Editing Frederick the Simple

{{Short description|King of Sicily from 1355 to 1377}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name         = Frederick IV
| image        = Pierreale_1360.jpg
| caption      = A ''[[pierreale]]'' of Frederick the Simple
| succession   = [[King of Sicily]]
| reign        = 16 October 1355 - 27 July 1377
| coronation   =
| predecessor  = [[Louis, King of Sicily|Louis]]
| successor    = [[Maria, Queen of Sicily|Maria]]
| spouse   = [[Constance of Aragon, Queen of Sicily|Constance of Aragon]]<br/>[[Antonia of Baux]]
| issue        = [[Maria, Queen of Sicily]]
| house        = [[House of Barcelona|Barcelona]]
| father       = [[Peter II of Sicily]]
| mother       = [[Elizabeth of Carinthia, Queen of Sicily|Elizabeth of Carinthia]]
| birth_date   = 1 September 1341
| birth_place  = [[Catania]], [[Kingdom of Sicily]]
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1377|7|27|1341|9|1|df=y}}
| death_place  = [[Messina]], Kingdom of Sicily
| burial_place = 
}}

'''Frederick IV''' (or '''III''') (in Italian, ''Federico''; 1 September 1341 – [[Messina]] 27 July 1377<ref>Setton, Kenneth M. (1975) "[[iarchive:AHistoryOfTheCrusades14th15thC|Volume III: The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries]]", Edited by Harry W. Hazzard, page 214.</ref>), called '''the Simple''', was [[King of Sicily]]  from 1355 to 1377. He was the second son of [[Peter II of Sicily]]{{sfn|Grierson|Travaini|1998|p=256}} and [[Elizabeth of Carinthia, Queen of Sicily|Elisabeth of Carinthia]]. He succeeded his brother [[Louis of Sicily|Louis]]. The documents of his era call him the "infante Frederick, ruler of the kingdom of Sicily", without any [[regnal number]].

"Frederick the Simple" is often confused with an earlier Sicilian monarch, his grandfather [[Frederick III of Sicily|Frederick III]], who chose to call himself "Frederick III" even though he was actually only the second King Frederick to occupy the Sicilian throne; his self-appellation was sometimes retained by later generations of genealogists and historians, producing rival numberings of Sicilian kings named Frederick.  The first King Frederick on the Sicilian throne was the latter's great-grandfather, King [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]].

Frederick the Simple was born in [[Catania]] and succeeded to his brother [[Louis of Sicily|Louis]] in 1355 under the regency of his sister, [[Euphemia of Sicily]]. In his youth the reign was under the control of powerful Sicilian barons, in particular of [[Artale I Alagona]]. The beginning of Frederick IV's reign was also plagued by the [[Black Death]], to which his elder brother and predecessor had succumbed. On 25 December 1369, Frederick ordered all Jews to wear a badge indicating their heritage. The badge consisted of a piece of red material, not smaller than the largest royal seal; men were required to wear it under the chin, and women on the chest. In 1372 he was able to come to peace terms with Naples and [[Pope Gregory XI]], obtaining the title of tributary King of "Trinacria".

After the death of his mother's cousin, [[Margaret Maultasch|Margaret of Tyrol]] in 1369, Frederick remained the sole descendant of the House of Gorizia-Tyrol which had ruled a vast territory in the [[Eastern Alps]], comprising [[Tyrol]], [[Carinthia]] and [[Carniola]]. However, due to his problems at home, he is not known to have ever raised any claims to those territories which thus passed to the [[Habsburgs]].

==Marriages==
On 11 April 1361, Frederick married firstly [[Constance of Aragon, Queen of Sicily|Constance of Aragon]], daughter of King [[Peter IV of Aragon]].<ref name="Setton645">'' Archbishop Pierre d'Ameil in Naples and the Affair of Aimon III of Geneva (1363-1364)'', Kenneth M. Setton, '''Speculum''', Vol. 28, No. 4 (Oct., 1953), 645.</ref> They had only one daughter, [[Maria, Queen of Sicily|Maria]].<ref name="Setton645" />

On 17 January 1372, Frederick married secondly [[Antonia of Baux]]. This marriage was designed to seal the [[Treaty of Villeneuve]] of 1372, by which Frederick's right to rule Sicily was recognised by Naples and the Papacy. There were no children from this marriage. Frederick was betrothed again to [[Antonia Visconti]], but he died before the wedding and was succeeded by his only child, Queen Maria.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{cite book |first1=Philip |last1=Grierson |first2=Lucia |last2=Travaini |title=Medieval European Coinage: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |volume=14 (Italy) part 3 (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia) |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 }}

{{S-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{S-bef| rows   = 1 | before = [[Louis of Sicily|Louis]] }}
{{S-ttl| title  = [[Kingdom of Sicily|King of Sicily]]
       | years  = 1355–1377 }}
{{S-aft| rows   = 2 | after  = [[Maria, Queen of Sicily|Maria]] }}
{{S-bef| before = [[Frederick I of Athens|Frederick I]] }}
{{S-ttl| title  = [[Duke of Athens]] and of [[Neopatria]] | years  = 1355–1377 }}
{{S-end}}
{{Monarchs of Sicily}}
{{Dukes of Athens}}
{{Infantes of Aragon}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederick 03 the Simple}}
[[Category:1341 births]]
[[Category:1377 deaths]]
[[Category:14th-century kings of Sicily]]
[[Category:Nobility from Catania]]
[[Category:Dukes of Athens]]
[[Category:House of Barcelona (Sicily)]]
[[Category:Burials at Catania Cathedral]]
[[Category:Counts of Malta]]