Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea
Encyclopedia
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
from 1308 to her death as Catherine II, Princess consort of Achaea
Achaea
Achaea is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of West Greece. It is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The capital is Patras. The population exceeds 300,000 since 2001.-Geography:...
from 1332 to 1341, and Governor of Cephalonia
Kefalonia
The island of Cephalonia, also known as Kefalonia, Cephallenia, Cephallonia, Kefallinia, or Kefallonia , is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece, with an area of . It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit...
from 1341 to her death.
Life
She was born in 1303, sometime before 15 April, the eldest daughter of Count Charles of ValoisCharles of Valois
Charles of Valois was the fourth son of Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon. His mother was a daughter of James I of Aragon and Yolande of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Capet and founded the House of Valois...
and Catherine of Courtenay (titular empress as Catherine I). Her maternal grandparents were the titular Emperor Philip of Courtenay
Philip of Courtenay
Philip I of Courtenay was titular Emperor of Constantinople 1273–1283. He was the son of Baldwin II of Constantinople and Marie of Brienne....
and Beatrice of Sicily
Beatrice of Sicily
Beatrice of Sicily was the Empress consort of Philip of Courtenay, titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople.-Family:...
. Beatrice was a daughter of King Charles I of Sicily
Charles I of Sicily
Charles I , known also as Charles of Anjou, was the King of Sicily by conquest from 1266, though he had received it as a papal grant in 1262 and was expelled from the island in the aftermath of the Sicilian Vespers of 1282...
and Beatrice of Provence
Beatrice of Provence
Beatrice of Provence , was a countess regnant of Provence. She was also a Queen consort of Sicily by marriage to King Charles I of Sicily....
. Beatrice was the fourth daughter of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence
Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence
Ramon Berenguer IV , Count of Provence and Forcalquier, was the son of Alfonso II of Provence and Garsenda of Sabran, heiress of Forcalquier. After his father's death , Ramon was imprisoned in the castle of Monzón, in Aragon until he was able to escape in 1219 and claim his inheritance. He was a...
and Beatrice of Savoy
Beatrice of Savoy
Beatrice of Savoy was the daughter of Thomas I of Savoy and Margaret of Geneva. She was Countess consort of Provence by her marriage to Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence.-Family:...
.
Catherine of Valois was a younger half-sister of (among others) Philip VI of France
Philip VI of France
Philip VI , known as the Fortunate and of Valois, was the King of France from 1328 to his death. He was also Count of Anjou, Maine, and Valois from 1325 to 1328...
, Jeanne of Valois and Charles II of Alençon
Charles II of Alençon
Charles II of Alençon, called the Magnanimous was the second son of Charles of Valois and his first wife Margaret, and brother of Philip VI, King of France...
.
Her mother was titular Empress of the Latin Empire
Latin Empire
The Latin Empire or Latin Empire of Constantinople is the name given by historians to the feudal Crusader state founded by the leaders of the Fourth Crusade on lands captured from the Byzantine Empire. It was established after the capture of Constantinople in 1204 and lasted until 1261...
of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. But the city had been captured by the Empire of Nicaea
Empire of Nicaea
The Empire of Nicaea was the largest of the three Byzantine Greek successor states founded by the aristocracy of the Byzantine Empire that fled after Constantinople was occupied by Western European and Venetian forces during the Fourth Crusade...
since 1261. Catherine succeeded her mother as the titular empress on 11 October 1307. She was still a child and remained in the custody of her father, who managed her claims to the empire until his death in 1325.
An early betrothal to Hugh of Burgundy
Hugh V, Duke of Burgundy
Hugh V of Burgundy was Duke of Burgundy between 1306 and 1315.Hugh was the eldest son of Robert II, Duke of Burgundy and Agnes of France. His maternal grandparents were Louis IX of France and Marguerite Berenger of Provence....
, made on 15 April 1303 when she was an infant, was renounced in 1312; ten years later in July 1313, Catherine married Philip I of Taranto
Philip I of Taranto
Philip I of Taranto : of the Angevin house, was titular Emperor of Constantinople , despot of Epirus, King of Albania, Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and Lord of Durazzo....
, King of Albania
Kingdom of Albania
The Kingdom of Albania, or Regnum Albaniae, was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territory he conquered from the Despotate of Epirus in 1271. He took the title of "King of Albania" in February 1272. The kingdom extended from the region of Durrës south along the coast to Butrint...
and Prince of Achaea
Principality of Achaea
The Principality of Achaea or of the Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdom of Thessalonica, along with the Duchy of Athens, until Thessalonica...
. She associated her husband as titular emperor (Philip II) and retained the claim to the empire after his death on December 23, 1332. Robert was his eldest surviving son and succeeded him as Prince of Taranto. In 1333 he received the principality of Achaea by agreement with his uncle John of Gravina. However the thirteen-year-old boy was deemed too young to reign alone and his mother became his co-ruler for the rest of her life.
In 1339 she arrived in Achaea and took an active part in its government. She gave refuge to Nikephoros II Orsini
Nikephoros II Orsini
Nikephoros II Orsini - Doukas , was the ruler of Epirus from 1335 to 1338 and from 1356 until his death in 1359.-Life:...
of Epirus
Despotate of Epirus
The Despotate or Principality of Epirus was one of the Byzantine Greek successor states of the Byzantine Empire that emerged in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade in 1204. It claimed to be the legitimate successor of the Byzantine Empire, along with the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond...
and supported him in his attempt to assert himself in his land against the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos
Andronikos III Palaiologos, Latinized as Andronicus III Palaeologus was Byzantine emperor from 1328 to 1341, after being rival emperor since 1321. Andronikos III was the son of Michael IX Palaiologos and Rita of Armenia...
. Her presence in Achaea was no longer needed by the time Robert reached adulthood in 1341. She became Governor of Cephalonia and spent the last five years of her life in this responsibility. She died in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
in October 1346.
Issue
By Philip I of Taranto, Catherine II had five children:- RobertRobert of TarantoRobert II of Taranto , of the Angevin family, Prince of Taranto , King of Albania , Prince of Achaea , Titular Emperor of Constantinople ....
(1319–1364), Prince of Taranto, titular Emperor of Constantinople (as Robert II). - LouisLouis of TarantoLouis I of Naples , of the House of Anjou, was the Prince of Taranto from 1346 and King of Naples from 1352. He was a son of Philip I of Taranto and Catherine II of Valois, Princess of Achaea. His paternal grandparents were Charles II of Naples and Maria of Hungary...
(1320–1362), Prince of Taranto and King of NaplesKingdom of NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
by right of his wife. - Margaret (about 1325–1380), married (1) Edward Balliol, King of Scotland, and (2) Francis of Baux, Duke of Andria. By the latter, she was mother of James of BauxJames of BauxJames of Baux , Duke of Andria, was the last titular Latin Emperor of Constantinople from 1374 to 1383 and Prince of Achaea from 1382 to 1383....
, Prince of Achaea and titular Emperor of Constantinople. - Mary (1327–?, died young).
- Philip IIPhilip II of TarantoPhilip II of Taranto of the Angevin house, was Prince of Achaea and Taranto, and titular Emperor of Constantinople from 1364 to his death in 1374....
(1329–1374), King of Albania, Prince of Taranto and Achaea, titular Emperor of Constantinople (as Philip III).