Hohenstaufen in Sicily

Anthropophagy in Medieval Sicily: a cultural theme between chronicle and representation. Anthropophagy is the consumption of human flesh and the most extreme form of destruction of the human body, a physical violence which is the quintessential taboo of the self-described “civilized” societies. It provokes disgust, surprise and sometimes fascination, creating a deep connection between the text and the reader, and between the message and the audience. With regard to Sicily, anthropophagy is a cultural theme useful to discern between the account of real events and their representation. The construction of the image of Sicily, and even more of its inhabitants, the Sicilians, is based on an accumulation of clichés, often of ancient origins, transmitted and interpreted over the ages. One of them is surely the “bestiality” of its first inhabitants, intended as the ancient Cyclops or the Giants sons of Saturn, both of them “tyrants” described as man-eaters. During the Early Middle Ages the idea that the Sicilians eat human flesh was transferred to the new conquerors of the island: the Muslims, an infidel enemy to be fighted and considered beyond the boundaries of humanity and nature, meant as a divine law and therefore “civilization”. In both cases the accusations came from the outside, i.e. from groups as the ancient Greeks or the Christians (both Byzantine and Latin-Norman) who had an interest in representing the old and modern inhabitants of the island as anthropophagists to be feared, conquered, subjugated and converted to religion and/or civilization.

Le Costitutiones Melphitanae rappresentano un corpo organico di leggi promulgato per ordine dell’Imperatore Federico II nell’anno 1231. Uno dei manoscritti più antichi di questo importante corpus legislativo medievale è stato recentemente trovato nel comune di Fossacesia (Abruzzo). Il frammento manoscritto, risale al secolo XIII ed è uno dei più preziosi e affascinanti testi federiciani scoperti negli ultimi decenni: esso, come il codice del Vaticano ( Codice Vat. Lat 6770), contiene il cosiddetto apparatus antiquus e, in quanto tale, trasmette, oltre alla chiose di Andrea Bonello, anche quelle di G', indicato però, a differenza degli altri codici glossati ad oggi conosciuti, anche con il nome esteso: Guisando!

Enrico di Castiglia è un caso emblematico di cavaliere e principe alla ricerca di una signoria. Dopo aver guidato senza successo una ribellione nobiliare contro il celebre fratello Alfonso X el Sabio (1252-1284) re di Castiglia, prese la via dell’esilio. Barcellona, Londra e Tunisi furono le mete dei suoi viaggi. In Africa guadagnò grandi onori e ricchezze combattendo con i suoi cavalieri al servizio del sultano di Tunisi, che nel 1258 si era proclamato califfo. Venuto a sapere della spedizione angioina volta alla conquista del regno di Sicilia, il principe castigliano prestò la somma di 40.000 once d’oro a Carlo d’Angiò chiedendo come interesse in caso di vittoria la concessione di una signoria. La vittoria angioina di Benevento tuttavia lo lasciò a mani vuote e, dopo alcuni incontri, infruttuosi, con il papa e con Carlo d’Angiò, Enrico accettò l’elezione a senatore di Roma. Governò il comune capitolino sostenendo il “popolo” contro le aspirazioni nobiliari e angioine. Sottomise all’autorità comunale diversi centri del Patrimonium Beati Petri con la diplomazia o con la forza delle armi. Nel 1267 si schierò dalla parte di Corradino che scendeva in Italia per reclamare l’eredità paterna del regno di Sicilia, e utilizzò l’arma della propaganda politica (poesia di argomento politico, cerimonie pubbliche, laudes regiae) per sostenere la sua causa, denigrare Carlo d’Angiò e trovare nuovi alleati. Nel frattempo anche la corte papale metteva in atto una propaganda contraria al principe Enrico e favorevole a Carlo d’Angiò, in particolare con i sermoni del cardinale francese Odo da Châteauroux, che dipingeva Enrico di Castiglia, Corradino e il sultano di Babilonia come i tre spiriti immondi dell’Apocalisse e presentava invece il fratello del re di Francia come campione e difensore della Chiesa e del popolo cristiano. I due piani si intersecano in occasione della battaglia di Tagliacozzo presentata dalla propaganda di Enrico come una facile vittoria per Corradino e tutti coloro che avessero militato sotto le sue bandiere, e vissuta invece momento per momento dal cardinale francese a causa delle notizie, ora cattive, poi confuse e infine buone, che man mano arrivavano alla corte papale. Giustiziato Corradino nella pubblica piazza, Enrico fu condannato all’ergastolo. Dopo 23 anni di prigionia verrà liberato da Carlo II lo Zoppo e, tornato prima a Tunisi e poi in patria, divenne principe-reggente al trono di Castiglia-Leon per il nipotino Fernando IV.

Erstaunlich wenige Spuren zeugen von der einstigen massiven muslimischen Präsenz im mittelalterlichen Süditalien und Sizilien. Dabei besiedelten Anhänger des Islam fünf Jahrhunderte lang die Region. Dann aber wurden die Muslime verdrängt und mit ihnen die meisten ihrer Hinterlassenschaften. So vernachlässigte auch die historische Forschung die süditalienischen Muslime gerade des späten 12. und des 13. Jahrhunderts.
Als erstes deutschsprachiges Buch rückt diese Studie die Geschichte jener Muslime in den Fokus. Mit ihren Lebensformen kommen auch die Beziehungen zu den Christen in den Blick; schließlich waren die Andersgläubigen christlicher Herrschaft unterworfen und spielten wiederholt eine entscheidende Rolle für Kaiser, Könige und Päpste bis hin zur breiten Bevölkerung. Neben solchen politischen Aspekten untersucht das Buch auch religiöse, rechtliche, soziale, wirtschaftliche, militärische, demographische und siedlungsgeographische Entwicklungen muslimischen Lebens im christlichen Reich.
Der Verlust vieler arabischer Zeugnisse kann dabei mit Hilfe einer erstaunlichen lateinischen Überlieferungsfülle ausgeglichen werden. In einem interdisziplinären Ansatz tragen transkulturelle, islamwissenschaftliche, archäologische und soziologische Perspektiven zur Interpretation bei. So bietet das Buch einen neuen Blick auf einen oft vergessenen Teil europäischer und globaler Geschichte.

I Monti Sicani, situati tra Agrigento e Palermo, erano in gran parte sconosciuti dal punto di vista archeologico. Il survey, effettuato su 274 km², ha fornito un nuovo e ricco quadro delle strutture insediative, presenti nell’area tra l'età del rame e il medioevo. I siti preistorici ci forniscono un’immagine chiara della sequenzialità dei primi insediamenti e della sorprendente penetrazione delle influenze greche in queste remote aree montuose, in cui, oltre ai santuari di confine, sta emergendo anche un piccolo numero di fattorie di epoca greca. Un vero e proprio utilizzo intensivo del territorio si registra a partire dall’età ellenistica, ma è soprattutto nella tarda antichità che si avviano ristrutturazioni e si intensifica il numero di insediamenti. Il panorama che si delinea spazia dalla fase arabo-normanna fino al medioevo. Oltre 260 tavole a colori, mappe, disegni e supplementi documentano per la prima volta l'archeologia delle zone interne della Sicilia in maniera intensiva.


Die Monti Sicani zwischen Agrigent und Palermo waren archäologisch weitgehend unbekannt. Der Survey auf 274 km² hat ein neues und dichtes Bild der Siedlungsstrukturen zwischen der Kupferzeit und dem Mittelalter ergeben. Die prähistorischen Fundstellen zeichnen ein dichtes Bild von der Abfolge der frühen Siedlungen und vom erstaunlichen Vordringen griechischer Einflüsse in diese küstenfernen, gebirgigen Bereiche, in denen neben Grenzheiligtümern sogar eine kleine Zahl von griechenzeitlichen Gehöften entsteht. Eine Konzentration der Landnutzung beginnt im Hellenismus gefolgt von einer Neustrukturierung und Siedlungsverdichtung vor allem in der Spätantike. Der Blick reicht über die arabisch normannische Phase bis zum Mittelalter. Über 260 Farbtafeln Karten Zeichnungen und Beilagen dokumentieren erstmals die Archäologie des sizilianischen Binnenlandes.

In G. Mandalà and I. Pérez Martín (eds), with the assistance of A. Bellettini, Multilingual and Multigraphic Documents and Manuscripts of East and West, Piascataway (NJ), Gorgias Press, 2018, pp. 123-158.
ABSTRACT: This essay is focused on the materiality of the written culture(s) of the Islamic Sicily (827–1091), investigated through the Arabic, Jewish and Greek prisms. Other than a limited set of events and texts well known by means of indirect tradition, what remains of the written culture of that period? The present paper tries to answer to this question thanks to the history of written culture, i.e., the study of the processes related to the production of written texts, the different forms of their use, and the means that have allowed their preservation over time, well aware that silences and absences exceed what is offered by the sparse direct testimonies which has survived. The picture delineated is rich in nuances and entanglements, very revealing about the historical processes that Sicily underwent afterwards and about the cultures which interacted in its cultural space.

[ITA] Imperatore: Federico II di Svevia (1194-1250) fu l’ultimo a dare un senso universale a quel titolo. Per circa un trentennio fu il signore più potente d’Europa, rivelando in ogni gesto piena consapevolezza del proprio ruolo: consapevolezza che acquisì in maniera graduale e sempre più netta mentre divampava il fuoco del violentissimo scontro con il papato. È qui la radice primigenia che lo portò a farsi fautore di uno straordinario rinnovamento ideologico, del quale furono artefici i letterati e i funzionari che lo circondarono. La sua corte divenne così polo attrattivo di tradizioni culturali multiformi (latina, volgare, occitanica, greca, araba, ebraica) e centro propulsore di innovazioni letterarie e scientifiche destinate a esercitare decisiva influenza per i secoli a venire.
In questo libro si indagano compiutamente i caratteri e l’elaborazione di una dirompente concezione culturale: per la prima volta nella storia, la conoscenza derivata dallo studio approfondito fu rappresentata come una scalinata che conduce al sapere, unica porta di accesso alla nobiltà: sia quella spirituale delle virtù, sia quella più concreta delle professioni funzionali all’amministrazione dello stato.
[ENG] Emperor: Frederick II Hohenstaufen (1194-1250) was the last one to give a universal meaning to that title. For about thirty years he was the most powerful ruler in Europe, revealing in every gesture full awareness of his own role: an awareness that he acquired gradually and more and more clearly as the fire of his violent clash with the papacy flared up. This is the primordial root that led him to become the supporter of an extraordinary ideological renewal, of which the literati and the officials who surrounded him were the architects. His court thus became an attractive center for multiform cultural traditions (Latin, vernacular, Occitan, Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew) and a driving force for literary and scientific innovations destined to exert decisive influence for centuries to come.
In this book the characters and the elaboration of a disruptive cultural conception are fully investigated: for the first time in history, the knowledge derived from in-depth study was represented as a stairway leading to wisdom, the only gateway to nobility: both the spiritual one, and the more concrete one (functional to the administration of the state).

Conca d’oro è il nome della fertile piana, compresa tra mare e monti, che circonda la città di Palermo per una estensione di ca. 100 km2, celebrata per la sua feracità sin dalla antichità classica. Il presente studio intende delineare la storia del toponimo, indagando le implicazioni linguistiche e culturali ad esso connesse. Attestato come Co(n)ca  aurea nella temperie di rinnovamento culturale che investe la città di Palermo intorno al 1470, il toponimo potrebbe celare una formazione paraetimologica ibrida arabo-latina, in analogia ad altri casi siciliani già noti (es. Mongibello).

The present research paper aims to introduce and discuss the special issue dedicated to The Sicilian Questions. Thanks to the increase in studies and research there seems to be an urgent need today, more than ever, to bring together all the fragments of an uniterrupted historical dialogue between Sicily, understood in its widest geo-political meaning, and the Arabo-Islamic world. The study of the Arabic elements in this history of Sicily has been presented with well-defined chronological and cultural limits (ninth to thirteenth centuries), set out in the work of Michele Amari. Nonetheless, as the present work demonstrates, a diachronic and transdisciplinary perspective allows new and unexpected viewpoints to open up. The need emerges to broaden chronological limits to the entire Middle Ages and beyond, whilst fully aware of other disciplines and areas of knowledge, which have until now been overlooked, isolated or simply considered secondary or subordinate.

English recension available in Speculum n° 86, 2011/2, p. 499-500. This book is divided in two basic parts. Part one follows the birth of the so-called collection of dictamina/letters of Petrus de Vinea, and is consequently a sort of history of the rhetorical Latin practices at the court and chancery of Frederic II of Sicily and his sons. It envisions the social milieu as well as the rhetorical techniques and their uses for propaganda. The second and more innovative part is a global european exploration on the fortune and reuse of this important textual collection, which worked as a matrix/writing guide in most European royal chanceries from 1280 onwards. Separated chapters are devoted to England, France, the Empire and Bohemia, and Italy. Short sketches on the spanish peninsula, Hungary and Poland have still to be completed by coming papers. Hence the title, as the book can serve as a global essay on the chancery rhetoric and the rhetoric of power in 1200-1400 Europe. Since 2008, a new (usefull, but far from definitive) edition of the Petrus de Vinea letters has been published under the supervision of Edoardo d'Angelo (Pier della VIgna, Epistolario). I have myself added new material that could fit in the second part (reuse of the sources in Aragon, Castile, Poland...). But the book remains more or less valid...

Durante siete siglos la Corona del Reino Latino de Jerusalem ha pertenecido a los Reyes de España, desde que en el año 1282 Don Pedro III de Aragón reclamó las Coronas de Sicilia y de Jerusalem en nombre de su esposa la Reina Doña Constanza de Suabia. Durante este tiempo los Reyes de España han sabido hacer honor a este título histórico ayudando en todo momento a la reconstrucción y mantenimiento del Santo Sepulcro.

After Manfred's defeat and death (february 26, 1266), the papacy sent several representatives in the city-States of central and northern Italy to help pulling down the Ghibelline regimes. This article gives a detailed account of one of these missions, namely Bernard de Castanet and Bartolomeo of Trevi's intervention at Cremona and Piacenza in 1266-1267. These two papal chaplains were tenacious and successful in their bid to put an end to Oberto Pallavicini's long-time domination. A good number of narrative and official sources shed light on the "nuncii"'s determined action in the political milieu. A major achievement was the establishment of "consortia fidei et pacis" in both Cremona and Piacenza. These civic associations controlled the municipal institutions for the sake of the catholic faith and in the name of the struggle against heresy. Most of all, they secured the obedience of both cities to the Roman Church. The new political order was thus founded on spiritual imperatives. Finally, the papal chaplains managed to settle a general peace agreement between the main Lombard cities under the authority of the Apostolic See (The "Peace of Romano"). Bernard de Castanet played the biggest part in the course of events and revealed his political skill as well as firmness in defending papal theocracy. This first mission opened the way to his ecclesiastical career, despite his probable humble origin.

Après la défaite et la mort de Manfred (26 février 1266), la papauté envoya plusieurs représentants dans les cités-Etats de l'Italie centrale et septentrionale pour contribuer au renversement des régimes gibelins. Cet article retrace en détail l'une de ces missions, celle menée par Bernard de Castanet et Bartolomeo de Trevi à Crémone et à Plaisance en 1266-1267. A force de tenacité, ces deux chapelains pontificaux parvinrent à mettre un terme à la longue domination du vicaire impérial Oberto Pellavicini. Un assez grand nombre de sources narratives et officielles éclairent l'action des "nuncii" dans la mêlée politique au sein des deux communes. Leur intervention culmina avec l'établissement de "consortia fidei et pacis". Ces associations civiques exerçaient un contrôle sur les institutions communales  au nom de la foi catholique et du combat contre l'hérésie. Surtout, elles assuraient l'obéissance des villes à l'Eglise romaine. Le nouvel ordre politique était ainsi fondé sur des impératifs spirituels. Pour finir, les chapelains pontificaux réussirent à instaurer une paix générale entre les principales villes de Lombardie, sous l'autorité du Siège apostolique ("Paix de Romano"). D'un bout à l'autre de l'intervention, Bernard de Castanet eut le premier rôle. Il fit ainsi la preuve de son habileté politique comme de sa fermeté à défendre la théocratie pontificale. Cette première mission couronnée d'un succès sans doute inespéré favorisa la suite de sa carrière ecclésiastique et contribua, dans cette perspective, à compenser la modestie de ses origines.

Apart from one or two spectacular examples (like the mention of the manuscrit of Guiron le Courtois in the Friderician Register of 1239-1240), there are few direct traces of what exactly was read, studied and copied in Hohenstaufen and post-Hohenstaufen Sicily, as far as French literature is concerned. I propose here to examine some traces of the use or echoes of this French culture in the Latin sources produced according to the logic of Ars dictaminis in the milieux that depended on or were influenced by the Hohenstaufen chancery and its epigones during the reign of Charles I of Anjou. The resulting panorama includes "latinizations" or Latin echoes of sources varying from the Roman de Renart to the Roman de Troie to the Chanson de Roland : far from being a marginal echo of this French component of the Sicilan Culture, these "latinizations" are probably one of the best ways for us to understand what part this culture played in South Italy in the Duecento. But we must understand what milieu produced these texts, and according to what logics, in order to progress in our knowledge of these trends.

This article investigates the historical context of the "Centiloquium Hermetis", which is a Latin 'florilegium' of astrological sentences based on the model of the famous "Centiloquium" with teachings of Claudios Ptolemaios. According to medieval manuscripts the Latin text is a translation of teachings of the mythical figure of Hermes Trismegistos, conducted by Stephanus of Messina for King Manfred of Sicily, son of Emperor Frederick II. Indeed the majority of the sentences originate from works of the oriental astrologer Abū Maʿshar, above all from the so called "Albumasar in Sadan" and the "De revolutionibus nativitatum". The article emphasizes how the translation of the "Centiloquium Hermetis" fits into King Manfred‘s interest for astrology in general and for hermetic traditions in particular and how fits into the translation programme of the Sicilian court of the Staufer era.

Édition critique, introduction et notes par Oleg Voskoboynikov.
Michel Scot, traducteur arabisant, médicin, astrologue-encyclopédiste au service de l'empereur Frédéric II, eut dès son siècle une aura quelque peu mystérieuse d'un savant qui «semble avoir connu vraiment les jeux trompeurs de la sorcellerie», si l'on croit Dante qui le jugea digne de son Enfer (XX, 115-17). Mais ses contemporains ont su apprécier aussi sa contribution à la marche triomphale de l'aristotélisme. Par rapport à ses traductions, son oevre magistrale propre, le Liber introductorius (ca. 1220-1235), eut une diffusion relativement restreinte et une tradition manuscrite compliquée. Aujourd'hui, cet auteur ne risque plus de passer aux oubliettes de l'histoire des idées et des sciences. Cette édition n'a pas l'ambition de ressusciter un soldat inconnu, mais de lui rendre justice, en faisant connaître deux de ses traités dont la paternité ne fait pas de doute: le Liber particularis et le Liber physionomie. Ils forment la deuxième et la troisième partie du Liber introductorius. Tout en participant à un project commun, chacun possède sa structure, sa problématique, voire son style. Le Liber particularis traite particulariter, «en détails», les grandes thèmes de la cosmologie médiévale. Le deuxième est le premier livre de l'Occident médiéval consacré exclusivement à la physiognomonie, un savoir à succès prodigieux jusqu'au XIXe siècle.

Michael Scot is considered to be the most outstanding scholar in the entourage of Emperor Frederick II and so as key figure of research and translation activities at the court of the Hohenstaufen monarch. The medieval historiography already appriciates his importance but usually portrays Michael Scot simultaneously as sorcerer and conjurer of demons. Michael Scot‘s alleged dark activities serve as proof for the vileness of his lord, the heretical Staufer, and continue the propagandistic battle between pope and emperor in eschatological metaphors. Michael Scot as magician lives on as literary character in works from Dante to Walter Scott as well as in modern biographies of Frederick II and narratives of his court culture. This article exposes on the one hand what is known for certain about Michael Scot and the impact of magic, astrology, and alchemy in his works. On the other hand, it portrays how the alleged magician Michael Scot becomes part oft he mythical image of Emperor Frederick II and the culture of knowledge at his court.

Sicily has been demographically influenced by successive waves of migrants of diverse origins. Many different people ventured into Sicily because it lies in the center of the Mediterranean. Due to the interchangeability of varying ethnicities, and its accessible location, this island has experienced military invasions that extend back through the ages to the days of the Greek Dorieus  around the year 500 BCE , and continued up to the American invasion of Italy during World War II. For well over two thousand years Sicily has experienced the shedding of blood; few locations have been fought over this extensively in the history of Western Europe. When the thirteenth century dawned on Europe, Sicily was still very much a region of discord and violence. This historical continuity greatly shaped the cares of Emperor Frederick II of Hohenstaufen who relied on political manipulation to survive.
Chroniclers of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries described the ever-enigmatic Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II as an epicurean, the anti-Christ, a heretic, and one who hated the papacy and religion. Frederick was not anti-papal however, and he was not determined to destroy the papacy or Catholicism. Frederick was a manipulator of the papacy who was forced to adapt to the changing programs of the popes to attain his interests. This led to the great conflict between Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX during the latter’s pontificate in the thirteenth century. This great conflict between the temporal authority and the spiritual authority has been allegorically woven into history as a struggle between the anti-Christ and the servant of Christ, but this is an unfair representation.

Study on historiography of the Kingdom of Sicily under Norman and Hohenstaufen rule (12th-13th centuries) through the papers of the Atti delle Giornate Normanno-Sveve (1973-2012), the biggest regular medieval congress in the South Italy. Two questions were closely examined: the "mediterranen nature" of the Kingdom and the position of the Kingdom as center or as periphery of the medieval world.

Monaco di Baviera, 13-15 ottobre 2017,
Juristische Glossierungstechniken als Mittel rechtswissenschaftlicher Rationalisierungen: Erfahrungen aus dem europäischen Mittelalter – vor und neben den großen Glossae ordinariae (Le glosse come strumento di razionalizzazione del pensiero giuridico: esperienze del Medioevo europeo antecedenti e parallele alle grandiGlossae ordinariae).