Margaret of Sicily, Countess Palatine of the Rhine Margaret of Sicily, Countess Palatine of the Rhine Margaret of Sicily or Margherita di Sicilia-Aragona (Palermo, 1331 – Neustadt, 1377) was a Sicilian princess, daughter of the King Frederick III of Sicily and his wife Eleanor of Anjou. In 1348 she married Rudolf II, Count Palatine of the Rhine, and was Countess Palatine of the Rhine until 1353, year of the husband's death. Margaret was the youngest daughter of King Frederick II of Sicily-Aragon (1272-1337) and his wife Eleanore, daughter of Charles II of Anjou. Her parents resided in Palermo, where she presumably was born. In 1348 Margaret married the
Roger II of Sicily the fleet by two Greeks, first Christodulus and then George of Antioch, whom he made in 1132 "ammiratus ammiratorum" or "Emir of Emirs", in effect prime vizier. (This title later became the English word admiral). Roger made Sicily the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. Roger II had a kingdom where a Muslim scholar such as al-Idrisi could draw from a variety of intellectual traditions, because Sicily is positioned in the center of the Mediterranean and was a major stopping point for people traveling across the Mediterranean. Sicily had been run by several different groups in its history and Sicily