Catherine of Valois (1303–1346)
Catherine of Valois (before 15 April 1303 – October 1346) was titular Empress of Constantinople from 1308 to her death as Catherine II. She was Princess consort of Achaea and Taranto, and also regent of Achaia from 1332 to 1341, and Governor of Cephalonia from 1341 to her death.
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[edit] Life
She was born in 1303, sometime before 15 April, the eldest daughter of Count Charles of Valois and Catherine of Courtenay (titular empress as Catherine I). Her maternal grandparents were the titular Emperor Philip of Courtenay and Beatrice of Sicily. Beatrice was a daughter of King Charles I of Sicily and Beatrice of Provence. Beatrice was the fourth daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence and Beatrice of Savoy.[1]
Catherine of Valois was a younger half-sister of (among others) Philip VI of France, Jeanne of Valois and Charles II of Alençon.
Her mother was titular Empress of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. But the city had been captured by the Empire of Nicaea since 1261. Catherine succeeded her mother as the titular empress on 11 October 1307. She was still a child and remained in the custody of her father, who managed her claims to the empire until his death in 1325.
An early betrothal to Hugh of Burgundy, made on 15 April 1303 when she was an infant, was renounced in 1312.
[edit] Naples
In July 1313, Catherine married Philip I of Taranto, King of Albania and Prince of Achaea, who was the younger brother of Robert, King of Naples. She associated her husband as titular emperor (Philip II) and retained the claim to the empire after his death on December 23, 1332. Robert was his eldest surviving son and succeeded him as Prince of Taranto in 1331. Catherine became influential at the court of Naples.
Her court was more worldly than the pious court of King Robert and his pious wife Sancha of Majorca. She had several lovers, amongst whom Niccolò Acciaioli[2]. During the reign of her niece Joan I of Naples, she opposed the marriage of Joan's younger sister Maria of Calabria to Charles, Duke of Durazzo. This because Maria was heir presumptive to the throne of Naples and the Durazzos were rivals to her own family. She and her family were compensated with a cash settlement from the royal treasury[3].
[edit] Achaea
In 1333 her son Robert received the principality of Achaea by agreement with his uncle John of Gravina. However the thirteen-year-old boy was deemed too young to reign alone and his mother became his co-ruler for the rest of her life. In 1338 Catherine mustered a fleet and took her whole household to Achaea, where she took an active part in its government. She gave refuge to Nikephoros II Orsini of Epirus and supported him in his attempt to assert himself in his land against the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos.
[edit] Final Years
Her presence in Achaea was no longer needed by the time Robert reached adulthood in 1341. She became Governor of Cephalonia and spent the last five years of her life in this responsibility. After the murder of Joan's husband Andrew of Hungary, Joan sought a new husband amongst her Taranto cousins, Catherine supported her younger son Louis against her older son Robert.[4] She sheltered Charles of Artois, a bastard son of Robert the Wise, and his son Bertrand, who were both suspected of complicity. When asked to give them up, she refused and stated she would punish them herself if they were guilty.
She died in Naples in October 1346.[5] Queen Joan organized her funeral at the church of San Domenico.[6]
[edit] Issue
By Philip I of Taranto, Catherine II had five children:
- Robert (1319–1364), Prince of Taranto, titular Emperor of Constantinople (as Robert II).
- Louis (1320–1362), Prince of Taranto and King of Naples by right of his wife.
- Margaret (about 1325–1380), married (1) Edward Balliol, King of Scotland, and (2) Francis of Baux, Duke of Andria. By the latter, she was mother of James of Baux, Prince of Achaea and titular Emperor of Constantinople.
- Mary (1327–?, died young).
- Philip II (1329–1374), King of Albania, Prince of Taranto and Achaea, titular Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip III).
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Goldstone, Nancy (2010). Joanna, The Notorious Queen of Naples, Jerusalem and Sicily. Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
- Peter Lock, The Franks in the Aegean 1204-1500, New York, 1995.
[edit] External links
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Catherine of Valois (1303–1346)
Born: before 15 April 1303 Died: October 1346 |
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| Titles in pretence | ||
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| Preceded by Catherine of Courtenay |
— TITULAR — Latin Empress of Constantinople 1307–1346 with Philip II (1313–1332) |
Succeeded by Robert II |
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