Roger II's daughter, Constance, was born after his death.
She was over thirty when she married Frederick Barbarossa's younger son who became Emperor Henry VI.
In 1194, Constance bore Frederick II who became both King of Sicily and Emperor.
In 1220, Frederick, who had been the ward of Pope Innocent III, was consecrated Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Honorius III.
In 1225, Frederick, now a widower, married Iolande, the daughter of the titular King of Jerusalem.
After growing conflict with Fredrick, Honorius died in 1227.
Then the beta timeline diverged when the next Pope was not Gregory IX but Celestine IV.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
One story I read about Constance was that she was thought too old to have children by the time she gave birth to Frederick II. As a result the story I recall has the Empress insisting on giving birth in PUBLIC, to prove the naysayers and doubters were wrong!
I really do think both Honorius III and Gregory IX tried hard to reach a reasonable accommodation with Frederick II. The problem, of course, as some might say, being how they had opposing definitions of "reasonable." More concretely, Frederick II wanted to unite Italy in ways the Popes feared would deprive them of their independence.
Ad astra! Sean
That wasn't unusual; a select assortment of noblewomen usually attended a royal birth, partly to remove any doubts about spurious issue. It was routine.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
I have heard of that custom, and I think it was still being practiced as late as the 1800's. What made the case of the Empress Constance different was how she insisted on giving birth literally outside the palace in public, before hundreds of witnesses. Not just a few official witnesses in semi-privacy.
Ad astra! Sean
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