Kingdom of Sicily

Coordinates: 38°35′31″N 16°4′44″E / 38.59194°N 16.07889°E / 38.59194; 16.07889
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Kingdom of Sicily
  • Regnum Siciliae (
    Latin)
  • Regnu di Sicilia (Sicilian)
  • Regno di Sicilia (Italian
)
1130–1816
Motto: Animus Tuus Dominus (
Charles I of Anjou
• 1759–1816
Ferdinand III (last)
LegislatureParliament
History 
1130
1282
1816
Preceded by
Succeeded by
County of Sicily
County of Apulia and Calabria
1282:
Kingdom of Naples
1753:
Hospitaller Malta
1816:
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Today part ofItaly
Malta
Map of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1200

The Kingdom of Sicily (

Latin: Regnum Siciliae; Sicilian: Regnu di Sicilia; Italian: Regno di Sicilia[2][3][4][5]) was a state that existed in Sicily and the south of the Italian Peninsula plus, for a time, in Northern Africa from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto
.

After a brief rule by Charles of Anjou, a revolt in 1282 known as the

war of the Spanish succession (1700–1714), the island was taken over by the House of Savoy. In 1720, Savoy gave it to Austria in exchange for Sardinia. Later, the island was ruled by a branch of the Bourbons. Following the Napoleonic period, the Kingdom of Sicily was formally merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which in 1861 became part of the new unified Kingdom of Italy
.

History

Norman conquest

By the 11th century, mainland southern Lombard and Byzantine powers were hiring Norman mercenaries, who were descendants of Vikings in northern France; it was the Normans under Roger I who conquered Sicily, taking it away from the Sicilian Muslims. After taking Apulia and Calabria, Roger occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I of Sicily and his men defeated the Muslims at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the Siege of Palermo, which led to Sicily being completely under Norman control by 1091.[8]

Norman kingdom (1130–1198)

Roger II, the first King of Sicily
The royal mantle
Scribes of and for the various populations of the Kingdom of Sicily: Greeks, Saracens, Latins

The

Duchy of Apulia and the County of Sicily, which had belonged to his cousin William II, Duke of Apulia, until William's death in 1127; and the other Norman vassals. Roger declared his support for the Antipope Anacletus II, who enthroned him as King of Sicily on Christmas Day 1130.[10]

In 1136, the rival of Anacletus,

Henry X, Duke of Bavaria, invaded Sicily. On the River Tronto, William of Loritello surrendered to Lothair and opened the gates of Termoli to him.[11] This was followed by Count Hugh II of Molise. The two armies were united at Bari, from where in 1137 they continued their campaign. Roger offered to give Apulia as a fief to the Empire, which Lothair refused after being pressured by Innocent. At the same period, the army of Lothair revolted.[10][12]

Lothair, who had hoped for the complete conquest of Sicily, then gave

schismatic attitude. On 22 March 1139, at Galluccio, Roger's son Roger III, Duke of Apulia, ambushed the Papal troops with a thousand knights and captured the pope.[12] On 25 March 1139, Innocent was forced to acknowledge the kingship and possessions of Roger with the Treaty of Mignano.[10][12]

Roger spent most of the decade, beginning with his coronation and ending with the

and others.

It was through his admiral George of Antioch that Roger then conquered the littoral of Ifriqiya from the Zirids, taking the unofficial title "King of Africa" and marking the foundation of the Norman Kingdom of Africa. At the same time, Roger's fleet also attacked the Byzantine Empire, making Sicily a leading maritime power in the Mediterranean Sea for almost a century.[10]

Roger's son and successor was

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and the future Emperor Henry VI. William named Constance and Henry the heirs to the throne and had the noblemen swear oath, but the officials did not want to be ruled by a German, so the death of William in 1189 led the kingdom to decline.[11]

With the support of the officials,

Hauteville blood was passed to Frederick, who reigned in Sicily as Frederick I.[11]

Hohenstaufen period (1198–1266)

Constance of Sicily, her husband Emperor Henry VI and their son Frederick II

In 1197, the accession of Frederick, a child who would also become

Markward von Anweiler, margrave of Ancona, regent in 1198. Meanwhile, Pope Innocent III had reasserted papal authority in Sicily, but recognised Frederick's rights. The pope was to see papal power decrease steadily over the next decade and was unsure about which side to back at many junctures.[13]

The Hohenstaufen's grip on power, however, was not secure.

Dipold of Vohburg was defeated by Walter III of Brienne. Markward was killed, and Frederick fell under the control of William of Capparone, an ally of the Pisans. Dipold continued the war against Walter on the mainland until the claimant's death in 1205. Dipold finally wrested Frederick from Capparone in 1206 and gave him over to the guardianship of the chancellor, Walter of Palearia. Walter and Dipold then had a falling out, and the latter captured the royal palace, where he was besieged and captured by Walter in 1207. After a decade, the wars over the regency and the throne itself had ceased.[11]

The reform of the laws began with the

Frederick had to beat off a Papal invasion of Sicily in the

Papacy declared the Kingdom escheated because of the disloyalty of the Hohenstaufen.[17] Under this pretext, Manfred came to an agreement with Louis IX, King of France. Louis's brother, Charles of Anjou, would become king of Sicily. In exchange, Charles recognized the overlordship of the Pope in the Kingdom, paid a portion of the Papal debt, and agreed to pay annual tribute to the Papal States, the Chinea.[17][18]

The Miossi family, a noble family, was commissioned in 1251 by Pope Innocent IV to administer the Kingdom of Sicily.[19] The Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily ended after the 1266 Angevin invasion and the death of Conradin, the last male heir of Hohenstaufen, in 1268.[18]

Angevin Sicily (1266–1282)

Church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo

In 1266, conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led to Sicily's conquest by

Manfred of Sicily in 1258, the relationship between the Papacy and the Hohenstaufen had changed again. Instead of the boy Conradin, safely sequestered across the Alps, the Papacy now faced an able military leader who had greatly supported the Ghibelline cause at the Battle of Montaperti in 1260. Accordingly, when negotiations broke down with Manfred in 1262, Pope Urban IV again took up the scheme of disseising the Hohenstaufen from the kingdom, and offered the crown to Charles of Anjou again. With Papal and Guelph support Charles descended into Italy and defeated Manfred at the Battle of Benevento in 1266 and in 1268 Conradin at the Battle of Tagliacozzo
.

Opposition to French officialdom and taxation combined with incitement of rebellion by agents from the

Kingdom of Two Sicilies
.

The insular Kingdom of Sicily under the Crown of Aragon and Spain (1282–1700)

Martin I, King of Sicily in 1390–1409

Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives or cadet branch of the house of Aragon until 1409 and thence as part of the

Kingdom of Spain until the end of the Spanish branch of the House of Habsburg
in 1700.

Malta under the Knights

Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle Adam takes possession of the island of Malta, 26 October 1530 by René Théodore Berthon

In 1530, in an effort to protect

perpetual fiefdom, in exchange for an annual fee of two Maltese falcons, which they were to send on All Souls' Day to the Viceroy of Sicily.[21] The Maltese Islands had formed part of the county, and later the Kingdom of Sicily, since 1091. The feudal relationship between Malta and the Kingdom of Sicily was continued throughout the rule of the Knights, until the French occupation of Malta in 1798.[21]

After the Maltese rebellion against the French, Malta was under British protection until it became a British crown colony in 1813. This was officially recognized by the Treaty of Paris of 1814, which marked the end of Malta's 700-year relationship with Sicily.

After the War of the Spanish Succession - Savoy and Habsburg rule (1713–1735)

From 1713 until 1720, the Kingdom of Sicily was ruled briefly by the

Treaty of Utrecht, which brought an end to the War of the Spanish Succession. The kingdom was a reward to the Savoyards, who were thus elevated to royal rank. The new king, Victor Amadeus II, travelled to Sicily in 1713 and remained a year before returning to his mainland capital, Turin, where his son the Prince of Piedmont had been acting as regent. In Spain, the results of the war had not been truly accepted, and the War of the Quadruple Alliance was the result. Sicily was occupied by Spain in 1718. When it became evident that Savoy had not the strength to defend as remote a country as Sicily, Austria stepped in and exchanged its Kingdom of Sardinia for Sicily. Victor Amadeus protested this exchange, Sicily being a rich country of over one million inhabitants and Sardinia a poor country of a few hundred thousand, but he was unable to resist his "allies". Spain was finally defeated in 1720, and the Treaty of the Hague ratified the changeover. Sicily belonged to the Austrian Habsburgs, who already ruled Naples.[22]
Victor Amadeus, for his part, continued to protest for three years, and only in 1723 decided to recognize the exchange and desist from using the Sicilian royal title and its subsidiary titles (such as King of Cyprus and Jerusalem).

The two kingdoms under the House of Bourbon of Spain (1735–1816)

Royal Palace of Ficuzza
La Palazzina Cinese di Palermo, built by Ferdinand III of Sicily

In 1734, in the aftermath of the

Duchy of Parma and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. This change of hands opened up a period of economic flourishing and social and political reforms, with many public projects and cultural initiatives directly started or inspired by the king. He remained King of Sicily until his accession to the Spanish throne as Charles III of Spain in 1759, the Treaty of Vienna (1738)
with Austria forbidding a union of the Italian domains with the Crown of Spain.

Charles III abdicated in favour of

Queen Maria Carolina and prime ministers Tanucci (until 1777) and John Acton. The latter tried to distance Naples and Sicily from the influence of Spain and Austria and to place them nearer to Great Britain, then represented by ambassador William Hamilton. This is the period of the Grand Tour, and Sicily with its many natural and historical attractions was visited by a score of intellectuals from all over Europe that brought to the island the winds of the Age of Enlightenment
, and spread the fame of its beauty in the continent.

In 1799, Napoleon conquered Naples, forcing King Ferdinand and the court to flee to Sicily under the protection of the British fleet under the command of Horatio Nelson. While Naples was formed into the Parthenopean Republic with French support and later again a kingdom under French protection and influence, Sicily became the British base of operation in the Mediterranean in the long struggle against Napoleon. Under British guidance, especially from Lord William Bentinck who was commander of British troops in Sicily, Sicily tried to modernise its constitutional apparatus, forcing the King to ratify a Constitution modeled after the British system.[22] The island was under British occupation from 1806 to 1814.[23] The main feature of the new system was that a two-chamber parliament was formed (instead of the three of the existing one). The formation of the parliament brought the end of feudalism in the Kingdom.

After the defeat of

Sicilian revolution of independence occurred, which was put down by the new king, Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies
, who was nicknamed Re Bomba after his 5-day bombardment of Messina. The increased hostility of the peoples and the elites of Sicily towards Naples and the Bourbon dynasty created a very unstable equilibrium, kept under control only by an increasingly oppressive police-state, political executions and exiles.

Society

During the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, the local communities maintained their privileges. The rulers of the Hohenstaufen kingdom replaced the local nobility with lords from northern Italy, leading to clashes and rebellions against the new nobility in many cities and rural communities. These revolts resulted in the destruction of many agrarian areas and the rise of middle class nationalism, which eventually led to urban dwellers becoming allies of the Aragonese.[13] This situation was continued during the short rule of the Angevins until their overthrowing during the Sicilian Vespers. The Angevins began feudalising the country, increasing the power of the nobility by granting them jurisdiction over high justice.[24]

At the same period, the feudalisation of the Kingdom of Sicily was intensified, through the enforcement of feudal bonds and relations among its subjects. The

1669 Etna eruption destroyed Catania. In 1693, 5% of the Kingdom's population was killed because of earthquakes. During that period, there were also plague outbreaks. The 17th and 18th century were an era of decline of the kingdom. Corruption was prevalent among the upper and middle classes of the society. Widespread corruption and mistreatment of the lower classes by the feudal lords led to the creation of groups of brigands, attacking the nobility and destroying their fiefs.[22] These groups, which were self-named "mafia", were the foundation of the modern Sicilian Mafia. The escalation of revolts against the monarchy eventually led to the unification with Italy.[25]

The kingdom had a parliament from 1097, which continued to sit throughout the realm's history until the Sicilian Constitution of 1812.

Demographics

During the reign of

1669 Etna eruption, the population of the Kingdom of Sicily was reduced.[22] In 1803, the population of the Kingdom was 1,656,000.[28] The main cities of the Kingdom at that time were Palermo, Catania, Messina, Modica, Syracuse.[28]

Population of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1803[28]
Division Population
Val di Mazzara 643,000
Val di Demona 521,000
Val di Noto 459,000
Lipari Islands
18,000
Aegadian Islands 12,000
Pantelleria Island 3,000
Total Population 1,656,000
Population of the main cities of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1803[28]
City Population
Palermo 120,000
Catania 40,000
Messina 36,000
Modica 23,500
Syracuse 17,000

Economy

The high fertility of the land led the Norman kings to bring settlers from neighbouring regions or to resettle farmers to areas where cultivation of land was needed. This led to an increase in agricultural production. The main sources of wealth for the Kingdom of Sicily in that time were its maritime cities, most important of which were the ancient port cities of

cloth.[11] Grain and other dry products were measured in salme, which was equivalent to 275.08 litres in the western part of the Kingdom, and 300.3 litres in the eastern part. The salma was divided in 16 tumoli. One tumolo was equivalent to 17,193 litres. Weight was measured in cantari. One cantaro was equivalent to 79.35 kilograms (174.9 lb) and was divided in one hundred rottoli. Cloth was measured in canne. One canna was 2.06 meters long.[7] By the end of the 12th century, Messina
had become one of the leading commercial cities of the kingdom.

Under the kingdom, Sicily's products went to many different lands. Among these were Genoa, Pisa, the Byzantine Empire, and Egypt. Over the course of the 12th century, Sicily became an important source of raw materials for north Italian cities such as Genoa. As the centuries went on, however, this economic relationship became less advantageous to Sicily, and some modern scholars see the relationship as definitely exploitative.[29] Furthermore, many scholars believe that Sicily went into decline in the Late Middle Ages, though they do not agree about when this decline occurred. Clifford Backman argues that it is a mistake to see the economic history of Sicily in terms of victimization, and contends that the decline really began in the second part of the reign of Frederick III, in contrast to earlier scholars who believed that Sicilian decline had set in earlier.[30] Where earlier scholars saw late medieval Sicily in continuous decline, Stephen Epstein argued that Sicilian society experienced something of a revival in the 15th century.[31]

Various treaties with Genoa secured and strengthened the commercial power of Sicily.[11]

The feudalisation of society during the Angevin rule reduced royal wealth and treasury. The dependence of the Angevins on north Italian commerce and financing by Florentine bankers were the main factors which led to the decline of the Kingdom's economy.[24] The continuation of the economic decline combined with the increased population and urbanization led to decrease of agrarian production.

In 1800, one-third of the available crops was cultivated with obsolete methods, exacerbating the problem. In the later period of Spanish rule, the trading system was also inefficient compared with previous periods because of high taxes on exports and monopolising corporations which had total control of prices.[32]

Coinage

A gold coin, which depicts the bust of a man and an eagle
Example of a Messinese augustale

The Norman kings in the 12th century used the

Byzantine solidus six tari.[11] In the kingdom, one onza was equivalent to thirty tari or five florins. One tari was worth twenty grani. One grana was equivalent to six denari. After 1140, the circulation of the copper coin romesina stopped and it was replaced by the follaris. Twenty-four follari were equivalent to one Byzantine miliaresion
.

After defeating the Tunisians in 1231, King Frederick I minted the augustalis. It was minted in 21+12 carats and weighed 5.28 grams.[33] In 1490, the triumphi were minted in Sicily. They were equivalent to the Venetian ducat. One triumpho was worth 11+12 aquilae. One aquila was worth twenty grani. In transactions tari and pichuli were mainly used.[7]

Religion

Palermo Cathedral

During the Norman reign, several different religious communities coexisted in the Kingdom of Sicily. These included Latin Catholics (Roman Catholics), Greek-rite Catholics (Greek Catholic), Muslims and Jews. Although local religious practices were not interrupted, the fact that Latin Catholics were in power tended to favor Latin Catholicism (Roman Catholicism). Bishops of the Greek rite were obliged to recognize the claims of the Latin Church in Sicily, while Muslim communities were no longer ruled by local emirs. Greek-speaking Christians, Latin Christians, and Muslims interacted on a regular basis, and were involved in each other's lives, economically, linguistically, and culturally. Some intermarried. Catholics living in an Arabic-speaking area might adopt Arabic or even Muslim names.[34] In many cities, each religious community had its own administrative and judicial order. In Palermo, Muslims were allowed to publicly call for prayer in mosques, and their legal issues were settled by qadis, judges who ruled in accordance with Islamic law.[11] Since the 12th century, the Kingdom of Sicily recognized Christianity as the state religion.[35]

After the establishment of Hohenstaufen authority, Latin- and Greek-speaking Catholics maintained their privileges, but the Muslim population was increasingly oppressed. The settlements of Italians brought from northern Italy (who wanted Muslim property for their own) led many Muslim communities to revolt or resettle in mountainous areas of Sicily.[36] These revolts resulted in some acts of violence, and the eventual deportation of Muslims, which began under Frederick II. Eventually, the government removed the entire Muslim population to Lucera in Apulia and Girifalco in Calabria, where they paid taxes and served as agricultural laborers, craftsmen, and crossbowmen for the benefit of the king. The colony at Lucera was finally disbanded in 1300 under Charles II of Naples, and many of its inhabitants sold into slavery.[36] The Jewish community was expelled after the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition from 1493 to 1513 in Sicily. The remaining Jews were gradually assimilated, and most of them converted to Roman Catholicism.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Mallette 2011, p. 5.
  2. ^ Documenti per servire alla storia di Sicilia: Diplomatica, Volumes 14-16 (in Italian). U. Manfredi Editori. 1891-01-01. p. XXXII. Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  3. ^ Vio, Michele Del (1706-01-01). Felicis, et fidelissimæ urbis Panormitanæ selecta aliquot ad civitatis decus, et commodum spectantia privilegia per instrumenta varia Siciliæ ... opera don Michaelis De Vio . (in Italian). in palatio senatorio per Dominicum Cortese. p. 314. Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  4. ^ Gregorio, Rosario (1833-01-01). Considerazioni sopra la storia di Sicilia dai tempi normanni sino al presenti, Volume 3 (in Italian). dalla Reale Stamperia. p. 303. Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  5. ^ Mongitore, Antonino; Mongitore, Francesco Serio e (1749-01-01). Parlamenti generali del regno di Sicilia dall' anno 1446 sino al 1748: con le memorie istoriche dell' antico, e moderno uso del parlamento appresso varie nazioni, ed in particolare della sua origine in Sicilia, e del modo di celebrarsi, Volume 1 (in Italian). Presso P. Bentivenga. p. 109. Archived from the original on 2024-01-20. Retrieved 2020-10-18.
  6. ^ "Italy to c. 1380 – The southern kingdoms". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2021-02-14. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ "Chronological - Historical Table Of Sicily". In Italy Magazine. 7 October 2007. Archived from the original on 27 July 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
  9. ^ Douglas, David. The Norman Fate, 1100-1154. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1976.
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ .
  12. ^ .
  13. ^ .
  14. .
  15. .
  16. ^ Loud, G. A. (2016) [2011]. "The Papal 'Crusade' against Frederick II in 1228–1230". In Michel Balard (ed.). La Papauté et les croisades / The Papacy and the Crusades. Routledge. pp. 91–103.
  17. ^ .
  18. ^ .
  19. ^ Adams, C.F. The Lost Kingdom of the Lombardo's. Oxford Press,1967.
  20. .
  21. ^ .
  22. ^ .
  23. ^ W. H. Clements, "The Defences of Sicily, 1806-1815," Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research, Autumn 2009, Vol. 87 Issue 351, pp 256-272
  24. ^ .
  25. .
  26. .
  27. .
  28. ^ a b c d Jedidiah Morse. A Compendious and Complete System of Modern Geography: or, A View of the Present State of the World. Thomas and Andrews. p. 503.
  29. ^ Henri Bresc (in Un monde mediteranéen) claims that Sicily was relegated to being an agricultural satellite for wealthier northern Italian cities, and sees the Sicilian people as an early proletariat
  30. ^ Backman, The Decline and Fall of Medieval Sicily, 1995.
  31. ^ Epstein, An Island for Itself: Economic Development and Social Change in Late Medieval Sicily, (2003).
  32. .
  33. .
  34. ^ Metcalfe, Alex. Muslims and Christians in Norman Sicily: Arabic Speakers and the End of Islam (2003).
  35. .
  36. ^ a b The best discussion of the fate of Sicilian Muslims can be found in Julie Taylor, Muslims in Medieval Italy: The Colony at Lucera (2003), but is also discussed in Alex Metcalfe, The Muslims of Medieval Italy (2009).

Sources

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