SCOT AT THE COURT OF SICILY 29 



him imparting the ripe fruits of that diHgence to his 

 royal charge, whose education, so far as regarded 

 formal study, was thereby brought to a close. 



In the year 1209, when Frederick was but 

 fourteen years of age, the quiet study and seclusion 

 in which he still lived with those who taught him 

 was brought to an abrupt and, one must think, 

 premature conclusion. The boy was married, and 

 to a lady ten years his senior, Constance, daughter 

 of the King of Aragon, and already widow of the 

 King of Hungary. It is not hard to see that such 

 a union must have been purely a matter of arrange- 

 ment. The Prince of Palermo, undergrown and 

 delicate as he was,^ promised to be, as King of 

 Sicily and possibly Emperor, the noblest husband of 

 his time. Pope Innocent iii., his guardian, foresaw 

 this, and chose a daughter of Spain as most fit to 

 occupy the proud position of Frederick's wife, queen, 

 and perhaps empress. Had the wishes of Kome 

 prevailed at the Court of Aragon from the first, 

 this marriage would have taken place even earlier 

 than it did. The delay seems to have been owing, 

 not to any reluctance on the part of the bride's 

 parents, but solely to the doubt which of two sisters, 

 elder or younger, widow or maid, should accept the 

 coveted honour. 



It was in spring, the loveliest season of the year 

 in that climate, that the fleet of Spain, sent to bear 

 the bride and her suite, rose slowly over the sea 

 rim and dropped anchor in the Bay of Palermo. 

 Constantia came with many in her company, the 

 flower of Catalan and Provencal chivalry, led by her 

 brother. Count Alfonso. The Bishop of Mazara, 



^ His mother was nearly fifty years old at his birth. 



