Being the daughter of Roger II, King of Sicily, Constance (1154-1198) was in essence a Bargain and Sale Deed valued primarily for the real estate she would bring into a marriage. Historians have shown little interest in Constance, an historical oversight or perhaps an example of historical misogyny.

Compounding the slight are two facts about Constance which stimulated unflattering contemporary rumors: she married at the late age of thirty-two and gave birth to her only child at age forty. The whispers: she was ugly and a nun and required papal dispensation to marry, and the child was not hers. And the latter gave rise to the most fairytale example of proof beyond a reasonable doubt—she erected a large tent in the market square so that any woman could observe the delivery.

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