“Si vous dirons d'une damoisiele qui en Puille estoit, &nb
“Si vous dirons d'une damoisiele qui en Puille estoit, qui fille avoit esté le roi Tangré. Elle par le consel l'apostoile et le consel d'aucun preudome, ala en Campaigne, al conte Gautier de Braine et fist tant qu'il l'espousa. Et quant il l’ot espousée, elle l'enmena en Puille, et alerent par Rome.”
Elvira (also known as Albinia,Alberia,Maria,AlbidinaandBianca) was born around 1180 most certainly in Lecce (Apulia), at that time part of the Kingdom of Sicily, ruled by the Norman House of Hauteville as the daughter of Tancredi of Lecce and his wife Sibilla of Acerra. Elvira was the eldest of four daughters, the others being Medania (or Madania), Costanza and Valdrada, the latter two would both marry two Venetian Doges. Sibilla had also given birth to two sons, RuggeroandGuglielmo.
Tancredi was the bastard son of Ruggero Duke of Apulia, eldest son of King Ruggero II of SicilyandElvira of Castile. Given his status as an illegitimate child, when Duke Ruggero died in 1148, Tancredi couldn’t inherit the duchy (though he succeeded his father as Count of Lecce) nor was deemed fit to take his father’s place as future King, and the throne would eventually pass in 1154 to his uncle, Guglielmo I, the only surviving son of Ruggero II (nobody between the King’s elder sons, Ruggero of Apulia, Tancredi of Bari or Alfonso of Capua had, in fact, produced legitimate heirs).
Relationship between Tancredi and Guglielmo I had been turbulent, to say the least. In 1155, the Count of Lecce rebelled against his uncle and master, and because of this was imprisoned (alongside his brother, another Guglielmo). Again in 1161, Tancredi rose against Guglielmo I. The plot led to a bloody tumult that broke out in Palermo, with the Royal Palace raided by the rioters, the King and the Royal family imprisoned, important documents destroyed and the massacre of many Palace eunuchs, considered power usurpers. At some point, though, the revolt started to lose its strike, the King had to be released and, in order to be pardoned, Tancredi agreed to self-exile in Constantinople. In 1166, following Guglielmo I’s death and the accession to the throne of his son, Guglielmo II, Tancredi returned in Sicily. During the reign of his cousin Guglielmo, he proved to be a faithful subject and was awarded with the leadership of the Sicilian fleet. It is at this particular moment that Elvira was born. We do not know anything about her early years, and we can only imagine she spent her time with her mother and siblings, living in Apulia and later moving to Sicily.
The death of Guglielmo II in 1189 threw the Kingdom into a succession crisis. The King left, in fact, no direct living heir as his marriage to Joan of England hadn’t been blessed with children. Perhaps, at some point, Tancredi might have thought his childless cousin would designate him as his heir. Unfortunately for him, Guglielmo had already appointed their common aunt Costanza as his successor. In addition to being a woman, Costanza was married to Heinrich VI of Germany, son of Friedrich Barbarossa. Taking advantage of the malcontent of the Sicilians (who feared they would eventually see their country absorbed into the Hohenstaufen’s estates), and the fact that both Costanza and her husband couldn’t leave Germany at that moment (Heinrich was acting as regent since his father was at that moment busy crusading in the Holy Land) Tancredi rushed to Palermo, where he was crowned in January 18th 1190.
Roughly two months later, Richard I of England arrived in the Sicilian city of Messina. Although the official reason was to sail from there to the Holy Land, he had more pressing familiar issues to take care of. Joan, widowed Queen of Sicily as well as sister to King Richard, had been taken prisoner by Tancredi in the harem of the Castello della Zisa (Palermo) after being denied the return of her dowry. After having obtained the release of his sister, the payment of the dowry and of a compensation for himself, Richard accepted to join an alliance with Tancredi and support his rulership against Costanza’s (rightful) claim. To seal the partnership, the two Kings planned the betrothal between Arthur of Brittany (Richard’s nephew and heir) and one of Tancredi’s daughters (we do not know which one, although it could have been Elvira since she was the eldest). After the deal, and after a brief occupation of Messina, Richard of England finally sailed towards the Holy Land. Tancredi’s reign would be cut short. He died of a non specified illness on February 20th 1194. His eldest son, Ruggero, had died the year prior, while his younger son, Guglielmo, was 9-years old. Guglielmo III was King for less than a year, despite his mother’s desperate attempts to salvage her son’s throne in the capacity of Regent. Their subjects turned their back on them and welcomed the German rivals. Taking into account the hopelessness of their situation and the favourable terms of surrender that were offered them, Sibilla surrendered Palermo to Heinrich on December 4th. On Christmas Eve, Heinrich got crowned King of Sicily in Palermo’s Cathedral. The following day, Costanza gave birth to Federico, future Stupor Mundi, in the distant Jesi (in the Marche region).
If losing their Kingdom must have seemed to them a nasty blow, it was only the beginning. Right after the new King’s coronation, Guglielmo, Sibilla and the rest of the family were accused of having conspired against Heinrich. If it was true or it was just a pretext of getting rid of the last Hauteville’s direct male heir, the family was nonetheless deported to Germany. Guglielmo was incarcerated in the castle of Hohenems (currently in Austria), where he must have been mutilated (probably blinded) in order to make him unfit to pose as a threat and where he died at some point after 1198. Sibilla and her daughters were put under arrest in Hohenburg Abbey, in Alsace (France), being able to leave their gilded prison only in 1198, following the death of Heinrich Hohenstaufen (1197) and the election of Innocent III as Pope, who successfully petitioned for their release.
The former queen and her daughters then sought refuge in France, at the court of Philippe Auguste. Now, finally safe, Sibilla started looking for an eligible husband for her eldest daughter as well as Tancredi’s heir, Elvira. Since the current King of Sicily was just a child (Federico was just 4-years old and already orphan of both parents), Sibilla intended to propose Elvira (now around 18 years old) as an alternative to the little sovereign and for that the young princess needed the backup of a man (as Costanza did too).
After a meeting in Melun with the French King, a fit spouse was found for Elvira: Gautier III Earl of Brienne. Between 1199 and 1200 Elvira and Gautier married. Of course the marriage to the pretender to the Sicilian throne meant a qualitative leap for both her husband and the House of Brienne (Gautier’s younger brother, Jean, would later become King of Jerusalem and Emperor of the Latin Empire), and it shouldn’t surprise Philippe of France encouraged the married couple to leave France in order to pursue their destiny.
In 1200 Elvira, Gautier and Sibilla arrived in Rome to peruse their cause before the Pope. Unfortunately for them and despite his antipathy towards the older Hohenstaufen (who, unlike the Hauteville, had a penchant for opposing the Papacy’s power), Innocent III was Federico’s guardian. The Pope refused to support Elvira’s claims and simply recognized her rights to be styled as Princess of Taranto and Countess of Lecce. These titles had, of course, once belonged to her father and Heinrich had promised to give them back to Sibilla and her family as compensation for giving up her son’s rights and surrender peacefully. The Hohenstaufen hadn’t really kept his promise since, as we have seen, he would swiftly incarcerate his rivals and take back those lands once again. Now, Elvira was able to get back part of her father’s inheritance, but in exchange she (and her husband) had to recognize Federico as her King, thus giving up her claims to the throne once and for all.
The problem was that those promised lands had already a lord (although not the legitimate one), Roberto di Biccari, who had received the fiefs from Heinrich VI. Elvira and Gautier had to practically take them back and, for that, they needed an army. This is where we can spot Innocent’s ambivalence. He was still protecting his pupil and his rightful claims, but at the same time he planned to undermine Markward von Annweiler’s (who had reclaimed the title of Regent, with the support of Philipp of Swabia, Federico’s uncle, and represented and obstacle for the Papacy’s plans to actively rule the Kingdom during Federico’s minority) powers and for that he had planned to use the Earl of Brienne and his warfare ability. In spring 1201 Gautier and Elvira, supported by an army, entered the continental part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The skilled Frenchman defeated the Sicilian army in many occasions, occupying Teano, Presenzano, Aquino, Melfi, Montepeloso, Matera, Otranto, Brindisi, Barletta and Lecce. By the second part of 1201 Elvira is referred to as Countess of Lecce, while her rival Roberto di Biccari retained only Ostuni and the nominal title of Prince of Taranto.
Gautier kept achieving many important victories, while in Sicily Markward had managed to get his hands on the young King. Innocent then urged the Earl of Brienne and Giacomo di Andria (Innocent’s kinsman) to invade Sicily, after rewarding them with the title of Chief Justiciar of Apulia and Terra di Lavoro. Despite Markward’s death in 1202, the invasion would never take place since Gautier must have realised Innocent’s ambiguity. The Pope was, in fact, negotiating for the betrothal of Federico and the princess Costanza of Aragon and an alliance with Aragon would eventually limit the Frenchman’s influence.
Innocent III died in Anagni in 1203 and Gautier was at his deathbed when Brindisi, Otranto, Gallipoli, Matera, Barletta and many other cities revolted against him and his oppressive rulership. The Earl of Brienne died two years later, in 1205, while besieging Sarno. On June 11th he was captured in his own tent and died three days later of the wounds he had sustained during his seizing.
At that time Elvira was already pregnant and would soon give birth to posthumous son, called Gautier after his late father. According to some historians, Elvira had previously given birth to a daughter, Marguerite, who would later marry Balian Granier, Lord of Sidon. But Balian appears to have married Ide de Reyne, Gautier’s niece.
Elvira married for a second time, perhaps just a couple of months after Gautier’s death. Her second husband was Giacomo I (also known as Giovanni) Sanseverino, earl of Tricarico (according to an unknown source, this Giacomo is to be identified with Giacomo of Tricarico, married to one Mabilia, daughter of Landulfo Earl of Ceccano). Since her first husband had died in captivity, the County of Lecce and the Principate of Taranto (although hers by right) reverted back to the Hohenstaufen. Her marriage to a member of the powerful House of Sanseverino had been then a matter of necessity, a way to keep her anchored to her native land and a protection for her child and herself. Nonetheless, by marrying an Italian nobleman she stated then her intention to not return in France thus preventing her infant son, the new Earl of Brienne, to grow up in his inherited dominions, plus losing her rights to act as Regent during her son’s minority (as well as all of her ties with the House of Brienne), that role played by his uncle Jean.
TheThomas Tusci Gesta Imperatorum et Pontificumrecords that Giacomo and Elvira had two children, Simone and Adalita (“comitem Symonem et dominam Adalitam”), although it doesn’t specify their date of birth, nor we possess further details about their lives, except Simone might be identified with the “filium comitis Tricaricensis ” cited in the Ryccardus de Sancti Germano Chronica, who (together with other Southern Italian aristocrats like Ruggero de Aquila and Tommaso the Elder Sanseverino Earl of Caserta) rebelled against Federico II in 1223 and got incarcerated. Giacomo II of Tricarico, Lord of Serino, Solofra and Abriola, sometimes counted among Giacomo I’s children, might actually be Simone’s son and thus Giacomo I and Elvira’s grandson.
Around 1220, once again widowed, Elvira would marry for a third and last time. Her third husband (chosen by Federico II) was another Italian nobleman, Tegrimo (also known as Teugrimo or Teudegrimo) Guidi, younger son of Guido Guerra III Guidi and his second wife, Gualdrada Berti, and founder of the line of Modigliana and Porciano.
It was a lavish ceremony, with Tegrimo spending 10 thousandlire on it (a subtsantial amount which in the future, when the family would find itself in a precarious economical situation, his brothers would blame him). Federico granted Elvira the County of Lecce and Principality of Taranto as part of her dowry, although she got them back in name only. Actually, 30 years later (in 1252), Pope Innocent IV would take these lands from the Guidi (pro-imperial) to ostentatiously give them to Doge Marco Ziani, pro-papal as well as Elvira’s brother-in-law.
Elvira moved to Modigliana, where her presence is documented through the bill of sale of the villages of Larciano, Cecina, Casi and Collecchio, sold to the town of Pistoia for 6000 lire in 1226. Two years later, together with her husband, she donated two plots of land to the Church of Santa Maria di Pietrafitta. On 1231 she gifted the Abbot of San Gaudenzio of her feudal rights over a baron and his children and, on 1254, she gave her consent for the sale of Montemurlo to Firenze for 5000 lire.
Elvira and Tegrimo’s son and only child, Guido, was born shortly after 1220. A skilled man of war, he would follow his father and fight in Federico II’s Italian military campaigns. As podestà of Arezzo, he would manage to conciliate the pro imperial and pro papal factions. Following the Hohenstaufen king’s death and the resulting political change, Guido’s (as well as his family) fortunes declined and he would be forced to sell many of his castles. He would die in 1293.
As for Elvira’s firstborn, Gautier IV, as a teen, he would be sent to Outremer, at the court of his uncle Jean, King of Jerusalem since 1210. In 1221 Gautier received the title of Earl of Jaffa and Ascalon and around 1233 he married Marie of Lusignan, eldest daughter of Hugues I King of CyprusandAlix of Champagne.
He retained his status of one of the Kingdom of Jerusalem’s most important vassals even when Federico II snatched the kingdom from Jean of Brienne. He was taken prisoner by the Muslim forces after the disastrous battle of La Forbie in 1244. Ceded to the Sultan of Egypt and taken to Cairo, he would die the same year, strangled by the guards after he had killed an emir guilty of having hit him on the face during a chess match. He would be succeeded by his firstborn Jean, and after he died childless, by his second son Hugues who, loyal partisan of Charles I of Anjou, received for his services the County of Lecce in 1266 (which, of course, was his by right). From later on until 1356, the County would be owned by the House of Brienne.
Finally, we don’t know in which exact year Elvira died, although we can suppose it happened after 1261. We only know the day, May 23th, a date recorded in the obituaries of the Monastery of Camaldoli, one of her beneficiaries, whose clergy commemorated her through annual masses in remembrance. Her husband would outlive her and die before 1270.
Sources
- Bicchierai Marco,GUIDI, Guido, in Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 61
- Ildefonso il San Luigi,Delizie degli eruditi toscani,vol. 8
- Litta Pompeo,Famiglie celebri d'Italia. Guidi di Romagna, tav. IX
- Maison de Brienne
- McDougall Sara,Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800–1230, p. 213-215Neapolitan Nobility
- Panarelli Francesco,GUGLIELMO III d'Altavilla, re di SiciliainDizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 60
- Perry Guy,John of Brienne King of Jerusalem, Emperor of Constantinople, c. 1175-1237, p. 31-37
- Pio Berardo,SIBILLA d’AquinoinDizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 92
- Repetti Emanuele,Dizionario Geografico Fisico e Storico della Toscana
- Sicily/Naples: Counts & Kings
- Ryccardus de Sancti Germano Chronica,p. 343
- de Sassenay Fernand,Les Brienne de Lecce et d’Athènes: histoire d'une des grandes familles de la féodalité française (1200-1356), p. 30
- Thomas Tusci Gesta Imperatorum et Pontificum, p. 499
- Wandruszka Nikolai,Un viaggio nel passato europeo – gli antenati del Marchese Antonio Amorini Bolognini (1767-1845) e sua moglie, la Contessa Marianna Ranuzzi (1771-1848)
Sat, 26 Feb 2022 22:43:52
