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109-564: It is not known exactly who was original owner of the book. Most likely it belonged to a female member of the House of Anjou ( wife or daughter of Louis I of Hungary ), or it was made for Jadwiga of Poland . Its creator is also unknown, and even its place of origin is uncertain, with scholars seeing either Bohemia ( Kłodzko ) or Lesser Poland ( Kraków ) (or both) as the likely regions of origin. The text contains several examples of central Lesser Polish dialect , and some scholars suggested that

218-934: A couple of months altogether. Negotiations with the Polish nobility frequently took place in Hungary. Hungarians themselves were unpopular in Poland, as was the king's Polish mother who governed the kingdom. In 1376, circa 160 Hungarians in her retinue were massacred in Kraków and the queen returned to Hungary disgraced. Louis replaced her with their relative, Vladislaus II of Opole . The Hungarian-Polish union fell apart after Louis died in 1382. The dissatisfied Polish nobles demanded that his successor in Hungary, Mary , move to Kraków and reign over Hungary and Poland from there. Mary's mother, Elizabeth of Bosnia (widow of Louis and grandniece of Casimir III's father, Vladislaus I ), knew that

327-514: A cultural sense and the Greek language did not become extinct on the island, facilitating its re-hellenisation much later under the Byzantines. The once prosperous and contented island went into sharp decline when Verres became governor of Sicily (73 to 71 BC). In 70 BC noted figure Cicero condemned the misgovernment of Verres in his oration In Verrem . Various groups used the island as

436-612: A format of 34,5 × 24,5 cm and a weight of about 4 kilograms. The material used was parchment . It is the oldest surviving translation of the Books of Psalms into the Polish language . The translation from Latin into Polish, however, is considered very poor. The psalter is also the oldest Polish language cultural artifact ( zabytek ) surviving to modern day in intact form. Capetian House of Anjou The Capetian House of Anjou , or House of Anjou-Sicily , or House of Anjou-Naples

545-628: A geographical perspective, also forming a part of Sicily is the Maltese Archipelago, the islands home to the republic of Malta . The autonomous region also includes several neighbouring islands: the Aegadian Islands , the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria and Lampedusa . The mountains of Sicily form a significant part of the island's diverse landscape, with Mount Etna , one of the world's most active volcanoes, being

654-614: A power base at different times: slave insurgents occupied it during the First (135−132 BC) and Second (104−100 BC) Servile Wars . Sextus Pompey had his headquarters there during the Sicilian revolt of 44 to 36 BC. Christianity first appeared in Sicily during the years following AD 200; between this time and AD 313, when Emperor Constantine the Great lifted the prohibition on Christianity,

763-532: A rich and unique culture in arts , music , literature , cuisine , and architecture . Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna , the tallest active volcano in Europe, and one of the most active in the world, currently 3,357 m (11,014 ft) high. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate . It is separated from Calabria by the Strait of Messina . It is one of the five Italian autonomous regions and

872-833: A significant number of Sicilians had become martyrs , including Agatha , Christina , Lucy , and Euplius . Christianity grew rapidly in Sicily over the next two centuries. Sicily remained a Roman province for around 700 years. The Western Roman Empire began falling apart after the invasion of Vandals , Alans, and Sueves across the Rhine on the last day of 406. Eventually the Vandals, after roaming about western and southern Hispania (present-day Iberia ) for 20 years, moved to North Africa in 429 and occupied Carthage in 439. The Franks moved south from present-day Belgium. The Visigoths moved west and eventually settled in Aquitaine in 418;

981-427: A victim of power clashes in the court of Naples. Robert's claim to the throne was rather tenuous and did not follow primogeniture . Andrew's grandfather, Charles Martel of Anjou , had died young; therefore, the throne should have passed to Andrew's father. However, due to fears of impending invasion from Sicily, it was felt that a seven-year-old heir was too risky and would not be able to hold off invasions. The throne

1090-405: A volcanic complex. The three volcanoes of Vulcano , Stromboli and Lipari are also active, although the last is usually dormant. Off the southern coast of Sicily, the underwater volcano of Ferdinandea , which is part of the larger Empedocles volcano , last erupted in 1831. It is located between the coast of Agrigento and the island of Pantelleria (which itself is a dormant volcano). From

1199-584: A window. Isolde, Andrew's Hungarian nurse took the Prince's corpse to the church of the monks, and remained with it until next morning mourning it. When the Hungarian knights arrived she told them everything in their mother tongue so no one else would learn about the truth, and soon they left Naples reporting everything to the Hungarian King. The deed would taint the rest of Joanna's reign, although she

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1308-605: Is 25,711 km (9,927 sq mi), while the Autonomous Region of Sicily (which includes the smaller surrounding islands of Lipari , Egadi , Ustica , and Pantelleria ) has an area of 27,708 km (10,698 sq mi). The terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the mountain ranges of Madonie , 2,000 m (6,600 ft), Nebrodi , 1,800 m (5,900 ft), and Peloritani , 1,300 m (4,300 ft), are an extension of

1417-656: Is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea , south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy . With 4.8 million inhabitants, including 1.3 million in and around the capital city of Palermo , it is the most populous island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . Sicily has

1526-544: Is divided into three parts: Each part was created at a different place in time. The first part was probably written in late 14th century, while second and third were written in the 15th century. One date given for the year that the work on the Psalter begun is 1398; another – 1370s. In these parts, influences of the Czech language are visible, as probably the psalter was patterned after a similar Czech publication. The book has

1635-619: Is due to Sicily being geographically on the northern edge of the African Plate . Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and casts black ash over the island with its recurrent eruptions. It stands 3,403 metres (11,165 ft) high as of September 2024. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps . Etna covers an area of 1,190 km (459 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km (87 mi). This makes it

1744-611: Is generally considered part of Southern Italy . The earliest archaeological record of human activity on the island is from around 14,000 BC. By around 750 BC, Sicily had three Phoenician and a dozen Greek colonies along its coasts, becoming one of the centers of Magna Graecia . The Sicilian Wars of 580–265 BC were fought between the Carthaginians and Greeks, and the Punic Wars of 264–146 BC were fought between Rome and Carthage. The Roman province of Sicilia ended with

1853-707: Is shown below. Charles also felt that he inherited the Hohenstaufen claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem , symbolized by Charles impaling the arms of Jerusalem with his own. This was shown in several different versions: Charles' son and successor Charles II of Naples married the hieress of Hungary. Their son Charles Martel quartered France ancien with the arms of the Hungarian Royal Árpád dynasty to symbolize their claim. Charles Martel's son Charles Robert became Hungarian King and impaled

1962-816: Is the largest protected natural area of Sicily; it contains the largest forest in Sicily, the Caronia . The Hundred Horse Chestnut ( Castagno dei Cento Cavalli ), in Sant'Alfio , on the eastern slopes of Mount Etna, is the largest and oldest known chestnut tree in the world at 2,000–4,000 years old. Sicily has a wide variety of fauna. Species include the European wildcat , red fox , least weasel , pine marten , fallow deer , wild boar , crested porcupine , European hedgehog , common toad , Vipera aspis , golden eagle , peregrine falcon , Eurasian hoopoe and black-winged stilt . Roe deer were driven to extinction on

2071-417: Is unproved) determined to forestall Andrew's coronation. During a hunting trip at Aversa , Andrew left his room in the middle of the night and was set upon by the conspirators. A treacherous servant barred the door behind him, and, as Joanna cowered in their bed, a terrible struggle ensued, Andrew defending himself furiously and shrieking for aid. He was finally overpowered, strangled with a cord, and flung from

2180-665: The Alcantara flows through the province of Messina and enters the sea at Giardini Naxos , and the Simeto , which flows into the Ionian Sea south of Catania . Other important rivers on the island are the Belice and Platani in the southwest. Sicily has for the most part a typical Mediterranean climate ( Köppen climate classification : Csa ) with mild and wet winters and hot, dry summers with changeable intermediate seasons. On

2289-630: The Elymians and the Sicels . The most prominent and by far the earliest of these were the Sicani , who ( Thucydides writes) arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia ). Some modern scholars, however, suggest classifying the Sicani as possibly an Illyrian tribe. Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of

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2398-531: The Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarreling fractured the Muslim government. In 1038, seventy years after losing their last cities in Sicily, the Byzantines under the Greek general George Maniakes invaded the island together with their Varangian and Norman mercenaries. Maniakes was killed in a Byzantine civil war in 1043 before completing a reconquest and the Byzantines withdrew. Later

2507-819: The First Punic War (264 to 241 BC) and won, making Sicily–with the exception of Syracuse–the first Roman province outside of the Italian Peninsula by 242 BC. In the Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC), the Carthaginians attempted to recapture Sicily. Some of the Greek cities on the island who were loyal to Rome switched sides to help the Carthaginians, prompting a Roman military response. Archimedes , who lived in Syracuse, helped defend his city from Roman invasion; Roman troops killed him after they captured Syracuse in 213 BC. The Carthaginian attempt failed, and Rome became more unrelenting in its annihilation of

2616-608: The Hohenstaufen king, Manfred of Sicily . The newer arms can be seen in the contemporary illustration of Charles battling Manfred for control of the Kingdom of Sicily at the Battle of Benevento on 26 February 1266, where he carries his newer arms on his shield, the shields of his soldiers, and his pennant. Manfred's troops carry the while eagle alluding to the imperial Hohenstaufens. When Charles became King, he started minting coinage with his arms on it. An example

2725-589: The Kingdom of England . The court of Roger II became the most luminous centre of culture in the Mediterranean, both from Europe and the Middle East, like the multi-ethnic Caliphate of Córdoba , then only just eclipsed. This attracted scholars, scientists, poets, artists, and artisans of all kinds. Laws were issued in the language of the community to whom they were addressed in Norman Sicily, at

2834-715: The Pleistocene epoch around 8000 BC. The Elymians , thought to have come from the area of the Aegean Sea , became the next tribe to join the Sicanians on Sicily. No evidence survives of warring between tribes, but the Sicanians moved eastwards when the Elymians settled in the northwest corner of the island. The Sicels are thought to have originated in Liguria ; they arrived from mainland Italy in 1200 BC and forced

2943-566: The Qanat to improve irrigation systems for agriculture. Around 1050, the western half of Sicily was ethnically and culturally distinct from central and eastern Sicily. During this time, there was also a small Jewish presence in Sicily, evidence seen in the catacombs discovered on the island. Palermo was initially ruled by the Aghlabids ; later it was the centre of the Emirate of Sicily, which

3052-406: The Strait of Messina , about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide in the north, and about 16 km (9.9 mi) wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km (170 mi) long measured as a straight line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km (110 mi); total coast length is estimated at 1,484 km (922 mi). The total area of the island

3161-623: The 455 sack of Rome, at Agrigento, but were defeated decisively by Ricimir in a naval victory off Corsica in 456. The island remained under Roman rule until 469. The Vandals lost possession of the island 8 years later in 477 to the East Germanic tribe of the Ostrogoths , who then controlled Italy and Dalmatia. The island was returned to the Ostrogoths by payment of tribute to their king Odoacer . He ruled Italy from 476 to 488 in

3270-524: The Angevian arms with Hungary. His son, Louis I the Great carried this through to his arms when he ruled Poland. As seen above, when Louis I of Hungary died without male hiers, Charles III of Naples , considered himself the heir to the Hungarian throne as the senior Angevin male and male descendant of the Arpads. He added the arms of Hungary to Jerusalem and Anjou, coming up with

3379-522: The Arabs failed to make permanent gains. They returned to Syria with their booty. Raids seeking loot continued until the mid-8th century. The Eastern Roman Emperor Constans II moved from Constantinople to Syracuse in 660. The following year he launched an assault from Sicily against the Lombard Duchy of Benevento , which occupied most of southern Italy. Rumors that the capital of the empire

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3488-725: The Athenian army and their ships, selling most of the survivors into slavery . The Greek kingdom of Syracuse controlled most of eastern Sicily while Carthage controlled the western side. The two cultures began to clash, leading to the Greek-Punic wars (between 580 and 265 BC). The Greek states had begun to make peace with the Roman Republic in 262 BC, before the Romans sought to annex Sicily as their republic's first province . Rome attacked Carthage's holdings in Sicily in

3597-469: The Burgundians settled in present-day Savoy in 443. The Vandals found themselves in a position to threaten Sicily – only 100 miles away from their North African bases. After taking Carthage, the Vandals, personally led by King Gaiseric , laid siege to Palermo in 440 as the opening act in an attempt to wrest the island from Roman rule. The Vandals made another attempt to take the island one year after

3706-598: The Capetians had wrested from the House of Plantagenet only a few decades earlier. Charles married an heiress of the County of Provence named Beatrice of Provence . She was a member of the House of Barcelona ; this meant Charles' holdings were growing as Count of Provence . After fighting in the Seventh Crusade , Charles was offered the Kingdom of Sicily by Pope Clement IV . At the time this included not only

3815-578: The Expedition of the Thousand, an invasion led by Giuseppe Garibaldi , and a plebiscite. Sicily was given special status as an autonomous administrative division on 15 May 1946, 18 days before the 1946 Italian institutional referendum . Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria . To the north-east, it is separated from Calabria and the rest of the Italian mainland by

3924-583: The House of Anjou-Durazzo became extinct in the male line with the death of King Ladislaus of Naples in 1414, and totally extinct with the death of his sister Joanna II in 1435. During the Middle Ages , there were several marriages between the Árpád dynasty and the House of Capet . Charles I , founder of the House of Anjou-Sicily, with his first wife, Beatrice of Provence fathered his eldest son, Charles II of Naples . (Their youngest daughter, Elizabeth

4033-641: The Hungarian commander Ulrich von Wolfart commanded a strong resistance in Apulia. Joanna and Louis would await a new trial on Andrew's assassination, to be held in Avignon. The verdict was Joanna's acquittal from any charge in January 1352, and a peace was signed with Hungary on 23 March 1352. Ultimately, 37 years later, Louis' kinsman Charles III of Naples conquered Naples with Hungarian aid and put Joanna to death. Stephen of Anjou (1332–1354), Duke of Slavonia ,

4142-463: The Hungarian crown, backed by his mother, and the Pope. He started to style himself King of Hungary, but he never managed to gain enough support from the Hungarian magnates to realize his claim. With Andrew III's childless death (1301), the "last golden branch" of the tree of King Saint Stephen's family ended. The Hungarian diet was determined to keep the blood of Saint Stephen (first king of Hungary) on

4251-575: The Hungarian throne as the senior Angevin male, and ousted Louis' daughter Mary of Hungary in December 1385. It was not difficult for him to reach the power, as he counted with the support of several Croatian lords, and many contacts which he made during his period as Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia. However, Elizabeth of Bosnia, widow of Louis and mother of Mary, arranged to have Charles assassinated on 7 February 1386. He died of wounds at Visegrád on 24 February. His son, Ladislaus of Naples would try to obtain

4360-578: The Kingdoms of Sicily , Naples , Hungary , Croatia , Albania and Poland . A younger son of the House of Capet king Louis VIII of France the Lion , Charles was first given a noble title by his brother, Louis IX of France who succeeded to the French throne in 1226. Charles was named Count of Anjou and Maine ; the feudal County of Anjou was a western vassal state of the Kingdom of France , which

4469-465: The Normans invaded in 1061 and after taking Apulia and Calabria , Roger I occupied Messina with an army of 700 knights. In 1068, Roger I was victorious at Misilmeri . Most crucial was the siege of Palermo, whose fall in 1071 eventually resulted in all Sicily coming under Norman control. The conquest was completed in 1091 when they captured Noto the last Arab stronghold. Palermo continued to be

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4578-531: The Polish nobility's opposition to her intended husband, William, becoming king without further negotiation, or simply emphasized her status as queen regnant. With her mother's consent, Jadwiga's advisors opened negotiations with Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania , who was still a pagan, concerning his potential marriage to Jadwiga. Jogaila signed the Union of Krewo , pledging to convert to Roman Catholicism and to promote his pagan subjects' conversion. Jogaila, who took

4687-769: The Polish–Lithuanian union grew into a new state, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and lasted until the Third Partition in 1795. The Kingdom of Albania , or Regnum Albaniae , was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territory he acquired from the Despotate of Epirus in the year 1271. He took the title of "King of Albania" in February 1272. The kingdom briefly extended from

4796-497: The Sicanians to move back across Sicily and to settle in the middle of the island. Other minor Italic groups who settled in Sicily included the Ausones ( Aeolian Islands , Milazzo ) and the Morgetes of Morgantina . The Phoenician settlements in the western part of the island predate the arrival of Greek colonists. From about 750 BC, the Greeks began to live in Sicily ( Ancient Greek : Σικελία – Sikelia ), establishing many significant settlements. The most important colony

4905-504: The age of seven or eight until 17 or 18 Theodoric had become a Byzantine hostage; he resided in the great palace of Constantinople, was favored by Emperor Leo I ( r.  457–474 ) and learned to read, write and do arithmetic. After taking areas occupied by the Vandals in North Africa, Justinian I retook Italy as an ambitious attempt to recover the lost provinces in the West. The re-conquests marked an end to over 150 years of accommodating policies with tribal invaders. His first target

5014-487: The albanians to a small area centered around Durrës. The Angevins held Durrës until 1368, when Karl Thopia who was the great great grandson of Charles I of Naples captured the city. As a younger (youngest) son of Louis VIII the Lion of France, Charles was assigned the arms based on the coat of arms of France of the Capetian dynasty differenced, like his brothers, with the gold castle of Castile on red/ gules based on his mother, Blanche of Castile 's arms . Charles

5123-443: The approval of Pope Clement VI , Joanna was crowned sole monarch of Naples in August 1344. Fearing for his life, Andrew wrote to his mother Elizabeth that he would soon flee the kingdom. She intervened, and made a state visit, before she returned to Hungary allegedly bribing Pope Clement to reverse himself and permit the coronation of Andrew. Hearing of the Pope's reversal, a group of noble conspirators (the involvement of Queen Joanna

5232-422: The arms of his paternal France , the fleur-de-lys with a simple red label. The label is most commonly depicted with 3 tabs, but can be seen with 4 or 5 tabs. He was not the first to use these arms. His uncle Philippe le Hurepel , count of Clermont used them until his death in 1234. Charles was invested by the Pope as King of Sicily in June 1265, and crowned by 5 cardinals on 5 January 1266 in opposition to

5341-426: The baptismal name Władysław, married Jadwiga on 15 February 1386. Jogaila, now in Polish styled Władysław Jagiełło , was crowned King of Poland on 4 March 1386. As Jadwiga's co-ruler, Jagiełło worked closely with his wife. Hedvig (or Jadwiga) was childless for over a decade. She became pregnant in late 1398 or early 1399. A newborn princess named Elizabeth Bonifacia was delivered on 22 June 1399 at Wawel Castle. However,

5450-405: The best examples of unspoiled coastal wilderness in Sicily. Marine Life of the Straits of Messina includes varieties of birds and marine life, including larger species such as greater flamingo and fin whale . The name Sicilia was given to the Roman province in 241 BC. It is named after the Sicels , who inhabited the eastern part of the island during the Iron Age . The ancient name of

5559-466: The book is kept at the National Library of Poland in Warsaw . From May 2024, the manuscript is presented at a permanent exhibition in the Palace of the Commonwealth . The manuscript contains a trilingual translation of the Psalms into Latin, Polish and German, as well as two prologues by Ludolph of Saxony , the Athanasian Creed , and musical score for several canticles . It is richly illustrated with astrological and Christian symbology. The text

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5668-436: The capital under the Normans . The Normans formed a small but violent ruling class. They destroyed many of the Arab towns in Sicily, and very few physical remains survive from the Arab era. The Norman Hauteville family appreciated and admired the rich and layered culture in which they now found themselves. They also introduced into Sicily their own culture, customs, and politics from Normandy . Many Normans in Sicily adopted

5777-433: The church of Rome to that of Constantinople, placing the island within the eastern branch of the Church. In 826 Euphemius , the Byzantine commander in Sicily, having apparently killed his wife, forced a nun to marry him. Emperor Michael II caught wind of the matter and ordered general Constantine to end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' head. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine, and then occupied Syracuse; he, in turn,

5886-406: The coasts, especially in the southwest, the climate is affected by the African currents and summers can be hot. Snow falls above 900 metres, but it can fall in the hills. The interior mountains, especially Nebrodi , Madonie , and Etna , enjoy a mountain climate, with heavy snowfalls during winter. The summit of Mount Etna is usually snow-capped from October to May. In the summer, the sirocco –

5995-740: The crown of Hungary in the future, but never reached his goal. In 1355, the last Piast king of Poland, Casimir III , designated his sororal nephew, the Angevin king Louis I of Hungary , as his heir presumptive by the Privilege of Buda . Upon the death of Casimir (5 November 1370), who left no legitimate sons, Louis ascended the Polish throne virtually unopposed. The Polish nobility welcomed his accession, rightly believing that Louis would be an absentee king who would not take much interest in Polish affairs. He sent his mother Elizabeth , sister of Casimir III, to govern Poland as regent. Louis probably considered himself first and foremost king of Hungary; he visited his northern kingdom three times and spent there

6104-486: The early 1320s. I. Charles I of Anjou 1226/7–1285 king of Sicily(-Naples) = Beatrice of Provence The three surviving sons of Charles Robert (Charles I of Hungary) were Louis I of Hungary (1326–1382), Andrew, Duke of Calabria (1327–1345), and Stephen, Duke of Slavonia (1332–1354). Louis I had only two surviving daughters, Mary of Hungary (1371–1395), who married the future Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg , and Hedwig of Poland (1373/74–1399), who

6213-414: The fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Sicily was ruled during the Early Middle Ages by the Vandals , the Ostrogoths , the Byzantine Empire , and the Emirate of Sicily . The Norman conquest of southern Italy led to the creation of the County of Sicily in 1071, that was succeeded by Kingdom of Sicily , a state that existed from 1130 until 1816 under various dynasties, and in 1816 it

6322-413: The government of Poland. Margaret gave birth to a daughter Elizabeth (in 1370 she married Philip of Taranto ), and a son John , who inherited Croatia, Dalmatia and Slavonia from his father, but he was still a child when he died in 1360. On the death of Louis I of Hungary, Charles III of Naples , son of Louis of Durazzo (1324–1362), the great-grandson of Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, claimed

6431-418: The growth of smallholdings , undermining the dominance of the latifundia . The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. The language spoken in Sicily under Arab rule was Siculo-Arabic and Arabic influence is present in some Sicilian words today. Although long extinct in Sicily, the language has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta today. A description of Palermo

6540-406: The habits and comportment of Muslim rulers and their Byzantine subjects in dress, language, literature, even to the extent of having palace eunuchs and, according to some accounts, a harem. While Roger I died in 1101, his wife Adelaide ruled until 1112 when their son Roger II of Sicily came of age. Having succeeded his brother Simon as Count of Sicily, Roger II was ultimately able to raise

6649-399: The highest and most notable peak. Other important mountain ranges include the Nebrodi , Madonie and Peloritani mountains ranges. Several rivers drain the island, most of which flow through the central area and enter the sea at the south of the island. The Salso flows through parts of Enna and Caltanissetta before entering the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Licata . To the east,

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6758-410: The infant died after only three weeks, on 13 July 1399.[153] Jadwiga, too, was on her deathbed. She died on 17 July 1399, four days after her newborn daughter. Thus, the Polish throne went over to the Jagiellonian dynasty of Lithuanian origin. The union of Poland and Lithuania was a decisive moment in the histories of both countries; it marked a beginning of the four centuries of shared history. By 1569,

6867-425: The invaders; Roman consul M. Valerian told the Roman Senate in 210 BC that "no Carthaginian remains in Sicily". As the Roman Republic's granary , Sicily ranked as an important province, divided into two quaestorships : Syracuse to the east and Lilybaeum to the west. Roman rule introduced the Latin language to the island, which underwent a slow process of latinisation but Sicily remained largely Greek in

6976-411: The island (dating to the second half of the third millennium BC) seem to offer new insights into the culture of primitive Sicily. The impact of at least two influences is clear: the European one coming from the Northwest, and the Mediterranean influence of an eastern heritage. The original classical-era inhabitants of Sicily comprised three defined groups of the ancient peoples of Italy : the Sicani ,

7085-433: The island is Trinacria (Greek Τρινακρία "having three headlands") for its triangular shape, likely a re-interpretation of earlier ( Homeric ) Thrinacia . The Greek name was rendered as Trīnācrĭa in classical Latin ( Virgil , Ovid ). Humans first colonized Sicily towards the end of the Late Pleistocene , around 16,000 years ago, by people associated with the Epigravettian culture. Discoveries of dolmens on

7194-451: The island of Sicily but also the southern half of the Italian Peninsula . Pope Clement IV offered it to Charles because of a conflict between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire , and the latter was represented by the ruling House of Hohenstaufen . It was at the Battle of Benevento that the Guelph Capetians gained the Sicilian kingdom from the Ghibelline Swabians, this was cemented after victory at Tagliacozzo . In keeping with

7303-491: The island was turned into an agricultural region. This gradually dried the climate, leading to a decline in rainfall and the drying of rivers. The central and southwest provinces are practically devoid of forest. In Northern Sicily, there are three important forests; near Mount Etna, in the Nebrodi Mountains and in the Bosco della Ficuzza Natural Reserve near Palermo . The Nebrodi Mountains Regional Park, established on 4 August 1993 and covering 86,000 hectares (210,000 acres),

7412-403: The island. The Sicilian wolf ( Canis lupus cristaldii ) was an endemic wolf subspecies that was driven to extinction in the 20th century. During the Late Pleistocene , a species of dwarf elephant , Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis inhabited the island, with its latest records on Sicily dating to around 20,000 years ago. The Riserva naturale dello Zingaro (Zingaro Natural Reserve) is one of

7521-407: The island. Linguistically, the island shifted from being one-third Greek- and two-thirds Arabic-speaking at the time of the Norman conquest to becoming fully Latinised . In terms of religion the island became completely Roman Catholic (bearing in mind that until 1054 the Churches owing allegiance to the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople belonged to one Church); Sicily before the Norman conquest

7630-454: The kingdom's barons swore loyalty to the new ruler as he marched to Naples from Benevento. While visiting Aversa, where his brother had been murdered, Louis had Charles of Durazzo assassinated in revenge by his condottiero. The Neapolitans, who had quickly grown unhappy with the severe Hungarian rule, called back Joan, who paid for her return expedition by selling her rights on Avignon to the popes. She landed near Naples and easily captured it, but

7739-443: The lack of supporters would render her influence at least as restricted as that of her mother-in-law and refused to move. She abandoned the idea of attempting to subdue the Polish nobility by force and agreed to send her younger surviving daughter, Hedwig , to be crowned as Louis' successor in Poland. Hedvig (known as Jadwiga in Poland) was crowned "king" in Poland's capital, Kraków, on 16 October 1384. Her coronation either reflected

7848-524: The largest city, Syracuse, held out until 878 and the Greek city of Taormina fell in 962. It was not until 965 that all of Sicily was conquered by the Arabs . In the 11th-century Byzantine armies carried out a partial reconquest of the island under George Maniakes , but it was their Norman mercenaries who would eventually complete the island's reconquest at the end of the century. The Arabs initiated land reforms , which increased productivity and encouraged

7957-473: The largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy , being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius . In Greek mythology , the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus , the god of the sky. Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea , to the northeast of mainland Sicily form

8066-462: The mainland Apennines . The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast. In the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains , 1,000 m (3,300 ft). The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur -producing area throughout the 19th century, but have declined since the 1950s. Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. This

8175-575: The meantime had married her cousin Louis of Taranto and had signed a peace with Naples' traditional enemy, the Kingdom of Sicily. The army of Naples, 2,700 knights and 5,000 infantrymen, was led by Louis of Taranto. On 11 January 1348, in the Battle of Capua, the king of Hungary defeated the army of Louis of Taranto. Four days later the queen repaired to Provence, while her husband followed soon afterwards. All

8284-637: The name of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor. The Vandals kept a toehold in Lilybaeum , a port on the west coast. They lost this in 491 after making one last attempt to conquer the island from this port. The Ostrogothic conquest of Sicily (and of Italy as a whole) under Theodoric the Great began in 488. The Byzantine Emperor Zeno had appointed Theodoric as a military commander in Italy. The Goths were Germanic, but Theodoric fostered Roman culture and government and allowed freedom of religion. In 461 from

8393-460: The new Ostrogoth king Totila counterattacked, moving down the Italian peninsula, plundering and conquering Sicily in 550. Totila was defeated and killed in the Battle of Taginae by Byzantine general Narses in 552 but Italy was in ruins. At the time of the reconquest Greek was still the predominant language spoken on the island. Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman in 652, but

8502-603: The political landscape of the period, Charles is described by scholars as shrewd, energetic and highly ambitious. He signed the Treaty of Viterbo in 1267 with Baldwin II of Courtenay and William II of Villehardouin , the political alliance gave many of the rights of the Latin Empire to Charles and a marriage alliance for his daughter Beatrice of Sicily . The Byzantines had taken back the city of Constantinople in 1261 and this

8611-567: The region of Dyrrhachium (present-day Durrës in Albania) south along the coast to Butrint . A major attempt to advance further in direction of Constantinople, failed at the Siege of Berat (1280–1281) . A Byzantine counteroffensive soon ensued, which drove the Angevins out of the interior by 1282. The Sicilian Vespers further weakened the position of Charles, and the kingdom was soon reduced by

8720-738: The settlers built many temples throughout Sicily, including several in the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento . Politics on the island became intertwined with those of Greece; Syracuse became desired by the Athenians who set out on the Sicilian Expedition (415–413 BC) during the Peloponnesian War . Syracuse gained Sparta and Corinth as allies and, as a result, defeated the Athenian expedition. The victors destroyed

8829-523: The southern half of the Italian Peninsula , the Kingdom of Naples . The house and its various branches would go on to influence much of the history of Southern and Central Europe during the Middle Ages until it became extinct in 1435. Historically, the house ruled the Counties of Anjou , Maine , Touraine , Provence and Forcalquier ; the Principalities of Achaea and Taranto ; and

8938-567: The status of the island to a kingdom in 1130, along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese Islands and the Duchies of Apulia and Calabria . Roger II appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be his "emir of emirs" and continued the syncretism of his father. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily was prosperous and politically powerful, becoming one of the wealthiest states in all of Europe—even wealthier than

9047-496: The third surviving son of Charles Robert , died before his older brother. For this reason, he (and his son) had no chance to take over the rule neither in Hungary, nor in Poland. In 1350, he married Margaret of Bavaria . His marriage with a German princess made him unpopular in Poland. The Polish noblemen acknowledged Louis as Casimir III's sole heir in July 1351 only after he had promised that he would not allow Stephen to participate in

9156-416: The throne in the maternal line at least. In the upcoming years, a civil war followed between various claimants to the throne. After the short period of rule of Wenceslaus of Bohemia (1301–1305), and Otto of Bavaria (1305–1307) the civil war ended with Charles Robert's (1308–1342) victory, the son of Charles Martel of Anjou , but he was forced to continue fighting against the powerful Hungarian lords up to

9265-420: The time when the culture was still heavily Arab and Greek. Governance was by rule of law which promoted justice. Muslims, Jews, Byzantine Greeks , Lombards, and Normans worked together fairly amicably. During this time many extraordinary buildings were constructed. However this situation changed as the Normans imported immigrants from Normandy , England , Lombardy, Piedmont, Provence and Campania to secure

9374-604: The town of Sankt Florian near Linz , Austria. It first published in print in Vienna in 1834, by Polish publisher Stanislaw Jan Borkowski . In 1931 the psalter was purchased by Polish government for the National Library of Poland . During World War II it was evacuated to Romania and later to France and Canada , and returned to Poland in 1959. By 1939, whole book was published in Lwow by Ludwik Biernacki. Currently,

9483-629: The tripartite arms. He had some success, but as seen above he was assassinated and his son, Ladislaus of Naples never became King of Hungary. These arms were inherited by the House of Valois-Anjou when Johanna I adopted Louis of France, Duke of Anjou , • Great-great-grandson of Charles II through female line, as her heir. The house also had some cadet lines that never became king: Sicily Sicily ( Italian : Sicilia , Italian: [siˈtʃiːlja] ; Sicilian : Sicilia , Sicilian: [sɪˈ(t)ʃiːlja] ; officially Regione Siciliana )

9592-493: The west; Val Demone in the northeast; and Val di Noto in the southeast. As dhimmis , that is as members of a protected class of approved monotheists, the Eastern Orthodox Christians were allowed freedom of religion , but had to pay a tax, the jizya (in lieu of the obligatory alms tax, the zakat , paid by Muslims), and were restricted from active participation in public affairs. By the 11th century,

9701-531: The wind from the Sahara – can be felt. Rainfall is scarce, and in some provinces a water crisis can occur. According to the Regional Agency for Waste and Water, on 10 August 1999, the weather station of Catenanuova (EN) recorded an unofficial maximum temperature of 48.5 °C (119 °F). On 11 August 2021, a new highest temperature record for Europe with a reading of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F)

9810-481: The work might have been carried out or at least influenced by bishop Piotr Wysz . Polish historian of literature, Julian Krzyżanowski , suggested that the text is a copy of an older work, perhaps the St. Kinga's Psalter (whose very existence is still disputed by scholars) though admitted that there's scant evidence for this. It was rediscovered by local librarian, Father Josef Chmel, in 1827 in St. Florian Monastery , in

9919-657: Was Sicily, leading to the Gothic War (535–554) between the Ostrogoths and the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire . Justinian's general Belisarius was assigned to the military task. Sicily was used as a base for the Byzantines to conquer the rest of Italy, including Naples , Rome, and Milan . It took five years before the Ostrogoth capital Ravenna fell in 540. However,

10028-654: Was a royal house and cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty . It is one of three separate royal houses referred to as Angevin , meaning "from Anjou" in France . Founded by Charles I of Anjou , the youngest son of Louis VIII of France , the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century. The War of the Sicilian Vespers later forced him out of the island of Sicily , which left him with

10137-723: Was a plan to take it back from Michael VIII Palaiologos . It also recognised Charles' possession of Corfu and cities in the Balkans such as Durazzo , as well as giving him suzerainty over the Principality of Achaea and sovereignty of the Aegean islands aside from those already held by the Republic of Venice . For a while Charles was preoccupied helping his French brother in the unsuccessful Eighth Crusade on Tunis . After this he once again focused on Constantinople, but his fleet

10246-506: Was defeated and driven out to North Africa. He offered the rule of Sicily to Ziyadat Allah , the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia , in return for a position as a general and a place of safety. A Muslim army was then sent to the island consisting of Arabs , Berbers , Cretans , and Persians . The Muslim conquest of Sicily was a see-saw affair and met with fierce resistance. It took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered;

10355-667: Was given by Ibn Hawqal , an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb, called the Al-Kasr (the palace), is the centre of Palermo to this day, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of al-Khalisa (modern Kalsa ) contained the Sultan 's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices, and a private prison. Ibn Hawqal estimated there were 7,000 butchers trading in 150 shops. The Muslim rule introduced lemons, oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and introduced

10464-524: Was given in marriage to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło , the future King of Poland . (See the section of Poland.) After Louis I's death without male heirs, Mary's husband, Sigismund of Luxembourg (1368–1437) managed to be accepted as Mary's co-ruler, by the Hungarian lords. When the queen died (1395) the Hungarian crown passed over to the House of Luxembourg. In 1333, the six years old second son of Charles Robert, Andrew (1327–1345)

10573-528: Was given in marriage to the future Ladislaus IV of Hungary in 1269, but Ladislaus preferred his mistresses to her, and the marriage remained childless). In 1270, Charles II married Mary of Hungary , daughter of Stephen V of Hungary and Elizabeth the Cuman . They had fourteen children which provided the House of Anjou-Sicily with a secure position in Naples. The childless Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1262–1290),

10682-687: Was in Syracuse ; others grew up at Akragas , Selinunte , Gela , Himera and Zancle . The native Sicani and Sicel peoples became absorbed into the Hellenic culture with relative ease, and the area became part of Magna Graecia along with the coasts of the south of the Italian peninsula , which the Greeks had also colonised. Sicily had fertile soils, and the successful introduction of olives and grape vines fostered profitable trading. Greek culture significantly centered around Greek religion , and

10791-454: Was invested in August 1246 by his brother Louis IX of France as Count of Anjou and Maine . Also, in 1246 Charles married an heiress of the County of Provence , Beatrice of Provence . She was a member of the House of Barcelona ; this meant Charles became Count of Provence in right of his wife. The arms that Charles had were changed sometime on or after 1246 to the ones below,

10900-437: Was offered to the next son of Charles II of Naples , Louis , but he refused on religious grounds, and it thus passed to Robert. To recompense Andrew's father, Charles II decided to assign him the claim to Hungary. When King Robert died in 1343, in his last will and testament, he formally bequeathed his kingdom to his granddaughter Joanna, making no mention of Andrew and thus denying him the right to reign along with Joanna. With

11009-417: Was set near the city of Syracuse . Total precipitation is highly variable, generally increasing with elevation. In general, the southern and southeast coast receives the least rainfall (less than 50 cm (20 in)), and the northern and northeastern highlands the most (over 100 cm (39 in)). Sicily is an often-quoted example of man-made deforestation , which has occurred since Roman times when

11118-513: Was succeeded by Andrew III as King of Hungary. He was the son of Stephen the Posthumous , considered by Stephen's much older half-brothers ( Béla IV of Hungary , Coloman of Halych , Andrew II of Halych ) a bastard son of infidelity. For this reason, after the death of Ladislaus IV. some of the Árpád dynasty 's cognates sought the family as extinct. In Naples, Charles Martel of Anjou , the eldest son of Mary of Hungary announced his claim to

11227-562: Was taken to the court of Naples by his father for dynastic purposes, who put him under guardianship of Robert the Wise . Andrew was betrothed in 1334 to his cousin Joanna, granddaughter and heiress apparent of King Robert of Naples; Andrew's father was a fraternal nephew of King Robert. At the age of 15 he married Joanna I of Naples . After the death of Robert (1343), the King of Naples, Andrew became

11336-459: Was to be moved to Syracuse probably cost Constans his life, as he was assassinated in 668. His son Constantine IV succeeded him. A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezius was quickly suppressed by this emperor. Contemporary accounts report that the Greek language was widely spoken on the island during this period. In 740 Emperor Leo III the Isaurian transferred Sicily from the jurisdiction of

11445-502: Was twice acquitted of any charge in the trials that followed. Andrew's elder brother Louis I of Hungary several times invaded the Kingdom of Naples and drove out Joanna, only to meet with reverses. In November 1347, Louis set out for Naples with some 1,000 soldiers (Hungarians and Germans), mostly mercenaries. When he reached the border of Joanna's kingdom, he had 2,000 Hungarian knights, 2,000 mercenary heavy cavalry, 2,000 Cuman horse archers and 6000 mercenary heavy infantry. Joanna in

11554-563: Was under the nominal suzerainty of the Fatimid Caliphate . During the reign of this dynasty revolts by Byzantine Sicilians continuously occurred especially in the east where Greek-speaking Christians predominated. Parts of the island were re-occupied before revolts were quashed. Under the Arab rule the island was divided in three administrative regions , or "vals", roughly corresponding to the three "points" of Sicily: Val di Mazara in

11663-488: Was unified with the Kingdom of Naples into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies . From the 1282 Sicilian Vespers until the 1860 Expedition of the Thousand , Sicily was ruled by Aragon and then Spain , either in personal union with the crown or by a cadet branch , with the exception of a period of Savoy and then Habsburg rule in 1713–1735. The island became part of the newly unified Italy in 1860 following

11772-524: Was well received by local chiefs. Charles was driven out of Sicily in 1282, but his successors ruled Naples until 1435. This House of Anjou included the branches of Anjou-Hungary, which ruled Hungary (1308–1385, 1386–1395) and Poland (1370–1399), Anjou- Taranto , which ruled the remnants of the Latin Empire (1313–1374) and Anjou-Durazzo, which ruled Naples (1382–1435) and Hungary (1385–1386). The senior line of

11881-590: Was wrecked in a freak storm off the coast of Trapani . With the elevation of Pope Gregory X , there was a truce between Charles and Michael in the form of the Council of Lyons , as Christians focused on improving ecumenical relations, with hopes of regaining the Kingdom of Jerusalem back from the Muslims. Charles had fully solidified his rule over Durazzo by 1272, creating a small Kingdom of Albania for himself, out of previously Despotate of Epirus territory; he

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