European Kingdoms

Italian Peninsula

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Naples & Sicily

Naples in southern Italy and the adjacent island of Sicily have large swathes of shared history dating back at least as far as the Roman republic. The island of Sicily was fought over for a long time between the North African city state of Carthage and the Greek colony of Syracuse which existed on the island. Later it was conquered by Rome, and was temporarily a stronghold of the Vandali in the fifth century. A resurgent Eastern Roman empire conquered Sicily, and much of the Mediterranean coastline in the sixth century, but the empire's control of Italy was never complete, and it had to face continual attacks from the Lombards who had become dominant in the north and areas of central Italy. The remaining Eastern Roman influence in the south was gradually whittled away after the sudden rise of the Islamic empire, although it took until 827 for the Muslims to reach this far north.

575/576 - 581

Following the Lombard seizure of the region of Spoleto in 570, the Lombard military commander, Faroald, seizes Nursia and Spoleto to establish his own independent duchy. By this time, Benevento has become the capital of another Lombard commander, Zottone, and he is besieging Naples to the south, in an attempt to expand his new territory to cover all of southern Italy. The siege fails and is lifted in 581. Another siege is initiated by Zottone's successor, but this also fails.

717

Rimoaldo of Benevento is frequently in conflict with Spoleto and Naples during his reign. That also brings him into conflict with Rome. After capturing the castle of Cumae from Duke John I of Naples and ignoring pleas from Pope Gregory II to return it in lieu of compensation, the Pope funds an expedition by Naples to recapture the castle. Rimoaldo's men are soundly defeated and expelled from Cuma.

827 - 878

Byzantine Sicily is occupied by the Aghlabids as part of the Islamic empire.

841 - 843

Aghlabid ruler Muhammad I captures Bari and Taranto (temporarily) in 841 and Apulia and Messina in 843.

846

An Aghlabid fleet sails up the River Tiber and attacks Rome. The residents at the foreign schools - Franks, Saxons, Lombards and Frisians - help defend the fortifications, but further Saracen raids are to come.

849

A further Aghlabid incursion threatens Rome and other Italian coastal cities, so the pope organises the creation of a defensive league. The league, under the command of Caesar, son of Sergius I of Naples, sails out to meet the Saracen fleet at the Battle of Ostia. A storm divides the participants halfway through the fight and the Italians return safely to port while the Saracens are scattered. Their remnants are easily picked off or captured afterwards and the successful defence of Italy is celebrated. After the raid, the construction of a high wall begins around the basilicas of St Peter and its vicinity, which is completed in 852. The enclosed area is known as the Leonine City.

878 - 1035

Sicily falls out of Aghlabid control, submitting to the Abbasids directly and being governed by the Fatamids between 910-968 and then the Kalbis from 968.

915

As the latest in a series of conflicts with the Saracens, the forces of the new Byzantine strategos of Bari, one Nicolaus Picingli, assemble alongside those of various other southern Italian princes in the Christian League. It includes Landulf I of Benevento, John I and Docibilis II of Gaeta, Gregory IV and John II of Naples, Pope John X, Guaimar II of Salerno, and Alberic I of Spoleto. The allied Byzantine-Lombard army fights and defeats the Fatamids at the Battle of Garigliano, a drawn-out combination of fights and a siege. The Saracens find themselves in a worsening situation and eventually attempt to flee, only to be captured and killed. It is a militarily significant victory in the fight against Islamic advances in Italy.

1035

The Hauteville brothers arrive in Italy from Normandy and found the county of Apulia. They and the subsequent county of Sicily gradually take territory from the Kalbis.

Kalbis
AD 968 - 1053

From 1035 the Kalbis gradually lost territory to the Normans of Apulia.

1053 - 1062/72

(Muhammed ibn Ibrahim) Ibn ath-Thumna

1071/72 - 1086

Benavert

1086

Benavert is the last Muslim ruler on Sicily to oppose the Normans of the county of Sicily.

Counts (Dukes) of Apulia
AD 1042 - 1154

Based in the southern section of the Italian peninsula and gaining ground to the north to reach Naples.

1042 - 1046

William Iron Arm

1046 - 1051

Drogo

1051 - 1057

Humphrey de Hauteville

1057 - 1059

Robert Guiscard

1053

Pope Leo IX is frustrated in his attempts to tame the Normans in southern Italy, suffering defeat at the Battle of Civitate on 18 July. He is captured and imprisoned for almost a year in Benevento.

1059

The Treaty of Melfi marks the recognition of Norman power in southern Italy.

1059 - 1085

Robert Guiscard

Duke of Apulia & Calabria.

1061 - 1072

With fresh-found blessing from Pope Nicholas II as the best way of ridding Sicily of the Muslims (and curbing Constantinople's influence in Italy), Robert invades the island in 1061. He captures Bari, the last Byzantine city in Italy, in 1071, and takes Palermo in 1072.

1077 - 1081

The sole remaining Lombardic prince of Benevento, Landulf VI, dies, ending his line. The city of Benevento is ruled directly by Robert Guiscard, although the details of how he comes to secure it are obscure. It is probably handed over by the Pope when he is negotiating for Norman help in his own battles against the Holy Roman Emperor. At the end of this period, Robert hands the city back to the Pope and it becomes an outlying possession of the Papal States. However, Robert retains most of the principality's territory outside the city itself.

1085 - 1111

Roger Borsa

1111 - 1127

William II

1127 - 1154

Roger II

Count of Sicily. Duke of Apulia & Calabria.

1139

Pope Innocent II excommunicates his ardent enemy, Roger II, but further conflict follows during which the city of Benevento becomes an outlying possession of the Papal States. Most of the principality's lands falls under the control of Naples.

1154

In the same year that Roger's commission of a world atlas by the Arabic geographer al-Idrisi is published, the county of Apulia merges with the county of Sicily to form a single Norman kingdom of Naples & Sicily.

Counts of Sicily
AD 1072 - 1154

Based in Sicily in a period of conquest that lasted for nineteen years.

1072 - 1101

Roger I Guiscard

Duke of Apulia.

1091

The conquest of Sicily is completed.

1101 - 1105

Simon

1105 - 1154

Roger II

Duke of Apulia & Calabria (1127-1154).

1139

Pope Innocent II excommunicates his ardent enemy, Roger II, but further conflict follows during which Benevento becomes an outlying possession of the Papal States.

1146 - 1160

Roger occupies Tunis in the Islamic Fatamid emirate of Ifriqiya.

1154

The county of Sicily merges with the county of Apulia to form a single Norman kingdom of Naples & Sicily.

Norman Kingdom of Naples & Sicily
AD 1154 - 1268

The accession of Roger II to the title of Duke of Apulia in 1127 brought both that and the County of Sicily under his control, and his successor, William the Bad, formally united them as a Norman kingdom.

1154 - 1166

William I the Bad

First king.

1166 - 1189

William II the Good

1190 - 1194

Tancred

1194

William III

1194 - 1197

Henry (VI)

HRE (1190-1197). Son-in-law of Roger II.

1197 - 1250

Frederick (II)

HRE (1212). Duke of Swabia (1212). King of Jerusalem (1225-28).

1212 - 1217

Henry

Son. Duke of Swabia (1216-1235). HRE (1220-1235).

1250 - 1254

Conrad (IV)

HRE (1250-1254).

1254 - 1266

Manfred

Killed by Charles I of Anjou

1267 - 1268

Conradin

Duke of Swabia (1254-1268). Killed by Charles I of Anjou.

1268

Conradin assembles a multinational army in Italy, determined to secure his own claim to Sicily in opposition to Charles I of Anjou. He is ably assisted by Frederick I of Baden, but the pair are defeated at Tagliacozzo, and both are soon arrested. The execution of Conradin, last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, on 29 October 1268 triggers the gradual break-up of the duchy into a plethora of smaller states including margraviates, landgraviates, counties, bishoprics, abbacies, and the duchy of Teck. The kingdom of Naples & Sicily passes to the Angevins.

Conradin of Swabia and Friedrich of Baden awaiting sentence

This oil on canvas depicts Conradin awaiting sentence along with his ally, Frederick of Baden, as depicted by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, 1785

Angevin Kingdom of Naples
AD 1268 - 1435

1266 - 1285

Charles I of Anjou

Senator of Rome (1263-1284). King of Hungary (1308-1342).

1267

A populist government controls the city of Rome. The Ghibelline party is crushed at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268, and Charles of Anjou is able to retake control of the city and resume his post as senator.

1282

At the Sicilian Vespers of 30 March, Sicily revolts against and massacres its French occupiers. Pedro III of Aragon is invited in, and the Aragonese line begins in Sicily, with the Angevins continuing to rule Naples.

1285 - 1309

Charles II

King of Naples.

1309 - 1343

Robert

Senator of Rome (1314-1335).

1343 - 1382

Joanna I

Murdered by Charles III.

1382 - 1384

Joanna wills her lands to Louis I, duke of Anjou in France, who secures Provence, but her cousin Charles III conquers Naples. Louis dies in 1384.

1382 - 1386

Charles III

Charles II of Hungary (1385-1386).

1386 - 1414

Ladislas

Rival candidate for crown of Croatia. Lord of Rome (1408-1414).

1414 - 1435

Joanna II

1435 - 1442

The Anjevian line ends. The claim to Naples passes to René I the Good of Anjou, duke of Lorraine, but by 1442 Alfonso V of Aragon & Sicily conquers the kingdom.

Aragon Kingdom of Sicily
AD 1282 - 1442

The French rulers of Sicily were massacred by the populace at Vespers on 30 March 1282, and Pedro III of Aragon was invited to take the throne while the Anjevins continued to rule in Naples.

1282 - 1285

Peter I of Aragon

Pedro III of Aragon.

1285 - 1296

James II of Aragon

1296 - 1337

Frederick I (II)

1309 - 1377

After residing at Poitiers for the first four years of his papacy, Pope Clement moves the papacy to an enclave in Avignon (now in France but at this time part of the lands of Frederick I), in a period known as the Babylonian Captivity.

1337 - 1342

Peter II

1342 - 1355

Louis

1355 - 1377

Frederick II (III) the Simple

1377 - 1401

Mary

1390 - 1409

Martin the Younger

1409 - 1410

Martin the Older

Martin I the Humane of Aragon & Sicily (1395-1410).

1412 - 1416

Ferdinand I

King of Aragon & Sicily.

1416 - 1442

Alfonso I

Alfonso V of Aragon & Sicily.

1442

The kingdom of Naples & Sicily is re-united under Alfonso V of Aragon.

Aragon Kingdom of Naples & Sicily
AD 1442 - 1501

The joint kingdom occasionally passed between and was temporarily divided for family members.

1442 - 1458

Alfonso I

Alfonso V of Aragon, King of Naples & Sicily.

1458 - 1494

Ferdinand (Ferrante) I

King of Naples.

1458 - 1479

John II

King of Aragon & Sicily.

1479 - 1516

Ferdinand II

King of Aragon & Sicily.

1494 - 1495

Alfonso II

King of Naples.

1479 - 1516

Ferdinand (Ferrantino) II

King of Naples.

1495 - 1496

An alliance is formed between Naples, the Pope, Milan, Venice, and the Emperor in order to defend Italy from Charles VIII of France. The conflict sees Naples occupied by the French.

1496 - 1501

Frederick IV (III)

King of Naples. Deposed by Ferdinand II of Aragon. d.1504.

1501

After uniting Spain, Ferdinand II of Aragon deposes his cousin in Naples and unites Sicily and Naples to the Spanish joint kingdom of Castile, Aragon, and Navarre. Local viceroys are given control of Sicily.

1713

The War of the Spanish Succession sees Spain giving up Naples to Austria (along with Sardinia) and Sicily to the duchy of Savoy.

War of the Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was fought to avoid a shift in the balance of power in Europe with the proposed unification of the Bourbon kingdoms of Spain and France

1713 - 1720

Victor Amadeus II

Duke of Savoy (1675-1730), King of Sardinia (1720-1730).

1717 - 1718

The Bourbon king of Spain, Philip V, is unhappy with the arrangement and occupies Sardinia and Sicily. Britain and Austria defeat Spain.

1720

Savoy trades Sicily for Sardinia, which is closer to its own territory.

1733 - 1735

The War of the Polish Succession gains Naples and Sicily for the Bourbons of Spain. The Spanish Philip V reunites his possessions as the kingdom of the Two Sicilies and gives them to a younger son under an agreement that the kingdom will not be reunited with Spain.

Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
AD 1735 - 1860

The Sicilian Bourbons descended from Ferdinand, second son of Charles III of Spain, king of the Two Sicilies. With interruptions aside, they managed to keep the title until they were dispossessed in 1860.

1734 - 1759

Charles

King of Spain (1759-1788). Abdicated the Sicilies to his son.

1759 - 1805

Ferdinand IV (I)

Son.

1794 - 1795

The kingdom joins the First Coalition against republican France.

1799

The Parthenopean Republic is declared in Naples in January, but the Bourbons are restored in June of the same year.

1805

The Bourbons are deposed by Napoleon Bonaparte's French First Empire, and the emperor forms his own kingdom of Naples. Protected by the British Royal Navy, the Bourbons continue to rule from Sicily but without any power over Naples.

Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples
AD 1806 - 1815

The Bourbon kingdom of the Two Sicilies in southern Italy was conquered by the French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Napoleonic kingdom of Naples was created in its place, incorporating much of the former principality of Benevento.

1806 - 1808

Joseph Bonaparte

Brother of Napoleon I of France.

1808 - 1815

Joachim Murat

Brother-in-law of Napoleon I.

1814 - 1815

With Napoleon Bonaparte's return from exile on Elba, Joachim Murat launches an ill-advised campaign to the north of the kingdom, occupying Rome for a period. When Napoleon falls, Murat flees to Corsica, launches an attempt from Calabria to retake Naples, and is arrested and executed by the rightful Bourbon king of Naples and Sicily. Austria renews its control of northern Italy, and the Papal States are restored to Rome, which includes the medieval principality of Benevento.