Born in 1237 to Peter III of Aragon and Constance, daughter of Manfred of Swabia, Frederick II signed the Treaty of Caltabellotta in 1302, putting an end to the Sicilian Vespers, becoming King of Trinacria with the proviso that upon his death the island would be passed on to the Anjou family. He sanctioned the pact by marrying Eleanor of Anjou, the daughter of Charles II of Anjou. Having broken the peace, he assumed the title of Frederick III of Sicily and appointed his son Peter as his descendant. Mentioned in the third canto of the Purgatory cycle of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, it also appears in the apse of the high altar of Messina Cathedral.
