Elvira Queen of Sicily [10713] ²⁴

  General Notes:

http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/cssbct/cgi-bin/gedlkup.php/n=royal?royal10460

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvira_of_Castile_(Sicilian_queen)

She was a daughter of Alfonso VI of Castile by his fourth queen, Isabella (perhaps identical to the Moslem convert Zaida of Seville , baptized as Isabel, who had been Alfonso's mistress). Elvira was raised in Toledo , so she must have gotten used to a significant level of convivencia which was present in Sicily as well.

Elvira married Count Roger II of Sicily in 1117, but only infrequently saw him thereafter, for he was much preoccupied with rebellions on the Italian Peninsula and she stayed with her children in Palermo the capital. Despite this, the marriage was undoubtedly happy. In 1130, she became queen of Sicily when her husband had himself crowned king. She bore Roger five sons by 1135.

In 1135, Roger fell ill. The illness was grave and infectious. Roger survived, but Elvira did not. Her death put Roger in such a deep depression that he spent days alone in his room which made people think he had died. This unusal reaction proves that the marriage of Roger and Elvira was not yet another medieval political affair, but an extraordinary happy union. Roger remained a widower for fifteen years and remarried only when four out of five of his sons with Elvira died.

Elvira married Roger II the Great of Sicily King of Naples and Sicily [6371] [MRIN: 4759], son of Roger I of Sicily Count of Sicily [6372] and Adelaide del Vasto Queen Consort of Jerusalem [63775], in 1117. (Roger II the Great of Sicily King of Naples and Sicily [6371] died in 1154.)