Sicily

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The largest island in the Mediterranean. It is triangular in shape and was on that account called Trinacria by the ancients; it is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Messina, rather less than two miles wide. Its area, including the adjacent islands, is 9935 square miles. The northern chain of mountains, running from Cape Peloro (Messina) to Lilibeo (Marsala), is only a continuation of the Calabrian Appenines. The most elevated peaks are the Pizzo dell' Antenna (6478 feet), near the middle of the range, and Monte S. Salvatore (6265 feet); the remainder of the island is an undulating inclined plain sloping to the Ionian and Mediterranean Seas. Near the middle of the eastern side rises the majestic volcano Etna, still active, 10,865 feet high, formed by successive eruptions and having a circumference of 87 miles at its base; it is covered with perpetual snow; on its slopes there are rich pastures, vineyards, gardens, arable lands, and forests; and vegetation flourishes up to an altitude of about 8200 feet. The chief Sicilian rivers are the Giarretta falling into the sea nearCatania; the Anopo, flowing for a short distance underground and emptying into the sea nearSyracuse; the Salso; the Platani. The two principal lakes are those of Lentini and Pergusa; on the southern coast there are very many lagoons and unhealthy marshes. Among the adjacent islands are the Lipari group (Aeolian Islands) and Ustica in the Tyrrhenian sea; the Egadi (Favignana, Marittimo, Levanzo) and the Formiche (Ants) near the western extremity; Pantelleria (the ancient Corcyra) between Malta and Tunisia. The northern and eastern coasts are generally steep, and the adjacent waters deep; the southern is shallow and has many sandbanks (Pesci, Porcelli, State, Madrepore). Considering the size of the island, it has many good harbours:Messina is the most important for commerce; Empedocle, the sulphur-exporting centre; Palermo, for oranges and lemons;Trapani, wines. Besides these there areSyracuse,Augusta,Catania, Milazzo, Licata, and Lipari. The climate is temperate, the mean summer maximum being 93.2 Fahrenheit; but Sicily suffers considerably from the sirocco.

The wealth of the country is chiefly dependent on agriculture, maritime trade, and mining, especially sulphur. Though in antiquity Sicily was the granary ofRome, the production of grain (22,275,000 bushels) is not sufficient for the home consumption, a fact to be explained either by the increase of population, or by the system of large estates, or by the primitive methods employed. The vintage amounts to about 6,325,000 bushels. There is a large export of fruits, including oranges and lemons, and of carob beans. Sicily produces three-quarters of the world's sulphur: in 1905 it amounted to 3,049,864 tons, of which 1,629,344 came fromCaltanisetta, and 1,039,005 fromGirgenti. Among the other mineral products are: antimony and lignite fromMessina (61 and 70 tons); asphalt fromSyracuse (105,217 tons); rock-salt (12,730 tons). Fishing, especially tunny-fishing, is very profitable; but the sponge trade is decreasing (1980 tons in 1899, but only 172 in 1909).

At the census of 1901 the population was 3,568,124, or 350persons to the square mile; allowing for a mean increase of 1.3 per cent; the island probably contains 4,200,000 inhabitants at present (1911). The percentages of illiterates are 70.9, under 21 years of age, and 73.2, over 21 years, so that Sicily is more backward thanSardinia, Abruzzo, and the Apulias. However, this is not due to a great lack ofschools, as there are 4156 elementary public, 563 private, and 310 eveningschools; 4 training colleges for teachers; 44 royal gymnasia (2pareggiati, 27non pareggiati); 14 royal lyceums (2pareggiati, 8non pareggiati); 34 technicalschools besides 6non pareggiati; 7 technical institutes; 3universities (Palermo,Messina,Catania); and 1 conservatory of music (Palermo). Sicily is divided civilly into 7 provinces, with 24 circondarii, 179 mandamienti, and 357 communes. It has 5 archbishoprics and 12bishoprics:Catania, without any suffragans;Monreale, with Caltamisetta and Girgenti; Palermo, with Cefalù, Mazzara, andTrapani;Syracuse, with Caltagirone, Notto,Piazza Armerina. TheBishop of Acireale and the Prelate of S. Lucia del Mela areimmediately subject to theHoly See. Theparishes in Sicily are few in number and consequently very large. While in the Marches and Umbria the average number ofpersons in aparish is 600, in the Siciliandioceses it is 7000 (9000 inSyracuse and 8000 in Palermo).

History

According to the ancient writers, the first inhabitants of Sicily were the Sicani; later there came from the Italian peninsula the Siculi, who, however, do not seem to have been of the same race or to have had any national unity. The island was greatly frequented byPhoenician merchants, as it lay in their way towards Africa andSpain, and was besides a centre of their trade. The presence of these traders is attested byPhoenician inscriptions andcoins as well as by articles ofPhoenician trade. The names, too, of the chief towns on the coast are ofPhoenician origin. With their trade they introduced the worship of Melkart (Heracles) and Astarte, especially at Mount Eryx (Monte S. Giuliano). While thePhoenicians who came to the main island continued as foreigners, the smaller adjacent islands — Lipari, Egadi,Malta, Cosura — became thoroughlyPhoenician in population. The Greeks had established themselves at some of the ports as early as the time of the Trojan War. Greek colonization really began in 735 B.C., when the Athenian Theocles was driven thither by a tempest. He induced the Chalcidians of Eubea to settle at Naxos and the Dorians to found a new Megara. Next year the Corinthians expelled the Siculi from the island of Ortygia, thus establishing the cradle of thecity of Syracuse. In five years the colonies of Leontini, Catana, Thapsos,Megara, and Hyblona all sprang up on the east coast of the island, and then the immigration into Sicily seems to have ceased for forty years. In 690 B.C., the Rhodians and Cretans founded Gela, on the river of that name (now the Terranuova), and from Gela Acragas (Girgenti) was founded in 582, both on the southwest coast. At the point nearest to the peninsula the Cumani pirates had founded Zancle in the eighth century, and that settlement had received the name of Messana in 729 from Anaxilas, the tyrant ofReggio. Himera, on the north coast, was a colony of Zancle (648). TheSyracusans founded Acrae (664), Casmenae (644), Camarina (599). Selinus arose in 629, Lipara in 580. This active Greek colonization drove thePhoenicians more and more towards the west of the island; Motye Solveis (Salunto) and Panormus (Palermo) remained the principal centres of their commerce. The Carthaginians then felt the necessity of obtaining political power over the island, if thePhoenician and Punic trade was not to be destroyed by the Greeks. They rejoiced at the disunion among the Greeks, who — particularly the Dorians and Ionians — had brought to the island their mutual hatreds and jealousies. Moreover, in the principal cities — such as Girgenti,Messina,Catania, andSyracuse, the democratic and aristocratic governments had given way to the rule of tyrants, which resulted in frequent conspiracies, revolutions, and temporary alliances. During the sixth century B.C. it was chiefly Acragas, under the government of Phalaris (570-555), that upheld the prestige ofGreece against Carthage. In 480 B.C., Hamilcar, invited by Terillos, tyrant of Himera, who had been overthrown by Theron, came with an immense army to restore Terillos, and later to subjugate the whole island. But Gelon, tyrant ofSyracuse, having been called on for aid, inflicted a great defeat on Hamilcar. That victory — which was not the first gained by Gelon over the Carthaginians — assured toSyracuse the hegemony of the Greek cities of the island. Gelon's brother Hiero being master of Gela and married to the daughter of Theon, tyrant of Acragas, Hiero succeeded him and defeated the Etruscans, enemies of the Cumani (474). The inhabitants ofCatania and Naxos had to migrate to Leontini, and a Doric colony was established atCatania. But soon after Hiero's death (471) his brother Thrasybulus was expelled; democracy triumphed atSyracuse and the other Greek cities, and Greek unity was at an end.

Ducetius, one of the chiefs of the Siculi, who were still masters of the interior, then conceived the hope of uniting his race and expelling all the foreigners from Sicily. He succeeded in takingCatania (451) and defeated theSyracusans who had come to the aid of Montyon; but in 452 he met with a reverse at Normae, and his army disbanded. The Siculi made no further efforts. The old rivalries broke out among the Greeks, and Athens intervened at the request of Leontini (427). For a moment the Sicilian Greeks recognized the danger of such intervention. At the Congress of Gela (424) a confederation of the Sicilian cities was formed for defence against all foreign powers. This alliance did not last long. The dispute between Selinus and Egesta (416), and the aid given bySyracuse to the former, led to thewar between Athens andSyracuse, in which the latter appealed toSparta for help. TheSyracusans were victorious on sea, and the Spartans on land (413). Egesta then called upon the Carthaginians, and Hannibal, the nephew of Hamilear, destroyed Selinus and, a little later, Himera (409). Encouraged by these successes and stirred up by the threats of theSyracusans, the Carthaginians again sought to subdue the whole island. In 406 came the turn of Acragas the richest city in the island; the year following Gela and Camarina fell into the hands of the Carthaginians. In that year, however, Dionysius, having become master ofSyracuse, made peace with the Carthaginians, and so stopped their victorious march. To prepare for renewedwar with them, he strengthened and extended his power by takingCatania, Enna, Naxos, and Leontini. In 397 he expelled the Carthaginians from Motye. Himilco, the Carthaginian general, then attackedSyracuse, which seemed to prefer the gentle sway of the Carthaginians to that of its tyrant. But the stubbornness of theSpartan Pharacidas and a pestilence gained Dionysius a victory (396) and supremacy over the Greek portion of the island. An attack onMessina by the Carthaginian Mago was repulsed (393).

A peace having been concluded, which assured each side its own territory, Dionysius thought of conqueringItaly. Two otherwars (383, defeat of Cronium; 368, capture of Selinunte and Entella) gave the advantage to neither party. When Timoleon defeated Dionysius II (343), the petty tyrants of the various cities again appealed for help to the Carthaginians, who were again defeated at Egesta (342). When Agathocles, the new tyrant ofSyracuse, aspired to the supremacy of the island he had to fight the Carthaginians (312-306). Finally, however, the latter succeeded, by the treaty of peace, in securing their own possessions and the independence of the other Greek cities in the island, — preventing the union of the Greeks, among whom new tyrants arose, all fighting with one another. This led to the intervention of the Carthaginians, on the one hand, and on the other of Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, then atwar withRome (281-75). Pyrrhus caused the siege ofSyracuse to be raised, stormed Eryx and Panormus, and cleared the enemy out of the whole island, with the exception of Lilybaeum. But when he began to appoint governors in Sicily, the Sicilians had recourse again to the Carthaginians and Pyrrhus returned toItaly (279). Meanwhile a military republic of Campanian mercenaries had been formed inMessina, and conquered almost the entire northern coast. Hiero II ofSyracuse attacked these (269). Then some of the Mamertines, an Italic people, appealed for aid toRome, while others called upon Carthage. Both answered the appeal, but wished to act alone. In 264 Appius Claudius landed an army and defeated the Carthaginian andSyracusan forces which had united to oppose him. Some sixty-seven cities yielded to the Romans; and even Hiero became their tributary (263). In 262 Girgenti, then the centre of the Carthaginian military power in the island, was captured. The victories of Mylae (260) and Panormus (254), and the capture of the Egadi (241), secured toRome the possession of the island, but the cities whichvoluntarily surrendered remained federated.

In the Second Punic War,Syracuse was allied with Hannibal, but was retaken by Marcellus (212). Sicily became a Roman province and acquired very great importance as the granary ofRome. It was divided into two quaestorships,Syracuse and Lilybaeum. The latinizing of the island continued, though the Greek element never entirely disappeared, so that in the Byzantine epoch the hellenization of Sicily progressed easily. In proportion as the political greatness of the Greek cities in the island increased, their artistic and literary fame diminished. Thegreed and cupidity of the praetors and other Roman officials (Verres, for instance) impoverished privateindividuals as well as thetemples. The land fell into the hands of a few great landholders, who cultivated the rich soil by the labour of immense bands of slaves. These slaves rebelled in 135, proclaiming Eunus, one of their number, king. Eunus defeated the Roman army several times, but in 133 he was vanquished by Rufilius nearMessina; thewar ended with the capture of Tauromenium and Enna (132), and about 20,000 of the unfortunate slaves were crucified. A second furious revolt occurred between 103 and 100 under "King Trypho" and the leadership of Athenio. During the last triumvirate Sicily was the scene of awar between the triumvirs and Sextus Pompey, who, victorious at first, was finally defeated by Agrippa in the naval fight at Mylae (36 B.C.)

Another rebellion of the slaves took place underValerian, and in A.D. 278 the island was devastated by aFrankish horde. From 440 on theVandals repeatedly devastated the island, but they never obtained complete control of it. In 476 they abandoned it to Odoacer in return for an annual tribute, retaining, however, the region about Lilybaeum (Marsala).Theodoric recaptured Lilybaeum and ceased paying tribute. At the beginning of the Gothic War (535) Sicily was seized by Belisarius for theByzantines; Totila regained it (550), but not for long. MeanwhileChristianity had been established in the island. A few cities boasted of having been evangelized by St. Peter andSt. Paul or by the immediate disciples of the Apostles (Catania,Messina,Palermo,Girgenti, Taormina). St. Paul stayed three days atSyracuse, without St. Luke's making any mention of his visiting the brethren, as he does at Puteoli. That St. Paul preached in Sicily, is recorded bySt. Chrysostom. The "Praedestinatus" mentionsbishops of Palermo and Lilybaeum in the first quarter of the second century; it iscertain that in the latter part of that centuryChristianity was flourishing in the island. Pantaeneus, the teacher ofSt. Clement of Alexandria and director of the famous Alexandrianschool was a Sicilian; Clement himself, in the voyages he made to increase hisknowledge ofChristianity, visited Sicily. From the letters ofSt. Cyprian we learn that theChurch in Sicily was in frequent relations with theChurch inRome and inCarthage, and that the questions discussed at those centres were followed with interest in the island. Through the efforts of Heracleon, theGnostics made some progress there. SomeChristians weremartyred atCatania (St. Agatha, St. Euplus) andSyracuse (St. Lucy, St. Marcianus).

Christian cemeteries have been discovered atCatania, Girgenti (2), Lentini, Marsala, Mazzara,Messina, Palermo (5), Rugusa, Selinunte,Syracuse, and its environs (Valley of the Molinello, Canicatti, the Valleys of Priolo, Pantalica, S. Alfano, etc).Christian inscriptions, excepting those atSyracuse, are generally in Latin. As in allItaly south of the Po, thebishops of Sicily wereimmediately subject to theBishop of Rome, by whomordination was conferred, and to whom a visit was to be made every five years at least. For the election ofbishops, at least in the sixth century, thepope was accustomed to appoint a visitor, who was charged with the administration during the vacancy, and presided at the election, which was afterwards confirmed by thepope, when the bishop-elect presented himself forordination. At the commencement of theSaracen invasion there were the following sees:Syracuse,Palermo,Cefalù, Lilybaeum, Drepanum (?),Messina, Lipari,Girgenti, Taormina,Catania, Leontini, Thermae (Sciacca?), Alesa, Cronion, Camarina, Tindari (Patti), Malta. Till after the time ofSt. Gregory, and probably down to the eighth century, theRoman Rite was observed in the island, and theliturgical language was Latin. In the dogmatic controversies, the Sicilianbishops were always among the defenders oforthodoxy, except that in the fifth centuryPelagianism (through the personal efforts ofPelagius and Celestius) andArianism (one Maximinus their chief was aided by theVandals) obtained a foothold. Ecclesiastical affairs were thrown into disorder by theVandal incursions, as is shown by the measures which Pope Gelasius wasobliged to take.St. Leo the Great introduced into Sicily theobligation ofcelibacy even forsubdeacons.

Sicily was of great importance from the point of view of theRoman Church on account of the great amount ofecclesiastical property there, which was divided into twopatrimonia (Palermitanum and Syracusarum). Eachpatrimonium had arector, with inferior officers,defensores, notarii, actionarii, etc. Therector was generally asubdeacon of theChurch ofRome, and was empowered to intervene in theecclesiastical questions of the variousdioceses. The Churches ofMilan and ofMelitene inArmenia also hadproperty in the island. Monasticism was first introduced into Sicily bySt. Hilarion. It was greatly increased by the large number ofbishops ormonks who were expelled fromAfrica or forced toemigrate to escape theVandalpersecution. St. Benedict sent a colony of hismonks toMessina, underSt. Placidus; themonastery was destroyed later bypagan (perhapsSlavic) pirates.St. Gregory the Great personally founded sixmonasteries, among them that of St. Hermes at Palermo. The number ofmonks was increased by the bands that flocked from Palestine,Syria, andEgypt, whenIslamism began its triumphant march, and theMonothelites andIconoclasts drove them from the Orient. Thus a strong hellenizing element, which was certainly encouraged by the Byzantine Government, settled in the island; Greek replaced Latin in the liturgy in many of the Churches. Leo the Isaurian (718-41) afterwards detached Sicily and SouthernItaly from themetropolitanjurisdiction ofRome, but it is to be noted that, 100 years later,Nicholas I protested against this abuse. In the ninth centurySyracuse was raised by thePatriarch of Constantinople to the rank ofmetropolis of Sicily and the adjacent islands.

Concerning the state of the Sicilian Church during theSaracen domination we have no information: not the name of a singlebishop is known. In the eleventh century thehierarchy seems to have been extinct, so that Cardinal Humbertus (later of Silva Candida) was appointed byLeo IX asBishop of Sicily, though he could not enter the island. TheSaracen attempt to invade Sicily was in 669, after the assassination of the Emperor Constans II atSyracuse. TheArabs subsequently made several descents and raids on the island, but occupied it only when the Sicilians were weary of the Byzantine misgovernment. About 820 thepatricus Elpidius, governor of Sicily, rebelled against the Empress Irene; but he was defeated before the arrival of theArabs whose aid he had asked, and who in 820 captured Palermo, whence they were afterwards expelled by pirates. In 827 again, the general Euphemius, invited Ziadeth Allah, Prince of Kairowan, to come; the latter captured Girgenti the same year and then proceeded to make a conquest on his own account. TheByzantines made a gallant effort to repel an enemy so much superior to themselves.Messina was taken in 831, Palermo in 832,Syracuse was reduced by famine only in 878, Taormina fell in 902, and it was not until 941, after a struggle of one hundred and fourteen years, that theArabs completed the conquest of the island.

TheArab domination was a benefit to Sicily from the point of view of material prosperity. To a certain extent liberty was enjoyed by theChristian population. Only those found in arms were reduced to slavery. This tolerance was, moreover, indeed, good policy on the part of the new masters, who, after the conquest, became independent of the great caliph. Agriculture flourished, new plants were introduced fromAfrica — the quince and the sugar-cane. Architecture was encouraged by the munificence of the princes (Palermo for instance had three hundred mosques); Arabic and Greek poets sang the beauties and thehappiness of the island; not a fewArab writers were born there. The Aglabiti, and thefamily of Ziadeth were succeeded, in 909, as rulers by the Fatimidi, who were in their turn replaced, in 948, by the Kebbidi. The island was divided into three departments (valli); Val Demone in the north-east; Val Mazzara in the northwest; Val di Noto in the south; a division that was maintained later by the Normans. In a census taken at this time there were in the island 1,590,665Mussulmans, 1,217,033Christians, making a total of 2,807,698 inhabitants. TheByzantines were naturally desirous of reconquering the island, but the emperors of the West coveted it. Otho II had been negotiating withVenice about seizing it; Henry II, in the Treaty of Bamberg (1020), promised it to thepopes. But it was the Normans who obtained it. Discord broke out in the Kebbidifamily, andanarchy resulted: every alcalde and petty captain aspired to independence. Encouraged by these conditions, the Emperor Michael IV sent the catapan Leo Opus (1037) with a fleet, which, after varying fortunes, was forced to retire.

In the following year he sent George Maniakis with an army which contained some Normans who had chanced to be at Calabria.Messina andSyracuse were taken, and theArabs badly defeated near Troina. But Maniakis offended the Normans; they returned to the peninsula, and then began their conquests there. The victories of Maniakis continued until 1040, but their fruits were lost when he was recalled. Meanwhile the Normans had formed a state on the peninsula. Roger, brother ofRobert Guiscard, crossed the Strait in 1060. In the following year, Becumen, aSaracen noble, asked him for assistance. With this aid, the whole Val Demone was conquered within the year. If progress was not more rapid, it was because Roger had been recalled toItaly. We may mention the siege of Troina (1062), the battle of Cerami (1063), of Misilmeri (1068), the capture of Palermo (1072), which had been attempted previously by thePisans (1063), the defeat of theSaracens at Mazzara, the capture ofSyracuse (1086), Girgenti (1087), and Noto (1091). In thirty years the Normans had conquered the whole island. To ensure their conquest they had to grant religious liberty to theMohammedans, whose emigration in a body would have been a great blow to the country. Sicily became subject to Roger, who assumed the title of "Great Count";Robert Guiscard who had aided him in the conquest, reserved certainrights to himself. Palermo continued to be the capital. The prosperity that followed the coming of theArabs continued under the Normans, and later under the Swabians. Roger was succeeded by his son, Roger II, who in 1127 on the death of William II, became master of all the Norman territory and obtained from the antipopeAnacletus II (1130) the title of King of Sicily, which title was confirmed byInnocent II.

The government of the island was almost always different from that of the other parts of the kingdom. AsRobert Guiscard had recognized the suzerainty of theHoly See over Calabria and Aquileia, paying an annual tribute, so Roger II recognized it over Sicily and paid an annual tribute of 600schifati. Costanza andInnocent III fixed the tribute for the whole kingdom at 1000aurei. The official title was "the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies", thus marking the distinction between Sicily on the hither side and the Sicily beyond the Faro (the Straits ofMessina). The custom of calling the south ofItaly Sicily went back to the time of the Byzantine governors, who, while the island was underArab domination continued to be called governors of Sicily. The Normans therefore considered that there were two Sicilies, one held by theByzantines, and one held by theArabs. For theHoly See the high sovereignty over that kingdom was necessarily a source of constant trouble andwar. (For the history of the kingdom down to theSicilian Vespers, seeNaples). The admission of the burghers to the Sicilian Parliament byFrederick II, in 1241, deserves mention here.

Immediately after the first conquest of the island the Normans re-established thedioceses, and in all of them the Latin-Gallican Rite was adopted. The Norman kings, moreover, consideredecclesiastical affairs as part of the business of the State, and this caused incessant difficulties with theHoly See, which was forced to make many concessions. Thus,Urban II granted to Roger I the right of putting into execution the orders of the pontificallegates. On the other hand, we must consider asapocryphal the document known as the"Monarchia Sicula", containing all theecclesiasticalrights and privileges presumed and exercised by the King of Sicily, among which, in particular, is thelegatio sicula, making the king thelegatus natus of thepope in that kingdom, whence it followed that thepope could not have any otherlegates in Sicily. The privilege granted byUrban II (1098) to Roger, confirmed and interpreted by Paschal II (1117), declares that Roger and his heirs held thevicem legati (the position of acting in place of alegate), in the sense that what thepope would have done or ordered through alegate (quoe per legatum acturi sumus) was to be carried into effect (exhiberi volumus) by the king's diligence (per vestram industriam). Thepope certainly contemplated the possibility of sendinglegates into Sicily. This was the interpretation put by Paschal II on the privilege. The kings, especially theAragonese, claimed for themselves fullecclesiastical authority in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, excluding the right of theHoly See to intervene. On the other hand, it is anerror to deny the authenticity of the privilege itself as granted byUrban II and Paschal II (Baronius,Orsi, and others). Philip II (1578) sought to have the"Monarchia Sicula" confirmed, but did not succeed, notwithstanding which, in 1579, he established the office of the "judex monarchiae siculae", who in the king's name, exercised all therights derived from the privilege of the Legation, and prohibited appeals toRome from the decisions of that tribunal.

The disputes with theHoly See became exceedingly grave when Sicily was given to Amadeus ofSavoy (1713). Thejudex monarchiae claimed the right of absolving from censures reserved to thepope.Clement XI (1715) declared the "Monarchia" at an end. ButBenedict XIII (1728) thought it advisable to come to an agreement, and granted the king the right of nominating the judge of the Monarchy (always an ecclesiastic), who in that way became a delegate of theHoly See with supremejurisdiction inecclesiastical affairs. But the causes of dissension were not removed.Pius IX, in 1864, abolished the tribunal of the Monarchy. The Italian Government protested, but, in the Law of the Guarantees (art. 15), it expressly renounced all claim to the privilege. TheSicilian Vespers resulted in once more separating the island from the kingdom, which was then held by the House of Anjou. Peter ofAragon, who claimed the right, as heir of the House of Swabia, was summoned by the Sicilians, and defended the island against the Angevin fleet, in spite of theexcommunication ofMartin IV. His son James, in 1291, ceded the island to thepope, who wished to restore it to the Angevins, but the Sicilians, in the Parliament of 1296, proclaimed James's brother Frederick king. This caused a freshwar, which was ended by the Peace of Caltabellotta (1302), by which Frederick retained the title of King of Trinacria, but only for his life, and paid in return an annual tribute of 3000 ounces of gold to theHoly See. Contrary to the provisions of the peace, Frederick's son Pietro succeeded (1337) and, after him (1342), his five-year old son Louis, and to him again (1355) his brother Frederick III, then thirteen years of age.

Frederick II (Emperor Frederick II and Frederick I of Sicily) had restricted his own authority in favour of the Parliament. The barons profited by this to form four great divisions, over which they placed four greatfamilies, the Alagona, Chiaramonti, Palici, andVentimiglia, whose bloodywars desolated Sicily. Roberto and Giovanna ofNaples tried to take advantage of this state ofanarchy to recover the island, but without success. In 1377 Frederick III was succeeded by his only daughter Maria, who married (1392) Martin, son of Martin of Momblanco, son of Peter IV ofAragon; in 1409 the kingdom passed by inheritance to the elder Martin, and thus the island was united to theKingdom of Aragon and ruled by a viceroy. The attempt of Martin II to break the power of the barons gave rise to theidea of having a national king, and so one Peralta was proclaimed at Palermo. ButCatania andSyracuse would have no Palermitan king;Messina submitted spontaneously toJohn XXIII, who declared theAragonese line deposed. The latter, however, took advantage of the prevailing discord: in 1412 Ferdinand, son of Martin II, was acknowledged, and succeeded in curbing the powers of the Parliament. His son Alfonso I (1416-58) united theKingdom of Naples (1442) with Sicily. On his death, Sicily was given to John ofAragon, whose son Ferdinand (1479-1516) became King ofAragon and Castile (and ofNaples, 1503). Sicily thus became a distant province ofSpain. There were occasional Sicilian uprisings and conspiracies against Spanish rule: atPalermo, in 1511, there was a secondSicilian Vespers; and in 1517 the whole island was thrown into confusion by the conspiracy of Gian Lesca. Then followed the civilwar between the Luna and the Perollo (1529), the attempt of the brothers Imperatori and Marcantonio Colonna to conquer the island, and incursions of theTurks.

More serious were the revolts atMessina,Palermo, and other cities, in 1647, caused by famine. At Palermo FrancescoVentimiglia, a nobleman, was proclaimed king, and one Giuseppe Alessi captain of the people. Alessi met with the same fate as Masaniello atNaples, being slain by the populace whose idol he had been. AsMessina, alone of all the cities, had preserved its municipal liberty; the attempt to destroy this provoked a rising (1674), and annexation toFrance was proclaimed.Louis XIV agreed to this arrangement, but in 1676 withdrew his troops and warships fromMessina. In 1713, by the Peace ofUtrecht, Victor Amadeus II was made King of Sicily, and the Sicilians were contented with independence. But in 1718war broke out again; Victor Amadeus had to abandon Sicily andSardinia, and the former was given toAustria. In 1736 it was again united toNaples. The reign of the Bourbons was certainly advantageous to the island. During the Parthenopean Republic (1798), and the reign of Joseph Bonaparte and Murat (1806-15), Sicily was the asylum of the royal family, and was protected by the British fleet. At that time (1812) the island had a Constitution like the English Constitution. But, on being restored to the Throne ofNaples, Ferdinand IV revoked the Constitution, which indeed had not been very acceptable to the people; he also put an end to the Parliament and all thelaws and privileges of the Sicilians, and the island was thus put on the same footing as all the other provinces of the kingdom (Organic Laws of 1817). This caused great discontent in Sicily.

When the Revolution of 1820 broke out atNaples, the Sicilians expected to obtain their independence; they received an evasive answer which diminished their hopes. General Florestano Pepe, sent into Sicily by theNeapolitan Parliament, was at first excluded from Palermo, but later welcomed, when he had given promises regarding their independence. These promises were not confirmed by the Parliament, which, to punish Palermo, declaredMessina the capital of the island; widespread disorders followed, which made it easy for 12,000 Austrians to re-establish the authority of Ferdinand I in the island. The disturbances did not cease until they were put down by General Del Carretto. In 1847 a new agitation to obtain complete autonomy for Sicily, with its own Constitution, sprang up; but no one thought of Italian unity. On 10 July, 1848, Ferdinando Maria, Duke ofGenoa, was proclaimed King of Sicily, but he refused to accept the throne. Peace having been restored on the Continent, the island was recovered in a few weeks (March and April, 1849). Some disturbances (as at Bentivenga, 1856) were crushed. Meanwhile, theidea of Italian unity had spread among theLiberals, while the populace continued to look forward to Sicilian independence. In 1862 Garibaldi's "Thousand" landed in Sicily and soon won the island for Victor Emmanuel II. The bright hopes of independence and prosperity, however, were not fulfilled; there were risings against the Italian Government (1867), though these were of little importance.

Amongecclesiastical events it should be noted that, in the general re-organization (1818) of theChurch in the kingdom, the Dioceses ofCaltagirone,Nicosia, andPiazza Armerina were established; in 1844 those ofNoto,Trapani, and Caltanisetta were added, andSyracuse was restored tometropolitan rank.

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