EARLY MEDIEVAL AGE IN SICILY AND SPAIN
The common influences points of encounter between European cultures: Spain Italy
MUSLIM ARABS CROSS FROM NORTH AFRICA INTO SPAIN AND DRIVE THE VISIGOTHS FROM TOLEDO
First major Arab incursion (over 10,000 men sailing from Tunisia) under Asad ibn al-Furat, general of emir Ziyadat Allah I ibn Ibrahim of Ifriqiya. Asad ibn al-Furat conquests Mazara
Abd-ar-Rahman, escaping from the massacre of his family in Syria, establishes a new Umayyad dynasty at Cordoba
An attack on Charlemagne's army, traditionally at the pass of Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees, is later the basis for the Chanson de Roland
The discovery of the supposed remains of the apostle St James makes Santiago de Compostela a new centre of European pilgrimage
Bal'harm (Palermo) occupied by Aghlabid dynasty of Tunisia. Emirate of Sicily eventually established but island often administered by governors.
Enna (Kasr'Jannis) captured by Abbas ibn Fadhl, governor of Sicily.
Rule of Ziyadat Allah II ibn Abil-Abbas. During 9th century Arabs introduce mulberries (for silk making), oranges and sugar cane.
Jafar ibn-Muhammad conquers Syracuse, Byzantine capital of Sicily.
By now Arab Bal'harm (Palermo) has supplanted Byzantine-Greek Syracuse as Sicily's most populous and important city and all of Sicily is under Arab administration.
Leon forms a loose alliance with its southern neighbour, Castile, to become the most powerful unit in northern Spain
The first illustrated manual of surgery is written by Abul Kasim, an Arab physician in Cordoba
- Norman knights first participate in battles in Italy.
Unsuccessful Norman incursion into coastal northeastern Sicily; permanent presence after Battle of Messina
Berber tribesmen, the Almoravids, establish a base at Marrakech from which they conquer northwest Africa and move into Spain
The Normans built the Cathedral and established a new Diocese. Mazara became the seat of Government and home of Count Roger de Hauteville. Count Roger built defensive walls and reinforced the Arab castle. - Battle of Palermo ends in early January with Norman occupation under Roger I and Robert de Hauteville. Nicodemus removed from authority over Christian community. 'Latin' Benedictines soon introduced in Sicily, where previously monasteries were Orthodox.
Suppression of revolt led by renegade 'emir' Bernavert (Bin al Wardi) at Catania; another of his revolts was suppressed at Syracuse
Roger I appoints Latin (rather than Orthodox) bishop of Palermo and Gallican Rite is introduced in new churches.
Roger landed at Malta and subdued the walled city of Mdina. He imposed taxes on the islands, but allowed the Arab governors to continue their rule. In 1127 Roger II abolished the Muslim government, replacing it with Norman officials. Under Norman rule, the Arabic spoken by the Greek Christian islanders for centuries of Muslim domination became Maltese.
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Roger crowned first king of Sicily (known henceforth as "Roger II"). On his orders Saint John of the Hermits, an Orthodox monastery in Palermo, is ordered rebuilt in Norman-Arab style as Benedictine abbey, completed in 1148. (Site may have housed a mosque for several decades prior to 1072.) Palatine Chapel built during this pereiod.
Roger promulgates Assizes of Ariano, important legal code asserting royal authority. Gothic movement begins in France but Romanesque style dominates in Sicily.
Martorana church (Palermo) built in Norman-Arab style for Greek Orthodox community by George of Antioch.
Style is Norman-Arab on Romanesque plan with Byzantine mosaic icons, including earliest holy image of Thomas Becket (canonized in 1173).
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Frederick II king until 1250, marries Constance of Aragon. Swabian German influences in Sicily. Islam and Greek Orthodoxy tolerated but practiced by ever-smaller minorities. Sicilian language is Italic with foreign influences.
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Frederick II, accompanied by Saracen guards and Sicilian and German knights, goes on Sixth Crusade as King of Jerusalem. Signs peace with Muslims without war.
Ciullo of Alcamo composes poetry in Sicilian language. First of a series of revolts by Sicilian Arabs, including some Christian converts, but Frederick retains trusted Saracen guards and court officers.
Manfred was the King of Sicily from 1258 to 1266.He was an illegitimate son of the emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen
Charles of Anjou (brother of Louis IX of France) becomes king of Naples and Sicily following defeat of Manfred Hohenstaufen, natural son of Frederick II, at Battle of Benevento. Young Conradin, a (legitimate) grandson of Frederick II and last Swabian claimant, is executed in 1268 following Battle of Tagliocozzo. Hohenstaufen imperial line now extinct. Angevin period begins. By now Sicily's remaining Muslims have converted to Catholicism.
Peter III of Aragon conquered Sicily and became its king in 1282, pressing the claim of his wife, Constance. He was one of the greatest of medieval Aragonese monarchs.
Vespers revolt expels Angevin French and makes Peter of Aragon King of Sicily. Charles "the Lame," son and heir apparent of Charles I, imprisoned as hostage in fortress of Cefalù in 1284.
James was born at Valencia as the son of King Peter I and Queen Constance of Sicily. He succeeded his father as King of Sicily in 1285. Upon the death of his brother Alfonso III in 1291, he succeeded also to the throne of the Crown of Aragon. By a peace treaty with Charles II of Anjou in 1296, he agreed to give up Sicily, but the Sicilians instead installed his brother Frederick on the throne
Frederick III was the regent (from 1291) and subsequently King of Sicily from 1295 until his death. He was the third son of Peter III of Aragon and served in the War of the Sicilian Vespers on behalf of his father and brothers, Alfonso ΙΙΙ and James ΙΙ. He was confirmed as King of Trinacria (another name for the island of Sicily) by the Peace of Caltabellotta in 1302. His reign saw important constitutional reforms: the Constitutiones regales, Capitula alia, and Ordinationes generales.
Peter II was the King of Sicily from 1337 until his death, although he was associated with his father as co-ruler from 1321. Peter's father Frederick III of Sicily and his mother was Eleanor, a daughter of Charles II of Naples. His reign was marked by strife between the throne and the nobility,
Louis the Child was King of Sicily (also known as "Trinacria") from 15 September 1342 until his death. He was a minor upon his succession, and was under a regency until 1354
Frederick IV called the Simple, was King of Sicily from 1355 to 1377. He was the second son of Peter II of Sicily and Elisabeth of Carinthia. He succeeded his brother Louis. The documents of his era call him the "infante Frederick, ruler of the kingdom of Sicily", without any regnal number.
Maria was Queen of Sicily and Duchess of Athens and Neopatria from 1377 until her death.Born in Catania, she was the daughter and heir of Frederick the Simple by his first wife Constance of Aragon.
Martin I of Sicily, called "The Younger", was King of Sicily from 1390 to 1409. Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Peter IV of Aragon and Eleanor of Sicily.
Martin the Humane (29 July 1356 – 31 May 1410), also called the Elder and the Ecclesiastic, was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia and Corsica and Count of Barcelona from 1396 and King of Sicily from 1409 (as Martin II). 25 July 1409 – 31 May 1410
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