The 1412 Compromise of Caspe (Compromiso de Caspe in Spanish, Compromís de Casp in Catalan) was an act and resolution of parliamentary representatives of the constituent realms of the Crown of Aragon (the Kingdom of Aragon, Kingdom of Valencia, and Principality of Catalonia), meeting in Caspe, to resolve the interregnum following the death of King Martin of Aragon in 1410 without a legitimate heir. Succession through the male line, as ordained in the will of James I of Aragon should have gone to James II, Count of Urgell, however multiple others claimed the throne, which led to the "conclave" and compromise.
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Compromise of Caspe in the context of Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily (Latin: Regnum Siciliae; Sicilian: Regnu di Sicilia; Italian: Regno di Sicilia) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto.
After a brief rule by Charles of Anjou, a revolt in 1282 known as the Sicilian Vespers threw off Angevin rule in the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in the mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled Kingdom of Sicily, although it is retroactively referred to as the Kingdom of Naples. The Kingdom of Sicily on the island(also known as Kingdom of Trinacria between 1282 and 1442) on the other hand, remained an independent kingdom ruled by relatives of the House of Barcelona, and was then added permanently to the Crown of Aragon as a result of the Compromise of Caspe of 1412. Following the dynastic union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon in 1479, it was a viceroyalty of the Spanish kingdom. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1700–1714), the island was taken over by the House of Savoy. In 1720, Savoy gave it to Austria in exchange for Sardinia. Later, the island was ruled by a branch of the Bourbons. Following the Napoleonic period, the Kingdom of Sicily was formally merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which in 1861 became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy.
Compromise of Caspe in the context of Kingdom of Trinacria
The Kingdom of Trinacria was established after Sicilian Vespers in 1282, when King Peter III of Aragon ascended the throne, and was consolidated after the War of the Sicilian Vespers in 1302. According to the Peace of Caltabellota, the Kingdom of Sicily was officially divided into two parts, one of which was the island part of Sicily, officially called the Kingdom of Trinacria, but informally called the Kingdom of Sicily.
Since then, Sicily island was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives of the House of Barcelona, and was then added permanently to the Crown of Aragon as a result of the Compromise of Caspe of 1412. Meanwhile, the continental part of the Kingdom of Sicily, known colloquially as the Kingdom of Naples, remained under the crown of King Charles II of Anjou. The two resulting kingdoms were separated until 1442, when King Alfonso V of Aragon conquered the Kingdom of Naples and unified both Kingdoms.
Compromise of Caspe in the context of House of Barcelona
The House of Barcelona was a medieval dynasty that ruled the County of Barcelona continuously from 878 and the Crown of Aragon from 1137 (as kings from 1162) until 1410. They descend from the Bellonids, the descendants of Wilfred the Hairy. They inherited most of the Catalan counties by the thirteenth century and established a territorial Principality of Catalonia, uniting it with the Kingdom of Aragon through marriage and conquering numerous other lands and kingdoms until the death of the last legitimate male of the main branch, Martin the Humanist, in 1410. Cadet branches of the house continued to rule Urgell (since 992) and Gandia. Cadet branches of the dynasty had also ruled Ausona intermittently from 878 until 1111, Provence from 1112 to 1245, and Sicily from 1282 to 1409. By the Compromise of Caspe of 1412 the Crown of Aragon passed to a branch of the House of Trastámara, descended from the infanta Eleanor of the house of Barcelona.
Compromise of Caspe in the context of Alfonso of Aragon and Foix
Alfonso de Aragón y Foix (1332 - Gandia, 5 March 1412) also called Alfonso I of Gandía "the old" and Alfonso IV of Ribagorza, was the eldest son of Count Peter of Ribagorza and Juana of Foix. He was the grandson of James II of Aragon and cousin of Pedro IV "the Ceremonious". He held the titles of Duke of Gandía (from 1399), Count of Denia (since 1355), Count of Ribagorza (from 1361), Marquis of Villena (since 1366), and first Constable of Castile.
He was a claimant to the Crown of Aragon in the succession crisis that followed the death of Martin of Aragon with no children. Alfonso claimed the crown as senior male-line descendant of James II. Alfonso died before the crisis was resolved by the Compromise of Caspe; his claim was inherited by his brother, Juan of Aragon and Foix.