Kingdom of Sicily
former state in southern Italy, 1130–1816
80 dated entries naming Kingdom of Sicily, drawn from 67 separate years between 1120 CE and 1816 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.
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12th century
- 1120William I ("the Wicked"), king of Sicily (died 1166)source
- 1122The Almoravid fleet attacks Sicily to suppress the Italo-Norman raiders. The same year the Muslim population of Malta rebels against the Normans.source
- 1126Sibylla of Burgundy, queen of Sicily (died 1150)source
- 1135Margaret of Navarre, queen of Sicily (approximate date)source
- 1135February 6 – Elvira of Castile, queen of Sicily (born 1100)source
- 1138Tancred ("the Monkey King"), king of Sicily (died 1194)source
- 1139July 22 – Pope Innocent II, invading the Kingdom of Sicily, is ambushed at Galluccio and taken prisoner.source
- 1140Summer – King Roger II promulgates the Assizes of Ariano (a series of laws to rule the Norman Kingdom of Sicily) after the pacification of southern Italy.source
- 1147A Sicilian fleet (some 70 ships) under George of Antioch attacks Corfu, the island surrenders and welcomes the Normans as their liberators. Leaving a garrison of 1,000 men, George sails to the Peloponnesus. He pillages the cities of Corinth, Athens and Thebes. King Roger II begins an 11-year war between Sicily and the Byzantine Empire.source
- 1150September 16 – Sibylla of Burgundy, queen of Sicily (born 1126)source
- 1153King Roger II sends a Sicilian expedition under Admiral Philip of Mahdia to conquer Ifriqiya. With the support of Muslim troops, the Siculo-Normans suppress a rebellion on Djerba and invade the Kerkennah Islands.source
- 1153Sibylla of Acerra, queen and regent of Sicily (died 1205)source
- 1154February 26 – King Roger II dies at Palermo after a 24-year reign. He is succeeded by his fourth son William I ("the Bad"') as ruler of Sicily. William appoints Maio of Bari, a man of low birth, to chancellor and his adviser. He pursues his father's policy of strengthening authority over the towns and the Italian nobles, who rally around his cousin Robert III, count of Loritello, in Apulia and Calabria.source
- 1154November 2 – Constance I, queen of Sicily (died 1198)source
- 1155The city of Bari rebels against King William I ("the Bad") of Sicily and recognizes the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos as its overlord.source
- 1156Treaty of Benevento - The Treaty of Benevento was an important treaty between the papacy of Adrian IV and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. After years of turbulent relations, the popes finally settled down to a peace with the Hauteville kings.source
- 1156June 18 – Pope Adrian IV comes to terms, and signs the Treaty of Benevento. He recognises the suzerainty of William I as ruler of Sicily and Italy.source
- 1160The Almohads conquer Mahdia (modern Tunisia) from the Normans after an important naval success near the city, against Christian reinforcements coming from Sicily.source
- 1165October – Joan of England, queen consort of Sicily (died 1199)source
- 1166Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos asks Venice to help pay the costs of defending Sicily, whose Norman rulers have had good relations with Venice. Doge Vitale II Michiel refuses to pay the requested subsidy. Manuel begins to cultivate relationships with the main commercial rivals of Venice: Genoa and Pisa. He grants them their own trade quarters in Constantinople, very near the Venetian settlements.source
- 1166May 7 – William I ("the wicked"), king of Sicily (born 1120)source
- 1174October 29 – Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa), on his fifth Italian campaign, begins the siege of Alessandria in northern Italy. He is opposed by the Lombard League (now joined by Venice, Sicily and Constantinople).source
- 1177Treaty of Venice : The Treaty of Venice or Peace of Venice, 1177, was an important peace treaty between the papacy and its allies, the north Italian city-states of the Lombard League, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily also took part in negotiations and the treaty thereby determined the political course of all Italy for the next several years.source
- 1181Irene Angelina, queen of Germany and Sicily (died 1208)source
- 1184October 29 – The 18-year-old Prince Henry, eldest surviving son of Frederick I, is engaged to Princess Constance, heiress to the Kingdom of Sicily, at Augsburg in the episcopal palace.source
- 1189November 11 – William II ("the Good"), king of Sicily (born 1153)source
- 1189November 11 – King William II of Sicily ("the Good"), having made peace with Emperor Isaac II and abandoned Thessalonika and other conquests, dies childless at Palermo. The Sicilian nobles elect Tancred of Lecce (illegitimate son of Roger II) as the new ruler of Sicily, instead of Princess Constance and her husband Henry VI, to avoid German rule.source
- 1190September – Richard I arrives in Sicily at the head of a Crusader army and demands the release of his sister Joan of England, queen of Sicily, who is held hostage by the usurper Tancred of Lecce. He also demands that Tancred fulfill the financial commitments made by the late King William II (the Good) to the Crusade. Tancred refuses the financial demand but he agrees to release Joan, on September 28.source
- 1191Henry VI is forced to raise the siege of Naples, due to an epidemic, and returns to Germany. Upon Henry's retreat, the Lombard cities that have surrendered to the Germans resubmit to Tancred of Lecce, king or usurper of Sicily. The populace of Salerno turn against Empress Constance during her visit to the city, and Margaritus of Brindisi delivers her to Tancred at Messina. Later, Constance is imprisoned at Castel dell'Ovo at Naples.source
- 1193December 24 – Roger III, king of Sicily (House of Hauteville)source
- 1194February 20 – Tancred of Lecce, king of Sicily (born 1138)source
- 1194November 20 – Emperor Henry VI enforces the inheritance claims by his wife, Constance I, against her illegitimate nephew, King Tancred of Lecce (who died on February 20). He takes Palermo (supported by the navy of Pisa and Genoa) and gains control of all of Sicily – ending Norman rule in Italy after 90 years.source
- 1197Summer – Henry VI takes cruel measures to put down Jordan Lupin's insurrection in Sicily and southern Italy, which has been provoked by the oppression of his German officials.source
- 1198May 17 – Frederick II, infant son of the late Emperor Henry VI, is crowned King of Sicily. His mother, Queen Constance I becomes regent, while she surrounds herself with local advisors. On November 27, Constance dies in the royal palace at Palermo. She is succeeded by the new pope, Innocent III, who becomes Frederick's guardian and mentor.source
- 1198November 27 – Constance I, queen regent of Sicily (born 1154)source
- 1199September 4 – Joan of England, queen of Sicily (born 1165)source
13th century
- 1201Autumn – Prince Alexios Angelos, son of the deposed, blinded and imprisoned late Emperor Isaac II Angelos, escapes from Constantinople. He makes his way to Sicily and then Rome where he is turned away by Pope Innocent III. Next, Alexios travels to the court of his brother-in-law, Philip of Swabia, the King of Germany, who receives him well.source
- 1208August 27 – Irene Angelina, queen consort of Sicily and Germanysource
- 1210November 18 – Emperor Otto IV is excommunicated by Pope Innocent III after he occupies Apulia in southern Italy. Otto annuls the Concordat of Worms and demands from Innocent recognition of the imperial crown's right. A German civil war breaks out, and Otto prepares an invasion against Frederick II, king of Sicily.source
- 1217Summer – Various groups of French knights reach the Italian ports. King Andrew II of Hungary arrives with his army in Split, in Dalmatia. He is joined by German forces, led by Duke Leopold VI (the Glorious). At the end of July, Pope Honorius III orders the crusaders assembled in Italy and Sicily to proceed to Cyprus, but there is no transport provided by the Italian city-states, Venice, Genoa and Pisa.source
- 1220November 22 – Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome by Pope Honorius III. He makes Sicily an absolute monarchy and adopts Palermo as its principal seat.source
- 1224March 1 – Pope Honorius III sends a letter to the Roman Catholic Patriarch of Jerusalem, Francisco Clemente Pérez Capera, notifying him that the armies and navies of the Holy Roman Empire, the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Sicily will be departing soon to begin the Sixth Crusade to recapture Jerusalem from the Arab rulers.source
- 1229Beatrice of Provence, queen consort of Sicily (died 1267)source
- 1230August – Treaty of Ceprano: Emperor Frederick II returns from the Sixth Crusade and signs a peace agreement with Pope Gregory IX at Ceprano. He agrees not to violate any territories held by the Papal States in return for Frederick's concessions in Sicily.source
- 1231Emperor Frederick II promulgates the Constitutions of Melfi (Liber Augustalis), a collection of laws for Sicily, as well as the Edict of Salerno, regulating the exercise of medicine and separating the professions of physician and apothecary, and requiring medical schools to practice dissection.source
- 1232unknown date – Manfred, king of Sicily (House of Hohenstaufen) (died 1266)source
- 1239Summer – A German expeditionary force under Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, invades the Romagna and Tuscany, hoping to capture Rome. He appoints his 21-year-old son, Enzo of Sardinia, as imperial vicar general for Northern Italy. Frederick also threatens with war against Venice, which has sent ships to blockade the harbors on Sicily. In order to finance his growing need for arms, he institutes an administrative reorganization of the Holy Roman Empire (among others, the formation of 10 vice regencies in Italy).source
- 1253Innocent IV offers the crown of Sicily, which he controls, to Richard of Cornwall and Charles of Anjou, both of whom refuse, and later to the 8-year-old Edmund, son of Henry III of England.source
- 1254May 21 – King Conrad IV, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, dies of malaria at Lavello (southern Italy). With Conrad's death a interregnum begins, during which no ruler manages to gain undisputed control of Germany. The 22-year-old Manfred, half-brother of Conrad, refuses to surrender Sicily to Pope Innocent IV and accepts the regency on behalf of Conrad's 2-year-old son Conradin ("the Younger").source
- 1254May 21 – Conrad IV, king of Germany en Sicily (born 1228)source
- 1258August 10 – Manfred, son of the late Emperor Frederick II, is crowned king of Sicily at Palermo. Pope Alexander IV, who has an alliance with the Saracens, declares the coronation void and excommunicates Manfred.source
- 1261August 29 – Urban IV offers the crown of Sicily to Charles of Anjou, youngest son of King Louis VIII of France, hoping to strengthen his position.source
- 1266February 26 – Battle of Benevento: Guelph forces (some 12,000 men), led by Charles of Anjou, brother of King Louis IX of France, defeat a combined German and Sicilian army under King Manfred of Sicily, during a long-running power struggle in Italy. Manfred takes up a strong position near Benevento. As the French infantry advances, he unleashes his Saracen archers and light cavalry, which scatters the French. But the Saracens leave themselves exposed to the French heavy cavalry, and are overwhelmed. Manfred orders his heavy cavalry (some 1,200 German mercenary knights) into the attack, but they are defeated by the Guelph forces, and take heavy losses. Manfred is killed, and Pope Clement IV invests Charles as ruler of Sicily and Naples. Meanwhile, Michael II, despot of Epirus, invades Albania, and recovers the lands that Manfred has taken from him.source
- 126626 February – The Battle of Benevento occurs between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions. The Guelph faction wins a decisive victory, leading to the death of the King of Sicily, Manfred, and the end of Hohenstaufen rule over the Kingdom.source
- 1268August 23 – Battle of Tagliacozzo: The army of Charles of Anjou defeats the Ghibellines supporters of Conradin of Hohenstaufen, marking the fall of the Hohenstaufen Family from the Imperial and Sicilian thrones, and leading to the new chapter of Angevin domination in Southern Italy.source
- 1272February – Charles I of Anjou, king of Sicily, occupies the city of Durrës, and establishes the Angevin Kingdom of Albania. A delegation of Albanian nobles and citizens from Durrës make their way to Charles' court.source
- 1272December 13 – Frederick III, king of Sicily (died 1337)source
- 1274Gregory X obtains the region of Romagna from Rudolf I, in exchange for acknowledging him as Holy Roman Emperor. With this important acquisition, the Papal States become the second-largest power block in Italy after the Kingdom of Sicily.source
- 1277March 18 – Charles I, king of Sicily, buys the title to the Kingdom of Jerusalem from Maria of Antioch, for 1,000 bezants and an annual payment of 4,000 livres tournois.source
- 1277March 19 – Byzantine–Venetian Treaty: Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos concludes an agreement with the Republic of Venice. Stipulating a two-year truce, and renewing Venetian commercial privileges in the Byzantine Empire. Michael keeps the Venetians and their fleet from participating in the attempts of Charles I, king of Sicily, to organize an anti-Byzantine crusade, while the Venetians can retain their access to the Byzantine market.source
- 1278May 1 – William of Villehardouin, prince of Achaea, dies. By the terms of the Treaty of Viterbo, his lands passed under the direct control of Charles I, king of Sicily. Charles appoints a bailiff to rule the Latin principality. In response, Charles swears fealty to the new pope, Nicholas III, on May 24. He promises not to attack or invade the Byzantine Empire because Nicholas has hopes to unify the Orthodox Church with the Catholic Church.source
- 1281October 18 – Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos is excommunicated by Pope Martin IV without any warning or provocation. Martin authorizes Charles I, king of Sicily, to make a Crusade against Michael, who has re-established his rule in Constantinople. Charles prepares an expedition in Sicily and assembles a fleet of 100 ships, and 300 more in Naples, Provence, and the Greek territories, which carry some 8,000 cavalrymen.source
- 1282Summer – An Aragonese expeditionary army under King Peter III lands in North Africa at Collo, in proclaimed support of a rebellion of the governor of Constantine, Ibn Wazir. The revolt is suppressed by Abu Ishaq Ibrahim I, ruler of the Hafsid Sultanate. Peter, wary of the situation in Sicily, sails off and fails to take advantage of the state of rebellion in North Africa. Ibrahim stabilizes his power and styles himself emir of the sultanate.source
- 1285January 7 – Charles I, king of Sicily (House of Anjou) (born 1227)source
- 1285November 2 – Peter III (the Great) dies after a 9-year reign at Vilafranca del Penedès. He is succeeded by his 20-year-old son Alfonso III (the Liberal), who becomes king of Aragon. Peter's other son James II (the Just), is crowned ruler of Sicily. His third son, the 13-year-old Frederick, becomes co-ruler and regent of Sicily.source
- 1287April 3 – Pope Honorius IV dies after a 2-year pontificate at Rome. During his reign, he tries to restore Sicily to papal vassalage, but Honorius clashes with King Peter III (the Great), who supports Sicilian independence.source
- 1289Eleanor of Anjou, queen consort of Sicily (House of Anjou) (died 1341)source
- 1295June 20 – Treaty of Anagni: Pope Boniface VIII arranges a peace treaty between King Philip IV of France ("the Fair"), Charles II of Naples ("the Lame"), and James II of Majorca. James returns Sicily to the Papal States, seeking to bring peace between the Capetian House of Anjou and the Kingdom of Sicily; the effort is in vain. Boniface is determined to put an end to the War of the Sicilian Vespers, because he wants to declare a new Crusade for the reconquest of the Holy Land.source
- 1299July 4 – Battle of Cape Orlando: An Aragonese-Angevin fleet (some 60 galleys) led by Admiral Roger of Lauria defeats a Sicilian fleet near Sicily. During the battle, the larger Aragonese fleet is trapped on a lee shore, but can exploit the situation with the intervention of its 6 reserve galleys. The Sicilians flee when the flagship, with King Frederick III of Sicily on board, pulls back after he collapses from heat exhaustion. Lauria captures 18 Sicilian ships, and orders the massacre of their crews to avenge the death of his nephew at the hands of Frederick.source
14th century
- 1302August 31 – The Peace of Caltabellotta is signed between King Charles the Lame, King of Naples and King Frederick III of Sicily, ending the War of the Sicilian Vespers. The Kingdom of Sicily will pass to Angevin rule on Frederick's death, in return Charles pays a tribute of some 100,000 ounces of gold. Frederick hands over all his possessions in Calabria and releases Charles' son Philip I, prince of Taranto, from his prison in Cefalù.source
- 1372August 20 – Peace is declared between the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples with the signing of the Treaty of Villeneuve between Joanna of Anjou (ruler of Naples) and King Frederick IV of Aragon (ruler of Sicily).source
- 1373March 31 – The Treaty of Villeneuve, signed on August 20, 1372 to settle the dispute between the Capetian House of Anjou and the House of Barcelona over rule of the Kingdom of Sicily, is ratified by Queen Giovanna of Naples (for Anjou), acknowledging the loss of Sicily to King Frederick the Simple of Sicily of the House of Barcelona.source
15th century
16th century
- 1538February 8 – The Holy League, an alliance of Christian nations (the Papal States and the Republic of Venice, the Knights Hospitaller of Malta, Spain and the Spanish-ruled Viceroyalty of Naples and Sicily), is agreed upon under the direction of Pope Paul III and Venetian Senator Alvise Badoer.source
- 1571May 25 – The Holy League is established as an alliance of the Papal States, the Republic of Venice, the Republic of Genoa, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Savoy, the Duchy of Urbino, the Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily under the rule of the Spanish Empire and the Knights of Malta for mutual defense against attacks by the Ottoman Empire on ships in the Mediterranean Sea.source