Antonia of Balzo

Antonia of Baux (; c. 1353 – 23 January 1375), was an Italian noblewoman member of the French House of Baux (italianized as del Balzo) and by marriage Queen consort of Sicily, Duchess consort of Athens and Neopatras. Birth and family The exact birthplace of Antonia of Baux is not known. She was born around 1353 and was the second child and first daughter of Francis of Baux, member of the House of Baux and 1st Duke of Andria, Count of Montescaglioso, Squillace, Avellino and Teano and his second wife, Margaret of Taranto, princess from the Capetian House of Anjou. Her paternal grandparents were Bertrand III of Baux, 1st Count of Andria and Marguerite d'Aunay, and her maternal grandparents were Philip I, Prince of Taranto and Catherine II of Valois, titular Latin Empress of Constantinople and Princess of Achaea. A dynastic marriage: Queen of Sicily On 26 November 1373, Antonia married Frederick III, King of Sicily, Duke of Athens and Neopatras. The bride was approximately twenty years old and the groom thirty-one. The sealed the peace between the Kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, priorly agreed, and was the result of the diplomatic efforts of Pope Gregory IX, who wanted to end the war between both Kingdoms, which began as early as 1313. He managed to convince King Frederick III and Queen Joanna I of Naples of the need for a peace agreement, secured by a dynastic marriage between both countries. For this, the Pope even prevented the planned marriage between the King of Sicily and Antonia Visconti, daughter of the Lord of Milan; acting in the interests of the papacy, Pope Gregory IX supported the independence of the Kingdom of Sicily from the Kingdom of Aragon. Negotiations between both parties were carried out simultaneously in Rome (where a peace agreement between the kingdoms was being prepared) and Naples (where marriage negotiations were underway). The Pope appointed the Archbishop of Naples as his representative for the last on 6 February 1372. On 1 October, was finally received the pontificial blessing for the marriage between King Frederick and Antonia. By this time, the peace agreement between the Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples had already been in their final stages.