Manfredi III Chiaramonte (died November 1391) was a Sicilian

History of Sicily

The history of Sicily has seen Sicily usually controlled by greater powers—Roman, Vandal, Byzantine, Islamic, Norman, Hohenstaufen, Catalan, Spaniard—but also experiencing short periods of independence, as under the Greeks and later as the Emirate then Kingdom of Sicily...

 nobleman.

Of French origins, he was given the County of Modica

County of Modica

The County of Modica was a semi-independent feudal territory within the Kingdom of Sicily from 1296 to 1812. Its capital was Modica, on the southern tip of the island, although the cities of Ragusa and Scicli housed some government offices for a period...

, then one of the most powerful fiefs in the Kingdom of Sicily

Kingdom of Sicily

The Kingdom of Sicily was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy...

, in 1377. He was also made lord of Trapani

Trapani

Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.-History:...

, Agrigento

Agrigento

Agrigento , is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy, and capital of the province of Agrigento. It is renowned as the site of the ancient Greek city of Akragas , one of the leading cities of Magna Graecia during the golden...

, Bivona

Bivona

Bivona is an Italian comune in the Province of Agrigento, Sicily.-Geography:Bivona is located at the feet of the Monti Sicani, in the mainland of Agrigento, on the boundary with the province of Palermo...

, Licata

Licata

Licata is a city and comune located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River , about midway between Agrigento and Gela...

, Castronovo

Castronovo di Sicilia

Castronovo di Sicilia is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 50 km southeast of Palermo.-External links:*...

, Lentini

Lentini

Lentini , historically Leontini, Leontinoi , or Leontium, is a town and comune in the Province of Syracuse, southeast Sicily .-History:...

, Palma di Montechiaro

Palma di Montechiaro

Palma di Montechiaro is a town and comune in the province of Agrigento, Sicilia, Italy.Formerly known as Palma, in 1863, Montechiaro was added to the name, in honour of the Chiaramonte family whose stronghold is close to the town.-Main sights:*Mother Church*Castle*Benedictine Monastery*Ducal...

 and Mussomeli

Mussomeli

Mussomeli is a town and comune in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, Italy.-History:Mussomeli was founded in the 14th century by Manfredo III Chiaramonte with the name Manfredi, but later the current name, probable of Arab origin, was reimposed. In 1549 it became a county under the Lanza family...

, where he built a castle which still bears his name. Manfredi was governor of Messina and, after having liberated the island of Jerba from Arab pirates, he was made also lord of it. He held is court in the Palazzo Chiaramonte

Palazzo Chiaramonte

thumb|250px|Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri.Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri is a historical palace in Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy.The building was begun in the early 14th century, and was the residence of the powerful Sicilian lord Manfredi III Chiaramonte...

 of Palermo

Palermo

Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...

.

Despite having obtained his lands by the Aragonese

House of Aragon

The House of Aragon is the name given several royal houses that ruled the County, the Kingdom or the Crown of Aragon.Some historiansGuillermo Fatás y Guillermo Redondo, Alberto Montaner Frutos, Faustino Menéndez Pidal de Navascués...

 Kings of Sicily, he usually sided for the Angevines

Capetian House of Anjou

The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...

 who held the rival Kingdom of Naples

Kingdom of Naples

The 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...

. In 1354 Manfredi was besieged in Lentini by the Aragonese troops of Artale I Alagona; the latter was able to capture it by treason only in 1360. Manfredi was captured and imprisoned in Catania

Catania

Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...

; however he later escaped and regained his possessions.

His daughter Costanza married the future King Ladislaus of Naples in Gaeta

Gaeta

Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....

 in 1389. At the death of king Frederick III, Manfredi became viceroy and tried to defend the throne of Sicily by the illegitimate king Martin I

Martin I of Sicily

Martin I of Sicily , called "The Younger", was King of Sicily from 1390 to 1409.Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily. In 1389/1390/February, 1392 he married Maria of Sicily, born in 1362/1363...

. Manfredi Chiaramonte died in Palermo in 1391. His son Andrea Chiaramonte, governor of Palermo, was beheaded in 1392 by Martin I of Aragon after the fall of Palermo.