CHIAROMONTE BETWEEN VENTIMIGLIA AND PALIZZI: MARRIAGE DIPLOMACY AND DYNASTIC STRATEGIES IN THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY SICILY

The essay investigates the marriage diplomacy of Chiaromonte family by a detailed analysis of their ties with Ventimiglia and Palizzi, in the context of their relations with the kings of Sicily, the Angevins, the Aragonese, and the papacy. We deduce that the marriage strategies of comital families influenced the island’s politics. The genealogical construction rooted families in the past, so preserving the good reputation of the ancestors was essential. A fair number of sons, able to pass on the family surname and to maintain comital feuds, ensured dynastic continuity and projected towards the future. Blood and personal skills were more important than legal rules, so illegitimacy was not an insurmountable obstacle either for the sons of Francesco I Ventimiglia, who were legitimized by the pope, or for Manfredi III Chiaromonte, natural child of Giovanni il Giovane, who became the head of the family after the death of Giovanni III.