Costanza Chiaramonte

'Costanza Chiaramonte (c. 1377 – 1423) was briefly wife of the King Ladislaus of Naples. With changing political circumstances, her marriage was annulled.

Costanza was a daughter of Manfredi III Chiaramonte, Count of Modica and Malta, and powerful in Palermo. Her marriage to Ladislaus was calculated to bring her family's financial and military support, and not adversity, to his rule. She was married in Gaeta at the age of 12 years, to Ladislaus of Durazzo, who soon became King Ladislaus of Naples. However the fortunes of the Chiaramonte family soon changed: her father died in 1391, and her brother was caught and executed by the Aragonese forces of Martin I of Aragon, who had declared himself Martin II of Sicily. With this turn of fortunes, Ladislaus obtained an annulment by decree of the pope Boniface IX. In July, 1392 the bishop of Gaeta and the cardinal Acciaiuoli announce the dissolution of the marriage in church, and obtain the marriage ring. The supposed reason for the annulment was either the age of the couple or the accusation that Costanza's mother was living disolutely in concubinage. The following year Constance was forced to marry the 4th Count of Altavilla, Andrea di Capua, son of Bartolomeo, and Protonotary of the Kingdom, who was residing in the Palazzo Marigliano, Naples. At the public wedding ceremony, Costanza was said to have proclaimed to her groom, to pride himself as having the king's wife and queen for a concubine.

Her tragic fate attracted later storytellers and songwriters. Even in the 20th century, it was pointed as an example of church hypocrisy on the sanctity of marriage.