In the first book of its kind, two of Sicily's leading historians and lecturers outline strategies and resources available in English for professors and other instructors wishing to introduce students to the world's most conquered island. Sicily boasts a cosmopolitan heritage, yielding lessons perfectly suited to our complex times. This guide is not only for educators. It's useful for anybody seeking sources of accurate information about Sicily, a place which over the centuries has been politically connected to Asia and Africa as well as Europe. The authors consider Sicilian Studies as a multifaceted field in itself, not merely a specialized niche within the broad field of Italian Studies. Most of the text consists of succinct descriptions or reviews of books and (in a few cases) articles useful to those seeking to learn about Sicily. The book includes a lengthy chapter setting forth the history of Sicily, along with numerous maps and a 3000 year timeline. This makes it very useful even for teachers who may be unfamiliar with Sicily yet interested in teaching about it. In addition to a consideration of how to teach about Sicilian history, archeology, literature and even cuisine and the Sicilian language, this book offers candid, practical suggestions for those planning study tours or courses in Sicily. This guide is more than a blueprint. It presents a pragmatic concept of what this field can be. This is based on experience. Over the years, the authors have advised professors on how to formulate such courses, and they have occasionally presented lectures to university students. The point of view, as well as the advice, is impartial, unbiased, because the authors are not beholden to any specific academic publisher or institution. Never before have so many works about Sicily covering the island's lengthy history in English been described in a single volume. Chapters are dedicated to foundational principles, historiographical concepts and the history of Sicily, followed by the consideration of works on ancient, medieval and modern Sicily, special topics (women's studies, genealogy, the Mafia), the Sicilian language, the arts (art, film, literature, music), culinary topics and, finally, study tours. At 250 pages, it is fairly concise, with no space wasted, yet highly informative. This guide makes it possible to teach a course related to Sicily even if your institution lacks an Italian Studies department. Its publication was long overdue.

Every once in a while a long-forgotten work emerges from the shadows of the Middle Ages to be published in English for the first time. This is the first complete English translation of the prose chronicle named for the abbey of Santa Maria della Ferraria. It was written during the reign of Frederick II, Italy's greatest medieval ruler, early in the thirteenth century about the Normans and Swabians in southern Italy. Based in part on the work of Falco of Benevento and others, it complements our knowledge of a complex era of Italian history. The identity of its author, a monk in an abbey in the Volturno Valley near Naples, is not known. Discovered in the nineteenth century, his manuscript - which reposes in quiet dignity in a library in Bologna - brings to life the figures who forged the Kingdom of Sicily. First published (in its original Latin) in Naples in 1888 in a limited edition of just 275 numbered copies, the chronicle long remained virtually unknown. As a rarity found in just a few library collections, its very existence was something of an 'open secret' among specialized scholars. The Apulia of the title is not simply Puglia, which in the Middle Ages extended from the heel of the Italian peninsula northward to Pescara and even Ancona, but southern Italy generally, embracing regions such as Basilicata and parts of Calabria. Although parts of the chronicle are drawn from earlier sources, the span of time from circa 1195 to 1228 is original, based on the monk's firsthand knowledge of the reign of Frederick II, who visited the abbey in 1223, when the chronicler probably met the monarch (the original Latin of the chronicle's last years was written in the present tense). Even for the Norman reigns of the twelfth century, it brings us a few details not found in the surviving codices of other chronicles. Ms Alio advances the theory that this medieval work, with its style conforming to more than one genre (chronicle, annal), its facts drawn from several sources, and its principal range (1096-1228) spanning several generations, could be considered the first history of the Kingdom of Sicily, which was founded in 1130. It is the last chronicle written in the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of Frederick II to be published in English. As a scholarly work intended for use as a reference, this book contains over 400 informative end notes, five appendices, eight pages of maps and seven genealogical tables, along with numerous (black and white) photographs. It includes an introductory background chapter on the medieval history of southern Italy and its Greeks, Arabs, Lombards and Normans. Also included is an insightful introduction to the chronicle and its author (the longest essay ever published about it in English). Ms Alio's translation is faithful to the original Latin, yet fluid and understandable. Her native's knowledge of southern Italy and its people is evident on every page. This volume is a useful resource for researchers and an interesting excursion into the medieval world for armchair historians. Its publication was long overdue. The book is printed on acid-free paper.

This informative supplement to the author's Queens of Sicily 1061-1266 further explores the queens' use of power and the Sicilian cultural identity forged by these women. Chapters are dedicated to topics such as: the queens' suppression of adversaries, reginal patronage, titles and heraldry, words spoken by the queens, court cuisine (including recipes) and poetry (with original translations of a number of poems of the Sicilian School), places the queens lived, sexuality and marriage, and more. A chapter lists work by fellow historians. As a cornerstone in the emerging field of Sicilian queenship, this book begins a new conversation in medieval women's studies, laying the foundation for work to come.

Sicily's culinary landscape is as eclectic as the island's complex history. Written by Sicilians in Sicily, this book introduces Sicilian cuisine, explaining what it is and where to find it. Presenting descriptions, background, a glossary and a dozen classic (and simple) recipes, it is a reliable reference for anybody captivated by Sicily's food, wine and timeless culture. This is a book to consult. The chapters on festivals, wines and olive oils transcend the superficial treatments of those topics by most cookbook authors and chefs. Rarely does a book about Sicilian food present much information about wine, or vice versa. There are several useful maps indicating such details as wine and olive oil appellations. Here the authors have included a few things overlooked by most of the others. Unlike many such books, this one is not personality driven. It does not promote specific chefs, wineries or restaurants, nor does it focus on the authors' psyches. Such sober objectivity is refreshing in a field where blatant commercialism is the order of the day, and where every food writer wants to reveal the intimate details of her culinary catharsis. Whether your visit to Sicily is physical or virtual, this is a reliable place to chart your course.

Sometimes it takes just one strong woman to tame a pack of zealous men. Meet Margaret of Sicily. For five years during the twelfth century, Margaret of Navarre, Queen of Sicily, was the most powerful woman in Europe and the Mediterranean. Her life and times make for the compelling story of a wife, sister, mother and leader. This landmark work is the first biography of the great-granddaughter of El Cid and friend of Thomas Becket who could govern a nation and inspire millions. In Margaret's story sisterhood is just the beginning. The Basque princess who rose to confront unimagined adversity became the epitome of medieval womanhood in a world dominated by men, governing one of the wealthiest, most powerful - and most socially complex - states of Europe and the Mediterranean. This book is the result of original, scholarly research in medieval chronicles and manuscripts - some never before translated into English - yet its narrative is lively and interesting, exploring the essence of the queen's personality. In addition to its main text, the volume presents fourteen pages of maps, four genealogical tables and numerous photographs, reflecting information gathered by the author in Italy, Spain and England (and even in the United States). Her research took her from the tiny town in Navarre where Margaret was born to the locality in Sicily where the queen died, and a lot of places in-between. The author's keen knowledge of history and her mastery of Italian, Spanish, French and Latin aided her in following every step of Margaret's journey. If you could travel back in time to the twelfth century, Ms Alio would be the perfect guide, and in this book she guides you through an eventful life in a perilous age. Chapters detail Margaret's life but also her world, from Pamplona to Palermo. The chapter on Monreale's splendid abbey, erected on the orders of Margaret and her son, is a sophisticated guide to this unique place, offering the reader nuggets of information rarely mentioned in travel books. Ten appendices provide information on the chronicles of Hugh Falcandus, Romuald of Salerno and others, along with the hard-to-find original texts of both surviving codices of the Assizes of Ariano, the legal code enacted by Margaret's father-in-law in 1140. There is a timeline and over 400 end notes, and a bibliography with hundreds of sources cited. (The text was peer reviewed.) There is much in these 512 pages for the armchair historian but also for the hardcore academic, everything from the analysis of sources like chronicles and royal decrees to maps of medieval Palermo. This work is so exhaustively documented that the 'back matter' containing notes, appendices and the detailed bibliography is almost as long as the main narrative text. This book is full of interesting details. For example, Margaret was one of the few women of her century to govern a population that included a substantial number of Muslims. Closer to our times, Palermo-based Jackie Alio stands out as the only Sicilian woman writing books in English about the women of medieval Sicily. She lives and breathes Sicilian history. Her previous titles include The Peoples of Sicily: A Multicultural Legacy and Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels. She authored the first English translation of the Ferraris Chronicle, written in Italy before 1228. A defining biography, Margaret, Queen of Sicily is the longest monograph of its kind written in English by a Sicily-based historian. At a time when academic publishers are reluctant to publish anything this lengthy, it is an exhaustive work in the tradition of the tomes published in decades past. It touches a number of fields: Norman and Navarrese culture, the power of medieval women, twelfth-century politics, the nature of multicultural societies, the role of religion in the Mediterranean. With the publication of this book, our knowledge of Europe's complex twelfth century is one step nearer completeness. Queen Margaret would be proud.

Some travel books transport you over distance. This one takes you back in time. It's the perfect book to read before you get to Sicily, and to consult when you're there. This is the first guide written in English dedicated to the polyglot medieval heritage of three Sicilian cities where Europe met Africa and Asia for three magical centuries. Here two of Sicily's leading historians present accurate, timeless information about the Norman, Arab and Byzantine legacy of Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù. From emirs to kings, muqarnas to mosaics, this book includes details rarely published elsewhere, some drawn from the authors' original research. Included are numerous maps and (black and white) photos. Chapters are dedicated to specific sights, such as cathedrals and castles, as well as topics like religion, architecture and the local cuisine. There are informative chapters on Fatimid art and Byzantine iconography. There is an overview of the chief period covered (900-1200), a detailed chronology, a list of important historical figures and an index, along with a concise introduction to Sicily's ancient history. The chapters on popular sites, like Palermo's Palatine Chapel and Monreale's abbey, are detailed yet concise enough to be read quickly. Several sites in Palermo, Monreale and Cefalù were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015. The authors describe those places and many more, including a few jewels that are generally overlooked. It's a well-kept secret that more churches standing in the twelfth century survive in Palermo than any other city in Europe. Though it has a useful chapter on schedules, sightseeing and access, this book is not the typical destination guide that lists hotels and restaurants, perhaps providing transportation information and other details. It complements such guides (and websites) by concentrating on the kind of information that interests the slightly more curious visitor, especially the medievalist. Its emphasis is on what makes the medieval art and architecture of this corner of Sicily different from the rest of Italy and most of Europe. The authors make the point that there's a bit of medievalist in all of us. Here the focus is the history and culture intricately interwoven into the medieval sights and sites you are visiting, or plan to visit. It's all about context and Sicily's place in the world. The authors are not travel writers but specialist historians who live in the place they write about. These pages reflect their passion. There is an abundance of information, far more than what is found in most guides, but the lengthy index can be used as a menu. No need to read the whole book. Just choose whatever seems most interesting at the moment. Among the book's immediately useful details are the diagrams indicating the placement of the mosaics in the churches, along with a simple genealogical chart showing how the kings and queens of the Norman era were related to each other. Equally informative are the maps of medieval Palermo. The first few chapters of this guide, eloquently setting forth the history of the Byzantines, Arabs and Normans in Sicily, were drawn from the authors' earlier book, The Peoples of Sicily. Here is the kind of information very few guides present in a cohesive way. This book is about more than superficial sightseeing. In describing the people and peoples behind the monuments, it invites you to embark on a journey from seeing to understanding. Along the way, you'll meet the Normans, Arabs, Greeks, Swabians and Jews who forged one of the most remarkable multicultural societies the world has ever known, something as timely as it is timeless. This guide will transform your visit into a learning experience.

Can the eclectic medieval history of the world's most conquered island be a lesson for our times? Home to Normans, Byzantines, Arabs, Germans and Jews, 12th-century Sicily was a crossroads of cultures and faiths, the epitome of diversity. Here Europe, Asia and Africa met, with magical results. Bilingualism was the norm, women's rights were defended, and the environment was protected. Literacy among Sicilians soared; it was higher during this ephemeral golden age than it was seven centuries later. But this book is about more than Sicily. It is a singular, enduring lesson in the way multicultural diversity can be encouraged, with the result being a prosperous society. While its focus is the civilizations that flourished during the island's multicultural medieval period from 1060 to 1260, most of Sicily's complex history to the end of the Middle Ages is outlined. Idrisi is mentioned, but so is Archimedes. Introductory background chapters begin in the Neolithic, continuing to the history of the contested island under Punics and Greeks. Every civilization that populated the island is covered, including Romans, Goths, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Germans, Angevins, Aragonese and Jews, with profiles of important historical figures and sites. Religion, law, geography and cuisine are also considered. The authors' narrative is interesting but never pedantic, intended for the general reader rather than the expert in anthropology, theology, art or architecture. They are not obsessed with arcane terminology, and they don't advocate a specific agenda or world view. Here two erudite scholars take their case to the people. Yes, this book actually sets forth the entirety of ancient and medieval Sicilian history from the earliest times until around 1500, and it presents a few nuggets of the authors' groundbreaking research in medieval manuscripts. Unlike most authors who write in English about Sicily, perhaps visiting the island for brief research trips, these two are actually based in Sicily, where their work appears on a popular website. Sicily aficionados will be familiar with their writings, which have been read by some ten million during the last five years, far eclipsing the readership of any other historians who write about Sicily. Alio and Mendola are the undisputed, international "rock stars" of Sicilian historical writing, with their own devoted fan base. Every minute of the day somebody is reading their online articles. This is a great book for anybody who is meeting Sicily for the first time, the most significant 'general' history of the island published in fifty years and certainly one of the most eloquent. It has a detailed chronology, a useful reading list, and a brief guide suggesting places to visit. The book's structure facilitates its use as a ready reference. It would have run to around 600 pages, instead of 368 (on archival-quality, acid-free paper), were it not for the slightly smaller print of the appendices, where the chronology, the longest Sicilian timeline ever published, is 20 pages long. Unlike most histories of Sicily, the approach to this one is multifaceted and multidisciplinary. In what may be a milestone in Sicilian historiography, a section dedicated to population genetics explains how Sicily's historic diversity is reflected in its plethora of haplogroups. Here medieval Sicily is viewed as an example of a tolerant, multicultural society and perhaps even a model. It is an unusually inspiring message. One reader was moved to tears as she read the preface. Can a book change our view of cultures and perhaps even the way we look at history? This one just might. Meet the peoples!

Rarely have women found their place in the chronicles of Sicily's thirty-century history. Here one of Sicily's most popular historians introduces seventeen women of varied backgrounds who defied convention to make their mark in the annals of the complex history of the world's most conquered island. Meet a timeless sisterhood of pious Roman maidens, steadfast Sicilian queens, and a Jewish mother who confronted the horrors of the Inquisition. Theirs are inspiring stories of the courage of conviction bursting forth to overcome the challenges of adversity. The lengthier ten biographies constitute full chapters, while seven are concise sketches of a few paragraphs each. In addition to these profiles - most of these women lived before 1500 - the author presents a general survey and chronology of Sicilian history. Significantly, the book treats Sicily as the sovereign nation most of these women knew, and not as a 'region' of the unified Italy or a tiny piece of Europe. The chronology (timeline) reaches into the present century, and there's an appendix dedicated to Sicilian women today. Until now, biographies of Sicilian women written in English (as the original language) have been the work of foreign authors. This one is a milestone, the first book about the historical women of Sicily written in English by a Sicilian woman in Sicily. It reflects a special passion and an astute understanding of its subject. Some of the information is the result of original (scholarly) research, and a few facts were garnered from unique sources. The chapter on Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies, who died in 1925, is the lengthiest treatment of her ever published in English, and it was based in part on an unpublished interview with somebody who knew the Queen, namely her niece, the late Princess Urraca. Living links of this kind are precious in historical writing. While the concise overview of the status of women in twenty-first century Sicily is provided merely for the benefit of readers who wish to compare the past and present, the pages dedicated to that topic are a rare occurrence in book publishing, especially in English. Here the author's statements are based on facts and statistics rather than anecdotes or stereotypes. It is clear that she knows her subject. With its chronology and reading list, this volume is useful as a reference, but its narrative makes for an interesting read. Jackie Alio is an insightful author, one of Sicily's most talented historians, and this book was long overdue.

Eighteen women. Eighteen stories. Each one unique. Some never told before. They are the semi-forgotten women of European medieval history. This is the first compendium of detailed scholarly biographies of the countesses and queens of the Kingdom of Sicily during the Hauteville and Hohenstaufen reigns, based on original research in medieval charters, chronicles and letters, augmented by extensive on-site research at castles, cathedrals and towns across Europe. The multicultural Kingdom of Sicily described here encompassed the island and nearly half of the Italian peninsula. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms of Europe and the Mediterranean. Its queens came from Italy, England, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Greece and elsewhere, constituting a cosmopolitan sisterhood. The book includes eighteen biographies of varying length and such details as original translations from medieval records (in Latin and Sicilian). It contains twenty pages of maps, two dozen genealogical tables, photos of royal charters and other manuscripts, pictures of places the author visited while researching this work, a detailed timeline, over seven hundred endnotes and a lengthy index. Reflecting research in several countries, this is a peer-reviewed monograph in the Sicilian Medieval Studies series. The volume is printed on off-white, acid-free paper. It is a useful, informative reference for scholars yet highly readable for armchair historians. Any chapter of this volume would be suitable as an academic paper were it published as an article in a scholarly journal. Particularly lengthy and interesting are the chapters on Judith of Evreux, Joanna of England and Constance of Sicily. The longest, most detailed chapter is the one dedicated to Margaret of Navarre, drawn largely from the author's biography of that queen published in 2016. An insightful introduction considers Sicily's queens in the context of Italian history and the larger field of women's studies. This book is pure, traditional biography, always fascinating in itself. A consideration of queenship, though present, is kept to a minimum, and the feminism speaks for itself. This is not a tiresome tome but the erudite treatment of a subject that is entrancing in its own right, without the need for endless, often circular, commentary and analysis. The lives of these women were anything but boring. As regent, and the most powerful woman in Europe, Margaret jailed her suspected enemies without so much as a second thought. Joanna went on crusade, oversaw a siege, and ordered the torture of the archer who killed her brother, Richard the Lionhearted. Living in Palermo, the former kingdom's royal capital, affords the author a closer, more personal view of the experience of these women than one gets from a historian writing thousands of miles away. While most scholars writing in English about Sicilian history undertake brief research trips to the island, Jackie Alio's intimate familiarity with the place and its culture benefits the work and the reader at every step. It is rare indeed to read a book about Sicily written in English by somebody fluent not only in English, Italian, French and Spanish but also Sicilian. Among the wealth of material included is an original translation of the poem of Ciullo of Alcamo, the longest surviving example of the romantic court poetry of the Sicilian School, accompanied by the Medieval Sicilian text. Included with the 'extra' features is information on the crown of Queen Constance (shown on the cover) and the reliquary pendant worn by Queen Margaret. This is a landmark work. Until now, most of what has been published about most of these women, even in Italian, has been superficial. It cannot be overemphasized that this book is an epic in its field. Until now, anybody seeking to read about these women had to consult numerous books and hard-to-find articles to get this information. Has anybody in living memory met a Queen of Sicily outside the pages of a book? An unusual feature of this volume is a previously-unpublished interview of a royal princess who knew Queen Maria Sophia of the Two Sicilies, Sicily's last queen consort, who died in 1925, a detail that reminds the reader that the kingdom described in these pages survived in some form into the nineteenth century. This book is a unique, long-awaited contribution to the field of royal medieval biography. It fills a gaping void in the subfield of reginal studies and the study of southern Italy, and indeed medieval Europe generally. No other work ever published has presented such accurate, informative biographies of all of the queens of Sicily during Norman and Swabian rule. Many studies are informative. This one is an enlightening journey with some very special women.

A defining reference work whose engaging narrative brings southern Italy’s Middle Ages to life. This is the first major history written in English about the Kingdom of Sicily under its Hauteville and Hohenstaufen dynasties in the High Middle Ages. Encompassing the island of Sicily and most of the Italian peninsula south of Rome, this multicultural society of Muslims, Jews, and Christians East and West, was a nexus where the civilizations of feudal Europe, Byzantine Asia, and Fatimid Africa flourished in synergy into the 13th century. Unlike most histories of the kingdom, this one brings the reader much information about social culture, such as the language and cuisine that emerged from this eclectic era to influence southern Italy and its people in ways still seen today. There are revealing chapters on the language popularized before Italian, and the culinary milieu that gave us spaghetti and lasagne. Women are never overlooked. Among them are Margaret of Navarre, regent for five years, Trota of Salerno, author of a medical treatise, Nina of Messina, the first woman known to compose poetry in an Italian tongue, and the unnamed Bint Muhammad ibn Abbad, who led a rebellion alongside her father. This long-awaited book presents an essential chronological history supplemented by concise sections on topics such as phylogeography, coinage, and heraldry, with dozens of maps and genealogical tables. It has hundreds of endnotes, a lengthy bibliography, a timeline, and appendices on regalia, the kingdom's first legal code, the coronation rite, the longest poem of the Sicilian School, and historiography. A long introduction explores sources, ethnic identity, historical views, and research methods, candidly dispelling a few myths. This hefty volume has something for everybody. It's a fine addition to library collections and a useful reference for students, while its lively narrative makes it an engaging read for anybody curious about this time and place. Those having roots in southern Italy will discover the origins of their ancestral culture, the ethnogenesis that led to what exists today. This long glimpse of a singular society was worth the wait.