Background
His mother was his father"s concubine, the Sicilian noblewoman Tarsia Rizzani.
His mother was his father"s concubine, the Sicilian noblewoman Tarsia Rizzani.
Frederic was one of two illegitimate children recognised by King Martin the Younger of Sicily. Queen Maria, the children"s grandmother, assumed the responsibility for their upbringing and education. The Queen died in 1406.
In 1409, King Martin the Younger died.
His father"s death, following the deaths of his legitimate half-brothers, left Frederic as the only living male descendant of Martin the Elder, now also king of Sicily. The old king intended to ensure Frederic"s accession at least to the throne of Sicily.
He thus sought to have Frederic legitimated by the pope, but died from laughter a year after Martin the Younger. The question of succession not being settled yet, an interregnum ensued.
The nobility of Sicily preferred Frederic to Ferdinand, but the proposal to make the former king of independent Sicily failed.
Frederic was created Count of Luna and made an admiral. As such, he took part in an expedition to the island of Djerba, commanded by Infante Peter, Count of Alburquerque, in 1425. He also accompanied the army of King Alfonso the Magnanimous to Castile in order to liberate the King"s brother, Infante Henry, Duke of Villena.
Frederic resumed his claim to the throne in the 1430s, for which he was imprisoned and all his lands, including the County of Luna and the city of Segorb, were confiscated.
He died as a prisoner.