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Peace Of Caltabellotta
The Peace of Caltabellotta, signed on 31 August 1302, was the last of a series of treaties, including those of Treaty of Tarascon, Tarascon and Treaty of Anagni, Anagni, designed to end the War of the Sicilian Vespers between the Houses of Capetian House of Anjou, Anjou and House of Barcelona, Barcelona for ascendancy in the Mediterranean and especially Sicily and the Mezzogiorno. The peace divided the old Kingdom of Sicily into an island portion and a peninsular portion. The island, called the Kingdom of Trinacria, went to Frederick III of Sicily, Frederick III, who had been ruling it; the Mezzogiorno, called the Kingdom of Sicily contemporaneously but the Kingdom of Naples by modern scholarship, went to Charles II of Naples, Charles II, who had been ruling it. Thus, the peace was formal recognition of an uneasy ''status quo''. The treaty also stipulated that Trinacria would pass to the Angevins on Frederick's death, but until then, Charles paid a tribute of 100,000 ounces of gol ...
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Caltabellotta
Caltabellotta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cataviḍḍotta'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Agrigento, in the Italy, Italian region Sicily, located about south of Palermo and about northwest of Agrigento. In addition to the main portion of Caltabellotta, the ''comune'' also contains the ''frazione'' of Sant'Anna (Caltabellotta), Sant'Anna. History Caltabellotta has been identified with the ancient Sicani town of Triocala, captured by the ancient Rome, Romans in 99 BC. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire and several centuries under the Byzantine Empire, it was stormed by the Islamic conquest of Sicily, Arabs, who later built here a castle. In 1090 it was conquered by the Italo-Normans, Normans of Roger I of Sicily. The diocese of Triocala, called in Latin Trecalae in the Catholic Church's list of titular sees, is mentioned in the 6th-century Synecdemus as Τρόκαλις (Trocalis). Its reputed first bishop was Saint Pellegrino, a disciple of Sai ...
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Kingdom Of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy, Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into Three valli of Sicily, three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto. After a brief rule by Charles of Anjou, a revolt in 1282 known as the Sicilian Vespers threw off Capetian House of Anjou, Angevin rule in the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in the mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled ''Kingdom of Sicily'', although it is retroactively referred to as the Kingdom of Naples. Sicily (officially known as the Kingdom of Trinacria between 1282 and 1442) at the other hand, remained a ...
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Robert Of Naples
Robert of Anjou (), known as Robert the Wise (; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the third son of King Charles II of Naples and Mary of Hungary, and during his father's lifetime he was styled Duke of Calabria (1296–1309). Robert's early life was marked by his family's participation in the War of the Sicilian Vespers, in which conflict Robert served as a military commander. Upon the death of his father in 1309, Robert ruled as the king of Naples. His reign brought relative stability to Naples when compared to the reigns of his father and grandfather, but was also marked by rivalries against Germanic powers in northern Italy and the House of Barcelona in the western Mediterranean. Robert was pre-deceased by his son and heir Charles of Calabria, and so willed his throne to his granddaughter, Joanna of Naples. Biography ...
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Oubliette
A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette (from the French , meaning 'to forget') or bottle dungeon is a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (an '' angstloch'') in a high ceiling. Etymology The word ''dungeon'' comes from French ''donjon'' (also spelled ''dongeon''), which means "keep", the main tower of a castle. The first recorded instance of the word in English was near the beginning of the 14th century when it held the same meaning as ''donjon''. The earlier meaning of "keep" is still in use for academics, although in popular culture, it has come to mean a cell or "oubliette". Though it is uncertain, both ''dungeon'' and ''donjon'' are thought to derive from the Middle Latin word ''dominus'', meaning "lord" or "master". In French, the term ''donjon'' sti ...
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Bernat De Rocafort
Bernat de Rocafort was the third leader of the Catalan Company, from 1307 until 1309. Bernat was of humble birth, and probably a Valencian. Prior to 1303, he had been in command of a band of mercenaries garrisoning two castles in Calabria on behalf of King Robert of Naples. In 1303, after Robert had failed to pay him and his men, he led 200 cavalry and 1000 ''almogàvers'' to join the Catalan Company. He was soon made its seneschal (''manescal de la host''), replacing the late Corberán de Alet of Navarre... In August 1303, Bernat commanded the ''almogàvers'' at the Battle of Ania, while Roger de Flor commanded the cavalry. Following the murder of Roger de Flor at the order of the Byzantine emperor Michael IX Palaiologos, the Catalans elected Berenguer d'Entença as their leader, and took over the fortress of Gallipoli as their own. Entença was soon after captured by a Genoese fleet, and Rocafort was chosen as his successor, with a council of twelve to assist him. Under Roc ...
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Andronicus II Palaeologus
Andronikos II Palaiologos (; 25 March 1259 – 13 February 1332), Latinized as Andronicus II Palaeologus, reigned as Byzantine emperor from 1282 to 1328. His reign marked the beginning of the recently restored empire's final decline. The Turks conquered most of Byzantium's remaining Anatolian territories, and Andronikos spent the last years of his reign fighting his own grandson in the First Palaiologan Civil War. The war ended in Andronikos' forced abdication in 1328, after which he retired to a monastery for the remainder of his life. Life Early life Andronikos was born on 25 March 1259, at Nicaea. He was the eldest surviving son of Michael VIII Palaiologos and Theodora Palaiologina, grandniece of John III Doukas Vatatzes. Andronikos was acclaimed co-emperor in 1261, after his father Michael VIII recovered Constantinople from the Latin Empire, but he was not crowned until 8 November 1272. During their joint rule, he was compelled to support his father's unpo ...
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Byzantine Emperor
The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised sovereign authority are included, to the exclusion of junior co-emperors who never attained the status of sole or senior ruler, as well as of the List of Byzantine usurpers, various usurpers or rebels who claimed the imperial title. The following list starts with Constantine the Great, the first Christian emperor, who rebuilt the city of Byzantium as an imperial capital, Constantinople, and who was regarded by the later emperors as the model ruler. Modern historians distinguish this later phase of the Roman Empire as Byzantine due to the imperial seat moving from Rome to Byzantium, the Empire's integration of Christianity, and the predominance of Greek instead of Latin. The Byzantine Empire was the direct legal continuation of the eastern ...
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Catalan Company
The Catalan Company or the Great Catalan Company (; , , , or ) was a company of mercenaries led by Roger de Flor in the early 14th century and hired by Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos to combat the increasing power of the Anatolian beyliks. It was formed by '' almogavar'' veterans of the War of the Sicilian Vespers, who had remained unemployed after the signing in 1302 of the Peace of Caltabellotta between the Crown of Aragon and the French dynasty of the Angevins. Origin The military demands of the Reconquista stimulated the formation of the elite light infantry known as the '' almogavars'' on the Iberian peninsula during the 13th century. These troops were used quite effectively by the Crown of Aragon for other imperial ventures in the Mediterranean, particularly the War of the Sicilian Vespers. They were typically organised in companies (''societates'') of 20 to 50 men, following a chief of recognized military skill. The signing of the Peace of Caltabellotta i ...
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Almogavars
Almogavars (; ; ; ; originally ) is the name of a class of light infantry soldier originated in the Crown of Aragon used in the later phases of the Reconquista, during the 13th and 14th centuries. Almogavars were lightly clad, quick-moving frontiersmen and foot-soldiers. They hailed from the Kingdom of Aragon, the Principality of Catalonia, the Kingdom of Valencia, the Crown of Castile and the Kingdom of Portugal. In the Crown of Castile, the inner organization was managed by King Alfonso X of Castile in the Siete Partidas. At first, these troops were formed by farmers and shepherds originating from the countryside, woods and frontier mountain areas. Later, they were employed as mercenaries in Italy, the Frankokratia and the Levant. Etymology There are several theories as to where this name comes from: (; ), (, 'the carrier of news') or (, 'the pilgrim', as in 'adjunct o a holy place). Another theory holds that it comes from the adjective , which translates as 'prideful' ...
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Roger De Flor
Roger de Flor (c. 1267 – 30 April 1305), also known as Ruggero/Ruggiero da Fiore or Rutger von Blum or Ruggero Flores, was an Italian military adventurer and condottiere active in Aragonese Sicily, Italy, and the Byzantine Empire. He was the commander of the Great Catalan Company and held the title Count of Malta. Biography Roger de Flor was born in Brindisi in the Kingdom of Sicily, the second son of an Italian noblewoman of Brindisi and a German people, German falconry, falconer named Richard von Blum (''Blume'' means flower in German language, German) in the service of Emperor Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II. Richard von Blum was killed fighting at the Battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268. At eight years old Roger de Flor was sent to sea in a galley belonging to the Knights Templars. He entered the order and became captain of a galley called "El falcó". After rescuing wealthy survivors during the Siege of Acre (1291), siege of Acre by the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashr ...
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Cefalù
Cefalù (; ), classically known as (), is a city and comune in the Italian Metropolitan City of Palermo, located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily about east of the provincial capital and west of Messina. The town, with its population of just under 14,000, is one of the major tourist attractions in the region. Despite its size, every year it attracts millions of tourists from all parts of Sicily, and also from all over Italy and Europe. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Names The city's Sicilian name is . It was named by the Greeks who called it () or (). These were latinised as and . Under Arab rule, it was known as . Under Carthaginian rule, it was known as "Cape Melqart" (, ), after the Tyrian god. History Of Siculian foundation, in the fourth century BC the Greeks gave the indigenous settlement the name of ''Kephaloídion'', evidently derived from its situation on a lofty and precipitous rock, forming a bold hea ...
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Prince Of Taranto
The Principality of Taranto () was a state in southern Italy created in 1088 for Bohemond I, eldest son of Robert Guiscard, as part of the peace between him and his younger brother Roger Borsa after a dispute over the succession to the Duchy of Apulia. Taranto became the capital of the principality, which covered almost all of the heel of Apulia. During its subsequent 377 years of history, it was sometimes a powerful and almost independent feudal fief of the Kingdom of Sicily (and later of Naples), sometimes only a title, often given to the heir to the crown or to the husband of a reigning queen. When the House of Anjou was divided, Taranto fell to the house of Durazzo (1394–1463). Ferdinand I of Naples united the Principality of Taranto, to the Kingdom of Naples, at the death of his wife, Isabella of Clermont. The principality came to an end, but the kings of Naples continued giving the title of Prince of Taranto to their sons, firstly to the future Alfonso II of Napl ...
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