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Birth:          ABT 1200 poss. Agliano, Italy
Death:          ABT 1245 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bianca_Lancia
Bianca Lancia d'Agliano (also called Beatrice and Blanca; c. 1200/10 – c. 1244/46) 
was an Italian noblewoman.[1] She was the mistress and later the last wife of the 
Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II.[1] The marriage was conducted while she was on 
her deathbed, therefore it was considered non-canonical.
Family[edit]

Possibly born in Agliano in Piedmont, where her ancestors of the Ghibelline Lancia (or 
Lanza) noble family, so-called since Manfred I (fl. 1160–1214) had been lancifer 
pikeman of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, served as margraves. There is no source 
which definitively states who her parents were, historians have offered three theories 
that she was a granddaughter of Manfred I Lancia:
1.as daughter of his daughter (maybe also named Bianca), by a son (name unknown) 
of Guglielmo di Moncucco and Belda di Agliano.
2.as daughter of his son Bonifacio di Agliano by an unknown wife.[2]
3.as daughter of his son Manfred II, possible from a marriage to a lady called Bianca, 
of the Maletta family.

If she was a daughter of Manfred II, she had seven siblings: four brothers (Manfred III, 
Guglielmo, Galvano and Frederick) and three sisters (Beatrice, Agnes and Isabella).

Relationship with Frederick II[edit]

Bianca lived most of her life in Lancia Castle of Brolo, the ancestral residence of her 
family, the Castello Normanno in Paterṇ and the castle of Gioia del Colle. She met 
Frederick II, who was then married to Yolande of Jerusalem, in 1225 at Agliano near 
Asti. Thenceforth, it is said, the two maintained a romantic relationship.

According to some historians, Bianca was the only true love of Frederick's life; others 
consider this a romantic exaggeration. It was certainly beneficial to the interests of the 
Lancia family, who were favoured by the Emperor with political posts in Italy (Manfredo 
III was appointed Imperial Vicar of the Holy Roman Empire's northern Italian territories 
and Podesta of Alessandria, Milan and Chieri; Galvano became Imperial Vicar of 
Tuscany, Podesta of Padova, Prince of Salerno, Count of Fondi and Grand Marshal of 
Sicily; and Frederick was appointed Count of Squillace and Viceroy of Apulia). 
Nonetheless, the relationship of Bianca and Frederick was the longest to all the affairs 
of the Emperor.

After the death of Isabella of England, Frederick's third wife, in 1241, he endowed 
Bianca with the castle of Monte Sant'Angelo, located in the cities of Vieste and 
Siponto. By the terms of the will of William II of Sicily, the castle was the traditional 
dower of the Sicilian queens consort.

Bianca died either in the castle of Paterṇ or the castle of Gioia del Colle.

Marriage and children[edit]

The Chronicle of Salimbene di Adam, and also Matthew of Paris claimed that a 
"confirmatio matrimonii in articulo mortis" ("marriage ceremony in the moments of 
death") took place between Bianca and Frederick when she was dying. Bianca, 
apparently, desired the marriage for the salvation of her soul and the safety of their 
children's future.[3][4] This marriage however was not deemed canonical by the 
Church, perhaps due to the fact that Frederick and Bianca's children were all born out 
of wedlock.

Frederick and Bianca had three children together:
Constance (1230–1307), who married the Emperor of Nicea, John Vatatzes, and 
thereupon her name changed to Anna.
Manfred (1232–1266), who succeeded his father as ruler of Sicily (initially as regent, 
before usurping the throne for himself).
Violante (1233–1264), who married Richard Sanseverino, Count of Caserta.

Death[edit]

It is not known exactly when she died. There are several conflicting reports. This date 
lingers in various reference works but appears based only on the assumption that she 
died after the birth of her last child, and before the marriage of her husband to his 
next wife.

There are credible reports that she married Frederick while she was on her deathbed, 
and that her son was 12 at this time. Bianca may have died a short while before the 
wedding of her daughter to John Vatatzes in 1244.[5] One source states that she died 
20 years after the start of her relationship with Frederick, however the same source 
states that she died 20 years before events that were occurring in 1256.


Marriage To ____ Frederick (Friedrich) II (26 Dec 1194 - 13 Dec 1250)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Henry (Heinrich) VI (Nov 1165 - 28 Sep 1197)
OF SICILY Constanza (2 Nov 1154 - 27 Nov 1199)

Children by ____ Frederick (Friedrich) II 26 Dec 1194 - 13 Dec 1250
____ Manfred (1232 - 26 Feb 1266)

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