Don Alfonso Fadrique (died 1338) was the eldest and illegitimate son of Frederick II of Sicily

Frederick III of Sicily

Frederick II was the regent and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso and James...

. He served as vicar general

Vicar general

A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...

 of the Duchy of Athens

Duchy of Athens

The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....

 from 1317 to 1330.

He was first proclaimed vicar general by his father in 1317 and sent off to govern Athens on behalf of his younger half-brother Manfred

Manfred of Athens

Manfred , infante of Sicily, was the second son of Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou. His maternal grandparents were Charles II of Naples and Maria Arpad of Hungary....

. He arrived in Piraeus

Piraeus

Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....

 with ten galleys later that year, but Manfred had died and was succeeded by another brother, William II. In the year of his arrival, Fadrique married Marulla, the daughter of Boniface of Verona

Boniface of Verona

Boniface of Verona was an Lombard Crusader in Latin Greece during the early fourteenth century. From 1296 he was, in right of his wife, Agnes of Cicone, the Lord of Karystos, a triarch of Negroponte, and a great lord in the Duchy of Athens, owning thirteen castles there as a gift from Duke Guy...

, thus allying himself with the chief lord of Euboea

Euboea

Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...

. By this marriage, also, he acquired rights to the castles of Larmena, Carystus

Carystus

Carystus ; was an ancient city-state on Euboea. In the Iliad it is controlled by the Abantes. By the time of Thucydides it was inhabited by Dryopians.- Persian War :...

, Lamia

Lamia (city)

Lamia is a city in central Greece. The city has a continuous history since antiquity, and is today the capital of the regional unit of Phthiotis and of the Central Greece region .-Name:...

, and Gardiki

Gardiki

Gardiki , older form: Gardikion may refer to the following villages with of including this name in Greece:*Gardiki Omilaion, a village in Phthiotis*Gardiki Souli, a village in Thesprotia, part of Souli...

.

Over the next two years, Fadrique warred with the Republic of Venice

Republic of Venice

The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...

 and stormed the city of Negroponte

Negroponte

Negroponte can refer to:*the Greek island of Euboea, called Negroponte in Italian**Chalkis, the island's capital, named Negroponte during the Middle Ages...

 with Turks

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 after Boniface of Verona died. In 1318, John II Comnenus Ducas, the Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 sebastokrator

Sebastokrator

Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used by other rulers whose states bordered the Empire or were within its sphere of influence. The word is a compound of "sebastos" Sebastokratōr was a senior court title in the late Byzantine Empire. It was also used...

of Neopatria died and Fadrique invaded Thessaly

Thessaly

Thessaly is a traditional geographical region and an administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, Thessaly was known as Aeolia, and appears thus in Homer's Odyssey....

. He took possession of his castles at Lamia and Gardiki and conquered Neopatria, Siderocastron, Loidoriki, Domokos

Domokos

Domokos is a town and a municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. The town Domokos is the seat of the municipality of Domokos and of the former Domokos Province...

, and Pharsalus. He conquered the palace of the Ducae at Ypati

Ypati

Ypati is a village and a former municipality in Phthiotis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Lamia, of which it is a municipal unit. Its 2002 population was 6,855 for the municipality...

 and took the title of Vicar General of the Duchy of Neopatria. He built a tower at Ypati.

In 1330, Alfonso was relieved of his duties as vicar general and replaced by Odo de Novelles. He was compensated with the Sicilian counties of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 and Gozo

Gozo

Gozo is a small island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Southern European country of Malta; after the island of Malta itself, it is the second-largest island in the archipelago...

. He died in 1338 and left three sons: Pedro

Pedro I Fadrique

Pedro I Fadrique , Count of Salona, was the eldest son of Alfonso Fadrique, vicar general of Athens, and Marulla of Verona.He was excommunicated along with his father and his brother James on 29 December 1335 by Guglielmo Frangipani, Archbishop of Patras. In 1338, he succeeded his father in Salona,...

, James, and Boniface.

Sources

• Setton, Kenneth M.
  Kenneth Setton
  Kenneth Meyer Setton was an American historian and an expert on the history of medieval Europe.- Early life, education and awards :...
  
  (general editor) A History of the Crusades: Volume III — The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. Harry W. Hazard, editor. University of Wisconsin Press: Madison, 1975.
• Setton, Kenneth M. Catalan Domination of Athens 1311–1380. Revised edition. Variorum: London, 1975.