Sicily (papal fief)

Who holds it

Name

Frederick (the future Frederick II), aged five; guardian Innocent III; the chancellor Walter of Palear leads the council

Title

King of Sicily, the pope's vassal; Innocent III is his overlord and guardian, and a council of familiares governs for him

Since

King since his coronation at Palermo in May 1198; papal wardship since his mother Constance's death on 27 or 28 November 1198

Confidence

high

On Constance's death Walter of Palear (chancellor since March 1195, bishop of Troia) joined the college of familiares set up to support the papal regency (DBI). Archbishop Bartholomew of Palermo died in late 1199, so the see of Palermo is vacant on 1 January 1200; in March 1200 the legate approved Walter's election to it while he kept Troia, and Innocent allowed him only the administration (DBI). Walter's brothers Gentile and Manerio had been given the county of Manoppello in the Abruzzi by Henry VI in April 1195; Gentile commands Palermo (DBI; en.wikipedia).

John of Cicala, bishop of Cefalu, joins the council early in 1200 (en.wikipedia). Markward, recognised as regent by the Staufen princes by late May 1199 (Federiciana), landed at Trapani in October 1199 claiming the regency under Henry VI's will, and the pope proclaimed a crusade against him (en.wikipedia). Cardinal Cinzio of S. Lorenzo in Lucina went to Sicily in autumn 1199 to organise the war against him (FIU). On the mainland, Diepold of Schweinspeunt, count of Acerra, spent about nine months of 1199 as the prisoner of Count William of Caserta; freed by late 1199 and allied with the new count, Robert of Caserta, he is the undisputed leader of the imperial party in the Terra di Lavoro and Campania on 1 January 1200 (DBI).

What it holds

• Overlordship of the whole kingdom: Sicily, Calabria, Apulia, the Terra di Lavoro, the Principality of Salerno, Molise and the Abruzzi up to the Tronto, with Malta and Gozo
• A yearly census owed by the king to Rome
• The wardship of the king and the regency of the kingdom, by Constance's will (November 1198)
• Control of elections to Sicilian sees, which Constance gave up to the pope in 1198 in return for her son's investiture (campaign notes)
• A legate in Sicily (Cardinal Cinzio) and a crusade proclaimed against Markward

How it was acquired

Robert Guiscard did homage to Pope Nicholas II at Melfi in 1059; the kingdom created in 1130 was confirmed as a papal fief by Innocent II (1139) and by the treaty of Benevento with Hadrian IV (1156). Constance renewed the investiture for Frederick in 1198 and made the pope his guardian by her will.

How things stand that morning

Palermo, the king and most of eastern Sicily for the regency council; Markward and his Muslim allies in the west, centred on Trapani, with the extent of his hold not pinned; on the mainland, Diepold's castles in the Terra di Lavoro and Campania, Conrad of Marlenheim at Sora, the papal party at Montecassino, Benevento and among loyal counts. Salerno had sided with Diepold in 1199 (Richard of San Germano).

Wealth

The grain of Sicily and Apulia; the ports of Messina, Palermo, Bari, Brindisi and Salerno; Palermo's silk workshops and the royal treasury; salt and tunny fisheries; the tolls of the Via Appia and the Via Traiana.

Threats

• Markward's march on Palermo with his Muslim allies
• The chancellor's own ambitions and his dealings with Markward
• Diepold's chain of castles on the mainland and his alliance with the counts of Caserta
• Pisan and Genoese fleets serving whoever pays

Advocates and rivals

Markward of Annweiler, regent by Henry VI's will in the eyes of the Staufen; the chancellor Walter of Palear, whom Innocent will later accuse of taking Markward's bribes; Gentile of Manoppello at Palermo; Diepold, count of Acerra, and Robert of Caserta; Conrad of Marlenheim at Sora; the Muslims of western Sicily; the Pisans and Genoese, who want Sicilian ports; Count Peter of Celano, who came down from the Marsica into the Terra di Lavoro in 1199 (Richard of San Germano); and, from 1200, Walter of Brienne with his wife's claim as Tancred's daughter.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. March 1200The legate Cardinal Cinzio approves Walter of Palear's election as archbishop of Palermo while he keeps Troia; Innocent grants him only the administration; from May Walter styles himself bishop of Troia, administrator of Palermo and chancellor (DBI).Depends on: The chapter electing Walter and the legate acting before the pope can object. Stopped by: A rival election by the Palermo chapter, or a papal veto sent in time.
2. 1200, month not pinned (Gregorovius)Walter of Brienne comes to Rome to claim Lecce and Taranto through his wife, King Tancred's daughter; after deliberation Innocent recognises the claim, and Walter campaigns on the mainland from 1201 (he beats Diepold at Capua in June 1201 and Walter of Palear's army at Canne on 22 October 1201: DBI entries).Depends on: Walter's crusade vow being deferred and the pope's need for a captain against the Germans. Stopped by: Innocent refusing the claim to protect Frederick's rights, or Walter staying with the crusade.
3. 21 July 1200Markward, besieging Palermo, which Gentile of Manoppello defends, is beaten at Monreale by a papal mercenary force under the pope's cousin James, later count of Andria, and the siege is broken (DBI on Walter of Palear); Henry VI's testament is found among Markward's baggage (Federiciana). Markward is also beaten at Randazzo the same year (Federiciana).Depends on: Markward keeping his Muslim allies and laying siege to Palermo; the papal army reaching Sicily and joining Gentile. Stopped by: The chancellor treating with Markward first, or the papal force failing to cross.

Places of note

• Palermo: Royal capital, held for the regency council; the boy king is here
• Trapani: Where Markward landed in October 1199

Where the sources disagree

• GM Part 11, ruling 4: the DBI entry on Walter of Palear says Archbishop Bartholomew of Palermo died in late 1199. Palermo is therefore vacant on 1 January 1200, and its election (Walter's, approved in March) is an early event of the game.
• GM Part 8 says Markward 'holds western Sicily'. The sources say he landed at Trapani in October 1199 and found allies among the Muslims of the west; how much of western Sicily he actually controlled on 1 January is not pinned. He takes Palermo and the boy king only at the end of 1201 (Federiciana).

Evidence: Thick for the legal frame (papal fief, wardship) and fair for the regency war, thanks to the DBI, the Federiciana and Richard of San Germano; thin for who held which Sicilian town on 1 January 1200.

On the map: The whole kingdom is drawn as the papal fief, using modern regions plus the parts of southern Lazio and Rieti that belonged to it; Benevento is cut out. Occupied parts mark only places the sources name; the real war map of January 1200 (which towns obeyed the council, which the Germans) is not pinned.

Primary sources for Sicily

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
• Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
• Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. Read online
• Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
• Chronicle of Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
• The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online

7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.