone from then on, including his immediate family.

References

Shakespeare's Heroines: Characteristics of Women, Moral, Poetical,Shakespeare's Heroines: Characteristics of Women, Moral, and Poetical, pp. 59–62, By Jameson Anna
Noble Deeds of Woman; Or, Examples of Female Courage and Virtue By Elizabeth Starling, p. 357, Hale and Whiting (1881), original at New York public library.
A Serious Occupation: Literary Criticism by Victorian Women Writers By Solveig C. Robinson, pp. 19–21, Broadview Press (2003), ISBN 1-55111-350-3
The Myth of Pope Joan By Alain Boureau, p. 209, translated by Lydia G. Cochrane, Published 2001, University of Chicago Press, ISBN 0-226-06745-9
Virginia Brown's translation of Giovanni Boccaccio's Famous Women, pp 223 – 229; Harvard University Press, 2001; ISBN 0-674-01130-9
Ghisalberti, Alberto M. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: III Ammirato – Arcoleo. Rome, 1961.

Other uses

The English playwright Philip Massinger based one of his best characters of The Maid of Honour on Boccaccio's heroine Camiola.