Artale I d'Alagona

Artale I d'Alagona (1320 – 5 February 1389) was a Sicilian nobleman of the House of Alagona, Count of Mistretta and later of Paternò and Agosta (now Augusta). A central figure in 14th-century Sicilian politics, he served as one of the “Four Vicars”^[a] who governed the kingdom during the minority of Queen Maria. Closely tied to the Aragonese dynasty yet pursuing his own “Italian” policy, he was the dominant power in eastern Sicily, ruling from his base at Catania.

Artale was the eldest son of Blasco II d'Alagona, Count of Mistretta in the Nebrodi; his mother’s name is unknown.^[4] The family’s principal seat was in Catania, from which they exercised wide influence in eastern Sicily.^[4]

He had several younger brothers, including Manfredi d'Alagona, Blasco III, Giacomo and Matteo.^[5] On his father’s death in 1355, when Artale was about thirty-five, he inherited the county of Mistretta, the paternal fiefs, and the office of Maestro giustiziere (chief justiciar) of the kingdom.^[4]

In the mid-fourteenth century Sicilian politics split into two loose camps. The “Catalan” party backed the Aragonese–Catalan crown (strongest in Catania and the east), while the older “Latin” baronage (rooted in the north and west) often aligned with Angevin interests from Naples after the Sicilian Vespers.^[4]

Among leading magnates of the period, Artale I d'Alagona and Guglielmo Peralta are usually classed with the Catalan party, while Manfredi III Chiaramonte and Francesco II Ventimiglia are associated with the Latin barons; other Latin leaders included the Palizzi and Rosso families. (Alignments were fluid and not strictly geographic.)^{[4][6][7][8][9][10][11]}

In 1355, on his father’s death, Artale became Count of Mistretta, took over leadership of the Catalan faction, and was appointed maestro giustiziere (chief justiciar).^[4]

In 1356–57 Angevin galleys raided the coast near Catania. On 27 May 1357, off Aci, Artale defeated their flotilla, and Louis of Taranto (the Angevin king of Naples) withdrew across the Strait. Although the Angevin ships pulled back, the inland “Latin” barons—among them Manfredi III Chiaramonte and Francesco II Ventimiglia—continued the war by land from the west.^[4]

Between 1358 and 1360 Artale secured Catania from the Latin coalition led by Manfredi III Chiaramonte—retaking the city in 1359 and, after a garrison defection, Castello Ursino on 25 March 1360.^[4]

To cool the civil war he then ceded the wardship (tutela) of the young king to Francesco Ventimiglia in 1361 and promoted the Agreement of Enna in 1362, a settlement that paved the way for the later “Four Vicars”, a baronial regency that governed on the monarch’s behalf.^[4]

In 1364 he lifted the Angevin siege of Messina, a turning point after which the Neapolitan military presence in Sicily steadily collapsed.^[4]

Between 1365 and 1375 Artale reshaped his lands mainly by making swaps with the royal government (the crown) and by receiving grants after rebellions.^[4]

In 1365 he traded the county of Mistretta to the crown in exchange for Paternò and Francavilla. In the same year he also received Mineo from the queen’s estates. As part of these settlements he returned Naro and the castle of Delia to the crown; in 1366 the crown assigned them to Matteo Chiaramonte, Count of Modica. In 1367 he recovered Mistretta and was granted Calatabiano (confiscated from the rebel Manfredi Aurea). He later exchanged Calatabiano for Motta Sant'Anastasia with the Count of Aidone.^[4]

In 1375 he was assigned income from a municipal tax in Messina (the gabella), adding cash revenue to his landed base. His influence in Catania and the east remained pre-eminent throughout this period.^[4]

After King Frederick IV died in 1377, Artale is recorded as vicario generale del Regno (vicar general of the kingdom) and guardian of his daughter Maria, who inherited the throne as a minor.^[4]

In 1378, to manage the truce among rivals and keep government functioning, he brought together a collective regency known as the “Four Vicars”, composed of Artale, Manfredi III Chiaramonte, Guglielmo Peralta and Francesco II Ventimiglia. The vicars governed in the queen’s name, with each predominating in his own region; in practice most power rested with Artale and Chiaramonte.^[4][10][7]

As vicar Artale pursued an “Italian” policy. In 1379–80 he sought the involvement of Gian Galeazzo Visconti by proposing Maria’s marriage, but the plan collapsed when she was abducted from Castello Ursino by Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada and delivered to Peter IV of Aragon. The setback ended Artale’s hegemony, which gave way to that of Chiaramonte.^[4][11]

He remained active in the 1380s: in 1382 he seized the county of Agosta from Moncada and later explored an anti-Aragonese alignment with Genoa and Pope Urban VI.^[4]

In the 1360s Artale enlarged the church of Santa Maria di Nuovaluce on the hill outside Catania and founded there a Carthusian monastery (the Certosa of Santa Maria di Nuovaluce). King Frederick IV confirmed and extended its privileges in a series of charters (from 1360), and Pope Urban V approved the foundation by bull on 25 January 1370. Owing to malaria at the site and the Western Schism, the house was later transferred to the Benedictines and raised to an abbey by Pope Urban VI in 1383. Artale maintained close ties with the community in his will, and was associated with its endowment and protection throughout his career.^[12]

Artale married three times: first to Eleonora Lancia, daughter of Pietro, Count of Caltanissetta; second to Agata Chiaramonte Ventimiglia, daughter of Matteo, Count of Modica; and third to Marchisia Abbate, daughter of Enrico, lord of Favignana.^[4]

He had one legitimate child, Maria (by Agata Chiaramonte Ventimiglia), and two illegitimate children, Maciotta and Giovanni.^[4]

He died at Catania on 5 February 1389 and was buried at the church of Santa Maria di Nuovaluce.^[5][4] In dispositions made near his death he left a large part of his estates and revenues to his daughter Maria (including, among others, Agosta and Paternò, and the baronies of Aci, Gagliano, Mineo, Motta Sant’Anastasia and Mongialino). He assigned offices and incomes among his brothers: to Manfredi the justiciarship and certain governorships; to Blasco III d’Alagona the county of Mistretta and the lordship of Butera; to Giacomo and Matteo revenues from the secrezia of Syracuse and Lentini, respectively.^[5]

• Castello di Lombardia, Enna — associated with the 1362 baronial accord (Agreement of Enna).
• Norman Castle, Paternò — county received by Artale in 1365 in exchange for Mistretta.
• Castello Svevo, Agosta/Augusta — centre of the county seized from the Moncada in 1382.
• Motta Sant'Anastasia — castle and town later acquired by exchange (in place of Calatabiano).