Port · Kingdom of Sicily under the regency · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Syracuse

The old Greek capital on the island of Ortygia, with a great natural harbour on the route to Malta, Crete and the Levant; before Henry VI's conquest Falcandus described it as poor, half-empty and with its walls partly in ruin.

Genoa's claim to it goes back to a secret promise of Barbarossa (1162); in 1191 Henry VI pledged Genoa 'the city of Syracuse with all its appurtenances and 250 knights' fees of land in the Val di Noto', but when he took it in 1194 (with Genoese ships attacking from the sea) he kept it and stripped Genoa of its old trading rights in the kingdom. Syracuse joined the great revolt of 1197. Since Henry's death its port has revived and the Genoese have regained the lead in its trade, taking over the house that had belonged to Godfrey (Goffredo) of Modica.

Who holds it

Name
The king; officers that winter not named in the sources read
Title
Royal city
Since
1086 (Norman conquest)
Confidence
medium

Lord in 1200

The king, through his officers; Bishop Lorenzo (Laurence, before November 1192 to about 1201), a suffragan of Monreale, who collected money in Sicily for the crusade in 1198-1199 on Innocent III's commission (a Church map record).

How things stand that morning

Royal, under the regency as far as is known; its role in Markward's war is not documented. A town of Genoese interest, whose old pledge Genoa has not forgotten.

Council

No commune: the town is governed by the king's officers (a bailiff, baiulus, for markets, weights, measures and the grain supply, and royal judges), under the justiciar and the royal fiscal bureau at Palermo.

Communities

Greeks, Latins, Jews (not detailed in the sources read); Genoese merchants leading the port's trade again since 1197, with townsmen (burgenses) tied to their commerce; Pisan traders.

Walls and castle

The walled town on Ortygia, its walls partly ruined in Falcandus' day; the Maniace castle is Frederick II's (begun 1239): not yet.

Trade and crafts

Grain of the Val di Noto, the harbour trade with Malta, Crete and the Levant; Genoese and Pisan merchants.

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. 1204 (later)The Pisans seize the city and expel the bishop and the pro-Genoese townsmen; the Genoese Alamanno da Costa with Henry, count of Malta, retakes it within seven days (6 August 1204) and rules it as count of Syracuse for Genoa until Frederick removes him in 1221.Depends on: The regency's continued weakness at sea. Stopped by: A royal fleet and garrison.

Places of note

  • Ortygia: The walled island town and harbour

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Federiciana (Siracusa) gives the 1191 pledge, the 1194 conquest, the 1197 revolt and the Genoese revival after 1197, and warns that the sources on Norman and Swabian Syracuse are very thin.

On the map: Near land about 7 km round the city.

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.

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

Sources and studies

  1. Siracusa, Enciclopedia Federiciana (Treccani)
  2. Alamanno da Costa, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Treccani)
  3. Arcidiocesi di Siracusa, cronotassi (it.wikipedia)

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.