Federico Chiaramonte

Federico Chiaramonte^[c] (c. 1310s^[b] — 1363^[a]) was a Sicilian nobleman of the Chiaramonte family and the fifth Count of Modica. He inherited the county in 1357 on the death without issue of his nephew Simone, the fourth count. During his brief tenure he was active in the turbulent politics of the mid-14th century, participating in the conflicts of 1356–61 alongside other members of the Latin faction of the Sicilian baronage. He died around 1363/64 and was succeeded by his son Matteo.

Federico Chiaramonte
Chiaramonte coat of arms
Count of Modica
Tenure	1357–1363[a]
Predecessor	Simone Chiaramonte
Successor	Matteo Chiaramonte
Born	c. 1310s[b] Unknown
Died	1363[a] Kingdom of Sicily
Issue	Matteo Chiaramonte
Father	Giovanni I "il Vecchio" Chiaramonte
Mother	Lucca Palizzi

Origins and family

Federico was the son of Giovanni I Chiaramonte (il Vecchio) and Lucca Palizzi, daughter of Niccolò Palizzi "il Vecchio". Their marriage, in place by 1311, tied the Chiaramonte to one of the kingdom’s leading baronial networks.^[1] Federico’s brothers were Manfredi II (third count of Modica), Enrico (later maestro razionale of the kingdom), and Giacomo.^[1][3]

Modern scholarship has also highlighted the Chiaramonte–Palizzi connection in the sphere of ecclesiastical and civic patronage; Lucca’s memory is preserved by a tomb originally at Santa Maria della Catena, Palermo (now in the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum).^[2]

Career

Context — Rulers and powers in Federico’s lifetime

After the Sicilian Vespers (1282) the island ("Kingdom of Sicily" or "Trinacria") and the mainland ("Kingdom of Naples") were ruled by rival dynasties. Federico’s brief career unfolded amid continuing tension between the baronial "Latin" and "Catalan" factions.^[1]

Sicily (Aragonese dynasty):

• Louis (r. 1342–1355)
• Frederick IV (r. 1355–1377)

Naples (Angevin line):

• Joanna I (r. 1343–1381)
• Louis of Taranto (co-ruler, 1352–1362)

Background and factions

By the mid-14th century, Sicilian politics fell into two loose camps. The "Latin" barons were older local families, often sympathetic to Naples; the "Catalan" barons were nobles close to the Aragonese and strongest in the east. In practice loyalties shifted, and alignments were not strictly geographic.^[3]

• Typical Latin leaders: the Chiaramonte (e.g. Manfredi III), often also the Palizzi and the Rosso.^[4]
• On the opposing side, the Ventimiglia were long-standing adversaries of the Chiaramonte–Palizzi bloc, and in this period frequently aligned with the Catalan houses such as the Alagona (Artale I) and the Peralta; later the Moncada became decisive supporters of Aragonese rule.^[3]

Wars of the mid-1350s

Federico is first seen in action during the factional wars of the mid-1350s. In January–February 1356 he operated in western Sicily; the royal captain Benvenuto Graffeo (of Marsala) notes that, after Federico Chiaramonte captured the baron of Partanna, Riccardo Abbate, in the waters off Palermo, orders went out on 4 February to ready forces (with Guglielmo Peralta and other loyal barons) to secure the Abbate lands and the city of Trapani.^[5] Riccardo Abbate himself was one of the most powerful lords of the Val di Mazara (the western and southwestern administrative district of medieval Sicily), a crown loyalist in the wars against the Chiaramonte.^[6]

Count of Modica

He succeeded as Count of Modica in March 1357 (following the death of his nephew Simone) and was formally invested by the crown by 1360–1361.^[1] Through 1358–1359 he negotiated repeated truces with King Frederick IV (for example, a truce commencing 10 October 1358, and another agreed in July 1359), as the crown and leading barons tried to stabilise the island during renewed Angevin pressure and internal divisions.^[7]

Royal reconciliation

By early 1361 Federico appears aligned (at least formally) with the royal side: on 6 January 1361, fra Giovanni di Santo Stefano swore fealty to the king on Federico’s behalf, and the same day Frederick IV confirmed certain restitutions — a sign of ongoing settlements between crown and baronage as the court manoeuvred between the Alagona, Ventimiglia and Chiaramonte factions.^[8] The DBI account of Frederick IV likewise highlights a sequence of reconciliations and temporary pacifications in 1358–1361, with Federico Chiaramonte singled out in the truce-making.^[7]

Family life

Federico married Costanza Moncada; their son Matteo succeeded as sixth count of Modica.^[2] He also had a daughter, Luchina Chiaramonte, who in November 1352 married Enrico Rosso, count of Aidone; contemporary and modern sources record the match and name Enrico as Federico’s son-in-law.^[2]

Death and succession

Federico died about 1363 and was succeeded by his son Matteo Chiaramonte, the sixth count of Modica.^[1]

Gallery

• 
  Map of the County of Modica, centred on southeastern Sicily
• 
  Castle of the Counts, Modica
• 
  The Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri in Palermo, seat of the family
• 
  The castle in Alcamo, completed by Federico
• 
  Succession of the Counts of Modica

Notes

1. While some modern works give 1364, Treccani and most recent scholarship indicate that Federico was dead by 1363.^[1][2]
2. Giovanni I and Lucca Palizzi were married by 1311 (when their son Manfredi II Chiaramonte is attested). Federico’s daughter Luchina married in Nov 1352, implying a birth for her in the mid-1330s; assuming a paternal age of c. 20–30 at that time suggests Federico was born in the early–mid 1310s. See: ^[1][2].
3. In some genealogical works he is styled Federico III to distinguish him from his grandfather Federico I (d. 1305) and his uncle Federico II, but contemporary sources and Treccani refer to him simply as Federico Chiaramonte.