Simone Chiaramonte

Simone Chiaramonte
Chiaramonte coat of arms
Count of Modica
Tenure	1353–1357
Predecessor	Manfredi II Chiaramonte
Successor	Federico Chiaramonte
Other titles	Count of Chiaramonte (1342–1357)
Born	c. 1325[a] Unknown
Died	1357[b] Messina, Kingdom of Sicily
Spouse	Venezia Palizzi (m. 1353; later repudiated)
Issue	None
Father	Manfredi II Chiaramonte
Mother	Mattia d'Aragona

Simone Chiaramonte (c. 1325^[a] — d. 1357^[b]) was a Sicilian noble of the Chiaramonte family, count of Chiaramonte and count of Modica. In 1353 he married Venezia Palizzi at Messina in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the rival Chiaramonte and Palizzi; he died at Messina in circumstances described as mysterious. He left no heirs.

Simone was the only son of Manfredi II Chiaramonte, count of Modica, and Mattia d’Aragona, a natural descendant of King Peter I of Sicily.^[1] On his father’s side he belonged to the senior Chiaramonte line: Manfredi II was the son of Giovanni I Chiaramonte (il Vecchio) and Lucca Palizzi, making Simone’s paternal grandmother a member of the rival Palizzi clan.^[1][4]

Simone grew up within the Chiaramonte family’s estates centred on Palermo—where the family seat, the Steri, symbolised their dominance—and on their southeastern Sicilian holdings around Modica (including Ragusa, Scicli and Chiaramonte).^[1][4]

On 15 September 1342, at the beginning of King Louis’s reign, Simone was dubbed knight and invested as count of Chiaramonte (modern Chiaramonte Gulfi).^[1]

Simone first came to prominence during the revolt in Palermo in January 1351. The city, hostile to his father’s dominance as head of the Latin faction, rose against him. Reinforcements from Caccamo under Simone and his cousin Manfredi III Chiaramonte entered Palermo on 25 January and, together with loyalist forces, brutally suppressed the uprising.^[1] Contemporary accounts stress the severity of the repression, which reinforced the Chiaramonte hold on Palermo but deepened the factional divisions within Sicily.^[1]

After the death of his father in late 1353, Simone inherited the family’s leading position. On 15 December that year he was formally invested as count of Modica, adding to his earlier title of count of Chiaramonte.^[1]

In November 1353 Simone married Venezia Palizzi, daughter of Enrico Palizzi, in a ceremony at Messina attended by King Frederick IV.^[5] The union was intended to reconcile the longstanding rivalry between the Chiaramonte and Palizzi houses, but it was never consummated and was soon repudiated.^[5] In the aftermath, Simone’s followers helped to incite anti-Palizzi unrest in Messina during the same year, highlighting the continued volatility of factional politics on the island.^[5][1]

Simone died suddenly at Messina, probably early 1357. Contemporary sources describe his end as a misteriosa morte, with later chronicles suggesting poisoning.^[2] On 18 March 1357 King Frederick IV formally notified the city of Modica of Simone’s death.^[1] He left no legitimate children, and therefore no direct heirs.^[1]

The succession passed to a collateral branch of the family: first to his paternal uncle Federico Chiaramonte (often styled Federico III; d. 1363/64), then to Federico’s son Matteo Chiaramonte (d. 1377). On Matteo’s death without issue, the county reverted to the senior line in the person of Manfredi III Chiaramonte (d. 1391), a natural son of Giovanni II "il Giovane"; he was succeeded by Andrea Chiaramonte, who was executed at Palermo in 1392, precipitating the family’s fall from power.^[1][2][6]

• 
  Peter III of Aragon, an ancestor of Simone via his mother Mattia d’Aragona
• 
  Castle of the Counts, Modica
• 
  The Palazzo Chiaramonte-Steri in Palermo, seat of the family
• 
  Succession of the Counts of Modica