Angevin conquest, revolt,
Aragonese intervention
1266-1282 Charles of Anjou becomes king as a result of his victories on the mainland; makes Naples his capital rather than Palermo
1282 The ‘Sicilian Vespers’, a popular uprising against the French in which many are massacred; Peter III of Aragon, inheritor of the Hohenstaufen claims in Sicily and South Italy as the husband of Manfred’s daughter, lands on the island with an armed force
1282-1285 Peter III is crowned as Peter I of Sicily, refuses homage to the pope
1285-1295 James I (second son of Peter) becomes King of Sicily while his elder brother Alfonso III inherits the Crown of Aragon
1291 On the death of Alfonso III James I of Sicily becomes also James II of Aragon (to 1327); returning to Aragon, he places his younger brother Frederick in charge of Sicily
The Independent Monarchy
1296-1337 Frederick II (younger brother of James I), on James coming to terms with Pope Boniface VIII and abdicating the kingship of Sicily (1295), with the backing of the Sicilian Estates declares himself an independent king; he is excommunicated by the Pope and war against Naples follows
1302 Treaty of Caltabellotta, with Charles II of Naples; Frederick’s position is reluctantly acknowledged, but the Angevins will continue to make attempts to dislodge the Aragonese from Sicily
1337-1342 Peter II
1342-1355 Louis, inheriting the throne at the age of four, is unable to establish a strong government and accepts a tributary relationship to the papacy. Baronial clans (especially the Chiaramonte and the Ventimiglia) quarrel for power
1355-1377 Frederick III, the Simple. Intermittent war against Naples continues
1372 Naples and the papacy come to terms with Frederick as a tributary King of ‘Trinacria’
1377-1402 Mary of Aragon (daughter and heiress of Frederick III); government is effectively taken over by the heads of four baronial families who style themselves ‘vicars’
1390 Mary is taken to Aragon and married to Martin ‘the Younger’ (grandson of John II of Aragon); they return with a military force (1392), defeat the opposing barons, and rule jointly until Mary’s death (1402). Martin repudiates the treaty of 1372 and rules as King of Sicily
1402-1409 Martin I, the Younger (widower of Mary of Aragon) rules alone
1409-1410 Martin II, the Elder (Martin I of Aragon, father of Martin the Younger) inherits Sicily after his son’s death
Union with Aragon
1410 On the death of Martin the Elder, Sicily subject to disorder remains in union with Aragon, and is ruled by the kings of the House of Trastamara (1412-1516) and then by the Hapsburgs; mainland Naples is also in union with Aragon under Alfonso the Magnanimous (1435-1458) and again under Ferdinand the Catholic (from 1501 on), but the island will be governed separately from the mainland until 1816