The Sicily Chronicles

The Sicily Chronicles
Author: Dick Rosano
Publisher: Next Chapter
Total Pages: 1040
Release: 2023-04-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Both books in Dick Rosano's 'Sicily Chronicles', a series of historical fiction set in Italy, now in one volume! Islands Of Fire: Luca travels to Sicily in search of his family roots and meets Vito, who takes him back in time to when the island was settled by seafaring people, fought over by warring tribes and invaders. From Anu and Baia's arrival 11,000 years ago to Telia and Sapira's agricultural revolution, Sicily's history is rich and diverse, with the Sicani, Elymi, and Siculi tribes settling the island 3,000 years ago. Through invasions by Arabs, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans, the reader journeys through the volcanic origins of the island to the era of the Roman Empire. Islands of Fire explores the role of Sicily, a waystation in the Middle Sea, at the heart of western history. Crossroads Of The Mediterranean: Luca's journey to his parents' homeland in Sicily becomes a deep exploration of the island's rich and diverse history, from Roman dominion to invasions by Byzantines, Muslims, Normans, French, Aragonese, Bourbons, and even the forces of North America. Crossroads of the Mediterranean takes the reader on this journey, chronicling the roots of this true melting pot, the island in the Middle Sea, from the time of Julius Caesar to the present day.

The Norman Kingdom of Sicily

The Norman Kingdom of Sicily
Author: Donald Matthew
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 442
Release: 1992-07-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521269117

This book is an introductory account of the kingdom of Sicily established in 1130 by Roger II, a 'Norman' king, and ruled by Roger, his own son and grandsons until 1194 when the kingdom was conquered by his son-in-law, Henry VI of Hohenstaufen. The period covered does, however, extend from Charles of Anjou, a period roughly as long and as coherent as the 'Norman' monarchy of England between 1066 and 1204. Roger II's difficulties in creating an enduring kingdom needed continuous military effort. Even when these efforts were no longer required, the monarchy had still to learn how to function in lands where traditions of local government were strong. Yet when the monarchy itself faltered, the kingdom did not fall apart. Frederick II, the grandson of Roger II, showed that it could be revived and that his sons could maintain it. The ways in which the monarchy made itself indispensable cannot be traced in detail, but pointers to its success can be seen. The kingdom did not spring full-armed at birth - it took time and experience to hammer it into shape. When at last it looked capable of assuming the leadership of all Italy, its enemies combined to prevent it from doing so with the most profound consequences for Italy, the papacy and the west.

The Invention of Sicily

The Invention of Sicily
Author: Jamie Mackay
Publisher: Verso Books
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2021-07-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1786637766

Whether you’re vacationing in Italy or simply an armchair traveler, this guide to the Mediterranean island of Sicily is a dazzling introduction to the region’s rich 3,000-year history and culture. A rich and fascinating cultural history of the Mediterranean’s enigmatic heart Sicily is at the crossroads of the Mediterranean, and for over 2000 years has been the gateway between Europe, Africa and the East. It has long been seen as the frontier between Western Civilization and the rest, but never definitively part of either. Despite being conquered by empires—Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Hapsburg Spain—it remains uniquely apart. The island’s story maps a mosaic that mixes the story of myth and wars, maritime empires and reckless crusades, and a people who refuse to be ruled. In this riveting, rich history Jamie Mackay peels away the layers of this most mysterious of islands. This story finds its origins in ancient myth but has been reinventing itself across centuries: in conquest and resistance. Inseparable from these political and social developments are the artefacts of the nation’s cultural patrimony—ancient amphitheaters, Arab gardens, Baroque Cathedrals, as well as great literature such as Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s masterpiece The Leopard, and the novels and plays of Luigi Pirandello. In its modern era, Sicily has been the site of revolution, Cosa Nostra and, in the twenty-first century, the epicenter of the refugee crisis.

Narrating Muslim Sicily

Narrating Muslim Sicily
Author: William Granara
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2019-06-27
Genre: History
ISBN: 1786736136

In 902 the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily fell, and the island would remain under Muslim control until the arrival of the Normans in the eleventh century. Drawing on a lifetime of translating and linguistic experience, William Granara here focuses on the various ways in which medieval Arab historians, geographers, jurists and philologists imagined and articulated their ever-changing identities in this turbulent period. All of these authors sought to make sense of the island's dramatic twists, including conquest and struggles over political sovereignty, and the painful decline of social and cultural life. Writing about Siqilliya involved drawing from memory, conjecture and then-current theories of why nations and people rose and fell. In so doing, Granara considers and translates, often for the first time, a vast range of primary sources - from the master chronicles of Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Khadun to biographical dictionaries, geographical works, legal treatises and poetry - and modern scholarship not available in English. He charts the shift from Sicily as 'warrior outpost' to vital and productive hub that would transform the medieval Islamic world, and indeed the entire Mediterranean.

From Scratch

From Scratch
Author: Tembi Locke
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2019-04-30
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1501187678

Now a limited Netflix series starring Zoe Saldana! This Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller is “a captivating story of love lost and found” (Kirkus Reviews) set in the lush Sicilian countryside, where one woman discovers the healing powers of food, family, and unexpected grace in her darkest hours. It was love at first sight when actress Tembi met professional chef, Saro, on a street in Florence. There was just one problem: Saro’s traditional Sicilian family did not approve of his marrying a black American woman. However, the couple, heartbroken but undeterred, forged on. They built a happy life in Los Angeles, with fulfilling careers, deep friendships, and the love of their lives: a baby girl they adopted at birth. Eventually, they reconciled with Saro’s family just as he faced a formidable cancer that would consume all their dreams. From Scratch chronicles three summers Tembi spends in Sicily with her daughter, Zoela, as she begins to piece together a life without her husband in his tiny hometown hamlet of farmers. Where once Tembi was estranged from Saro’s family, now she finds solace and nourishment—literally and spiritually—at her mother-in-law’s table. In the Sicilian countryside, she discovers the healing gifts of simple fresh food, the embrace of a close knit community, and timeless traditions and wisdom that light a path forward. All along the way she reflects on her and Saro’s romance—an incredible love story that leaps off the pages. In Sicily, it is said that every story begins with a marriage or a death—in Tembi Locke’s case, it is both. “Locke’s raw and heartfelt memoir will uplift readers suffering from the loss of their own loved ones” (Publishers Weekly), but her story is also about love, finding a home, and chasing flavor as an act of remembrance. From Scratch is for anyone who has dared to reach for big love, fought for what mattered most, and those who needed a powerful reminder that life is...delicious.

On Persephone's Island

On Persephone's Island
Author: Mary Taylor Simeti
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2010-12-08
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 0307773116

An American woman residing in Sicily for the past twenty years portrays the Sicilian landscape and customs--both rural and urban--from the perspectives of both a "foreigner" and a resident.

Frederick, Conrad and Manfred of Hohenstaufen, Kings of Sicily

Frederick, Conrad and Manfred of Hohenstaufen, Kings of Sicily
Author: Louis Mendola
Publisher: Trinacria Editions LLC
Total Pages: 400
Release: 2017-01-18
Genre: Sicily (Italy)
ISBN: 9781943639069

This is the first English translation of a chronicle written in Latin during the thirteenth century at the traveling court of Manfred von Hohenstaufen, King of Sicily, son and heir of the great Frederick II, who ruled lands and peoples from Saxony to Sicily

Medieval Self-Coronations

Medieval Self-Coronations
Author: Jaume Aurell i Cardona
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2020-06-11
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108840248

The first systematic study of the practice of royal self-coronations from late antiquity to the present.

The Administration of the Norman kingdom of Sicily

The Administration of the Norman kingdom of Sicily
Author: Takayama
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 307
Release: 2021-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004476245

The administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily has long been held up to be the most advanced government in twelfth-century Europe. However, until now there has been considerable confusion about how this bureaucracy actually functioned, whether it developed in the 12th century or retained the form given it by Roger II; whether it had regional variations, what the identity of different departments of government was, who did what within the structures of government, and what the relationship between the Greek, Arabic and Latin elements within the administration was. This work goes a long way to sorting out these problems. The author's meticulous work with chronicles and charters enable him to clear up many problems and mysteries in the administration of finance and justice and to identify such uncertainties as remain. This fundamental work forms a basic reference point for future studies of Norman Sicily and of government in the high Middle Ages.