Bianca Lancia
daughter of Manfredo Lancia
Afffaire with
Friedrich II, Emperor 1212-1220-1250, King of Sicily 1197-1250
Because of her brother Manfredo's friendship with Emperor Friedrich
II, the whole Lancia family had moved by 1230 to Sicily where her brother
Manfredo remained constantly at court. At this time Emperor Friedrich II
was forty-seven and a widower. In 1232 he fathered a son by Bianca Lancia,
about whom nothing is known except that she also gave birth to a daughter,
Constance, and was involved with the Emperor for sixteen years.
Indeed, so little is known of Bianca that it is not even certain that
Manfredo the elder was her father, for there is the possibility that there
were two Biancas, mother and daughter, the first being
Manfredo the elder's daughter. This would explain the difference in
age of Manfredo the younger who would then be her uncle and not an elder
brother.
Many historians are convinced that---after the death of his third wife,
Isabella of England---Friedrich II then married Bianca. It is significant
that their son, Manfredo, is the only one of his illegitimate children
mentioned in his will. Apart from a third wife for Friedrich II, there
had been other mistresses besides, with the influence of Islam in Sicily
at the time, the famous odalisques of his harem. Yet nothing affected their
relationship. Their son, Manfredo, was not only the nearest and most favoured
of the Emperor's children but was present when the Emperor died. The Emperor
also remained a close friend with Manfredo Lancia the younger. It is not
known when Bianca died other than that she survived the Emperor.
Source: Leo van de Pas
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