Kingdom of Sicily 641373 225547757 2008-07-14T07:01:27Z Chiavaro 5119599 /* See also */ {{Infobox Former Country |native_name = Regno di Sicilia |conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Sicily |common_name = Sicily |continent = Europe |country = Italy |government_type = Monarchy | |year_start = 1130 |year_end = 1816 |event_start = |date_start = |event_end = Split in half |date_end = [[Sicilian Vespers|1282]] |event_post = Disestablished |date_post = [[Two Sicilies|1816]] | |p1 = County of Sicily |flag_p1 = |s1 = Kingdom of the Two Sicilies |flag_s1 = Flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies 1738.gif |s2 = Kingdom of Naples |flag_s2 = Flag of the Kingdom of Naples.svg | |image_flag = Flag of the Kingdom of Sicily.svg |image_coat = Aragon-Sicily Arms.svg |image_map = Kingdom of Sicily 1154.svg |image_map_caption = The Kingdom of Sicily as it existed at the death of its founder, [[Roger II of Sicily]], in 1154. |capital = Palermo |latd= |latm= |latNS= |longd= |longm= |longEW= | |national_motto = |national_anthem = |common_languages = |religion = Roman Catholicism | |leader1 = [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]] |year_leader1 = 1130-1154 |leader2 = [[Ferdinand IV of Naples|Ferdinand III]] |year_leader2 = 1759-1816 |title_leader = [[Monarch|King]] |footnotes = |currency = [[Sicilian piastra]] }} The '''Kingdom of Sicily''' ({{lang-la|Regnum Siciliae ''or'' Sicilie}}; {{lang-it|Regno di Sicilia'', commonly abbreviated'' '''Regno'''}}) was a state that existed in the south of [[Italy]] from its founding by [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]] in 1130 until 1816. The Kingdom of Sicily covered not only the island of [[Sicily]] itself, but also the whole [[Mezzogiorno]] region of southern [[Italy]] and, until [[1530]], the islands of [[Malta]] and [[Gozo]]. The island was divided into three regions; Valle di Mazzara, Valle di Demona and Valle di Noto. It was sometimes called the ''regnum Apuliae et Siciliae'' until 1282, when the mainland and island parts of the kingdom separated politically; it was known as [[Kingdom of Naples]] from then on. After 1302 it was sometimes called the '''Kingdom of Trinacria'''. Often the kingship was vested in another monarch such as the King of [[Aragon]], the King of [[Spain]] or the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]. In 1816 the Kingdom of Sicily merged with Kingdom of Naples into the newly created [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]. ==Norman kingdom== {{Unreferencedsection|date=April 2008}} On the death of [[William II, Duke of Apulia]], in [[1127]], the [[Duchy of Apulia]] and the [[County of Sicily]] were united under the rule of [[Roger II of Sicily]], one of the greatest rulers of the [[Middle Ages]]. Roger threw his support behind the [[Antipope Anacletus II]], who duly enthroned him ''King of Sicily'' on Christmas Day [[1130]]. Roger spent most of the decade beginning with his coronation and ending with his great [[Assizes of Ariano]] fending off one invader or other and quelling rebellions by his premier vassals: [[Grimoald of Bari]], [[Robert II of Capua|Robert of Capua]], [[Ranulf of Alife]], [[Sergius VII of Naples|Sergius of Naples]] and others. In [[1139]], the [[Treaty of Mignano]] granted Roger recognition of his kingship from the legitimate pope. It was through his admiral [[George of Antioch]] that Roger then proceeded to conquer the [[Mahdia]] in Africa ([[Ifriqiya]]), taking the unofficial title "King of Africa." At the same time Roger's powerful fleet attacked the [[Byzantine Empire]] and made Sicily the leading maritime power in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] for almost a century. Roger's son and successor was [[William I of Sicily|William the Bad]], though his nickname derives primarily from his lack of popularity with the chroniclers, who supported the baronial revolts William crushed. His reign ended in peace ([[1166]]), but his son, [[William II of Sicily|William II]], was a minor. Until the end of the boy's [[Regent|regency]] in [[1172]], the kingdom saw turmoil which almost brought the ruling family down, although the reign of the second William is remembered as two decades of almost continual peace and prosperity. For this more than anything, he is nicknamed "the Good." However, his death without heirs in [[1189]] threw the realm into chaos. [[Tancred of Lecce]] seized the throne but had to contend with the revolt of his distant cousin [[Roger of Andria]] and the invasion of [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor]] on behalf of his wife, [[Constance of Sicily|Constance]], the daughter of Roger II. Constance and Henry eventually prevailed and the kingdom fell in [[1194]] to the [[Hohenstaufen]] dynasty. Through Constance, however, the [[Hauteville family|Hauteville]] blood was passed to the great [[Frederick I of Sicily|Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor]]. ==Hohenstaufen kingdom== The accession of Frederick, a child who would then become also the [[Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II]], in [[1197]] greatly affected the immediate future of Sicily. For a land so used to centralised royal authority, the king's young age caused a serious power vacuum. His uncle [[Philip of Swabia]] moved to secure Frederick's inheritance by appointing [[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. The Hohenstaufen grip on power, however, was not secure. [[Walter III of Brienne]] had married the daughter of Tancred and come to the south in [[1201]] to claim the kingdom. In [[1202]], an army led by the chancellor [[Walter of Palearia]] and [[Dipold of Vohburg]] was defeated by Walter. Markward was killed and Frederick fell under the control of [[William of Capparone]], an ally of the [[Pisa]]ns. 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. Frederick built on the reform of the laws begun at the [[Assizes of Ariano]] in [[1140]] by his grandfather [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]]. His initiative in this direction was visible as early as the [[Assizes of Capua]] (1220) but came to fruition in his promulgation of the [[Constitutions of Melfi]] ([[1231]], also known as ''[[Liber Augustalis]]''), a collection of laws for his realm that was remarkable for its time and was a source of inspiration for a long time after. It made the Kingdom of Sicily an [[absolute monarchy|absolutist monarchy]], the first centralized [[state]] in Europe to emerge from [[feudalism]]; it also set a precedent for the primacy of written law. With relatively small modifications, the ''Liber Augustalis'' remained the basis of Sicilian law until [[1819]]. During this period, he also built the [[Castel del Monte]] and in [[1224]] created the [[University of Naples]]: now called [[Università Federico II]], it remained the sole [[athenaeum]] of Southern Italy for centuries. Frederick II's heir in Sicily was his illegitimate son [[Manfred of Sicily|Manfred]], who ruled the kingdom for fifteen years while other Hohenstaufen heirs were busy in Germany. The Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily ended after the 1266 [[Angevin]] invasion and the death of [[Conradin]], the last male Hohenstaufen, in 1268. ==Angevin and Aragonese kingdoms== [[Image:Aragon-Sicily Arms.svg|thumb|125px|right|Coat of Arms of the Aragonese Kings of Sicily.]] Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy led in [[1266]] to Sicily's conquest by [[Charles I of Sicily|Charles I]], Duke of [[Anjou]]. Opposition to French officialdom and taxation led in [[1282]] to the [[Sicilian Vespers]] insurrection and successful invasion by king [[Peter III of Aragon]]. The resulting [[War of the Sicilian Vespers]] lasted until the [[Peace of Caltabellotta]] in [[1302]]. The Peace divided the old Kingdom of Sicily in two. The island of Sicily, called the "Kingdom of Sicily beyond the Lighthouse" or the [[Trinacria|Kingdom of Trinacria]], went to [[Frederick III of Sicily|Frederick III]], who had been ruling it, and the peninsular territories (the [[Mezzogiorno]]), contemporaneously called Kingdom of Sicily but called [[Kingdom of Naples]] by modern scholarship, went to [[Charles II of Naples|Charles II]], who had been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy ''status quo''. Sicily was ruled as an independent kingdom by relatives of the kings of Aragon until [[1409]] and thence as part of the [[Crown of Aragon]]. The Kingdom of Naples was ruled by Angevins until the two thrones were forcibly reunited by [[Alfonso V of Aragon]], whose siege of Naples ended in triumph February 26, 1443. However, Alfonso divided them after his rule. He passed Naples to his son [[Ferdinand I of Naples]], who ruled from 1458 to 1494, and Aragon and Sicily to Alfonso's brother [[John II of Aragon]]. From 1494 to 1503 successive kings of France [[Charles VIII of France|Charles VIII]] and [[Louis XII]], who were heirs of Angevins, tried the conquest of Naples (see [[Italian Wars]]) but failed, so the Kingdom was definitely reunited to Aragon. The titles were held by the [[List of Aragonese monarchs|Aragonese kings]] until 1516, followed by the [[List of Spanish monarchs|Kings of Spain]] until 1707. The Holy Roman Emperors held the titles from 1707 until 1735, when Naples was attacked by Duke Charles of Parma, who became [[Charles III of Spain|Charles VII of Naples and Sicily]]. His descendants ruled until the unification of Italy in 1861. From 1816 to 1861 the kingdoms were united under the name [[Two Sicilies|Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]]. ==Malta under the Knights== In [[1530]], in an effort to protect [[Rome]] from [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] invasion from the south, [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], as Charles I of Aragon, gave the Islands of [[Malta]] and [[Gozo]] to the [[Knights Hospitaller]] in [[History of Malta#Knights of St. John|perpetual fiefdom]], in exchange for an annual fee of a single Maltese falcon, which they were to send on [[All Souls' Day]] to the [[Viceroy]] of Sicily. The Maltese Islands had formed part of the Duchy, and later the Kingdom of Sicily, since [[1127]]. The feudal relationship between Malta and the Kingdom of Sicily continued in form throughout the rule of the Knights, until they were evicted from Malta by Napoleon, in [[1798]]. ==See also== *[[Emirate of Sicily]] *[[Norman conquest of southern Italy]] *[[Kingdom of Naples]] *[[War of the Sicilian Vespers]] *[[List of monarchs of Naples and Sicily]] *[[Ottoman-Habsburg wars]] *[[Two Sicilies]] *[[Arab-Norman culture]] ==Sources== *[[European Commission]] presentation of [http://www.mondes-normands.caen.fr/angleterre/index.htm The Normans] Norman Heritage, 10th-12th century. *Houben, Hubert. ''Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West''. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne. [[Cambridge University Press]]: [[2002]]. *[[John Julius Norwich|Norwich, John Julius]]. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman: [[London]], [[1970]]. *Matthew, Donald. ''The Norman Kingdom of Sicily''. [[Cambridge University Press]]: [[1992]]. *Chaytoe, H. J. ''A History of Aragon and Catalonia''. See chapter [http://libro.uca.edu/chaytor/hac7.htm 7]. {{Sicily}} [[Category:Former countries on the Italian Peninsula|Sicily, Kingdom of]] [[Category:Former monarchies of Europe|Sicily, Kingdom of]] [[Category:History of Sicily]] [[an:Reino de Sezilia]] [[ca:Regne de Sicília]] [[cs:Sicilské království]] [[da:Kongeriget Sicilien]] [[es:Reino de Sicilia]] [[fr:Royaume de Sicile]] [[hr:Kraljevina Sicilija]] [[id:Kerajaan Sisilia]] [[it:Regno di Sicilia]] [[hu:Szicíliai Királyság]] [[ko:시칠리아 왕국]] [[nl:Koninkrijk Sicilië]] [[ja:シチリア王国]] [[nn:Kongedømet Sicilia]] [[pl:Królestwo Sycylii]] [[pt:Reino da Sicília]] [[ru:Королевство Сицилия]] [[scn:Regnu di Sicilia]] [[sr:Краљевство Сицилија]] [[fi:Sisilian kuningaskunta]] [[sv:Kungariket Sicilien]] [[th:ราชอาณาจักรซิซิลี]] [[zh:西西里王國]]