The Western Mediterranean Kingdoms: The Struggle for Dominion, 1200-1500

321 Pages·2016·6.67 MB·English

by  David H. Abulafia

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THE WESTERN
MEDITERRANEAN KINGDOMS
1200-1500
THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
Editor: David Bates
Already published
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THE WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN KINGDOMS 1200-1500
The Struggle for Dominion
David Abulafia
THE WESTERN
MEDITERRANEAN KINGDOMS
1200-1500
The Struggle for Dominion
David Abulafia
I~ ~~o~;~;n~~:up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1997 by Pearson Education Limited
Published 2014 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 USA
Routledge is an imprint oft he Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
ISBN: 978-1-315-84528-9 (eTSBN)
© Taylor & Francis 1997
The right of David Abulafia to be identified
as author of this Work has been asserted by
him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
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the prior written permission of the Publishers or a
licence permitting restricted copying in the United
Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency
Ltd., 90 Totten ham Court Road, London WI P OLP.
ISBN 978-0-582-07821-5 CSD
978-0-582-07820-8 PPR
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Abulafia, David
The western Mediterranean kingdoms, 1200-1500: the struggle for
dominion I David Abulafia.
p. em. - (The Medieval world)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-582-07821-0 (hardcover).-ISBN 0-582-07820-2 (pbk)
1. Western Mediterranean- Histoq; Militaq: 2. Civilization,
Medieval. 3. Kings and rulers, Medieval-Biography 4. Normans-
Western Mediterranean. 5. Royal houses-Europe, Western.
I. Title. II. Series.
DE94.A38 1997
940'.09822-dc21 97-20258
CIP
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
04 03 02 01 00
Set by 35 in ll/ 12 pt Baskerville
Produced by Pearson Education Asia Pte Ltd.
In memory of
R.C. Smail
The wisdom of man is to be found in his writings,
And the tip of his pen carries understanding,
So that with his pen as his staff he can ascend
As high as the sceptre in the hand of a king.
Samuel ibn Naghrila ha-Nagid,
vizier of Granada (993-1056)
Page Intentionally Left Blank
CONTENTS
List of Maps X
Genealogical Tables Xl
Editor's Preface xiii
Author's Preface XV
PART ONE THIRTEENTH-
CENTURY CHALLENGES
CHAPTER 1 The Origins of the Sicilian Kingdom 3
The lure of the South 3
Land and people 6
The Norman state 8
The coming of the Hohenstaufen 14
Frederick II 15
Frederick's inheritance in Italy 23
Conclusion 26
CHAPTER 2 The Emergence of Aragon-Catalonia 28
The coming together of Aragon
and Catalonia 28
Peter II in southern France 35
James the Conqueror in Majorca 37
James the Conqueror in Valencia 41
James the Conqueror and France 46
The rise of Barcelona 50
Conclusion 55
CHAPTER 3 The Rise and Fall of Charles
of Arljou 57
The search for a champion 57
vii
THE \\'ESTERN MEDITERR-\!\'EAN KINGDOMS 1200-1 !iOO
A Mediterranean empire in the making 62
Trouble at home 66
The aftermath of the revolt of the Vespers 79
Conclusion 80
CHAPTER 4 Politics and Religion in the Era
of Ramon Llull 82
The triumph of Peter the Great 82
Peter's legacy 87
The three religions in Spain 88
Ramon Llull 94
Abraham Abulafia 101
Conclusion 103
PART TWO FOURTEENTH
CENTURY CRISES
CHAPTER 5 The Mediterranean in the Age of
James II of Aragon 107
The end of the war of the Vespers l 07
Charles II and the Eastern question 112
James the Honest, 1291-1327 1 Ei
The Catalan Company in Greece 118
The invasion of Sardinia 123
The golden age of Catalan trade 127
Conclusion 131
CHAPTER 6 Robert the Wise of Naples, 1309-43 133
Henry VII and the Italian crisis 133
Guelfs, Ghibellines and King Robert 138
The crusade against Sicily 144
The king and the bankers 146
A wise king: Robert and the arts 151
Conclusion 154
CHAPTER 7 Sicily and Southern Italy in an
Age of Disorder 156
The island kingdom of Sicily in the
fourteenth century 156
Southern Italy under Joanna I 162
The rise of the house of Anjou-Durazzo 166
Conclusion I 70
Vlll
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 8 The End of the House of Barcelona 172
Peter the Ceremonious, 1336-87 172
Martin the Elder 182
The Compromise of Caspe 186
Conclusion 190
PART THREE FIITEENTH-
CENTURY VICTORIES
CHAPTER 9 Alfonso the Magnanimous and
the Fall of the House of Anjou 195
,
Joanna II, 'The Straw Queen 195
Rene of Anjou 197
The conquest of Naples 204
The Catalan crisis 215
Conclusion 220
CHAPTER 10 Aragon in Italy and Spain, 1458-94 223
Ferrante of Naples 223
Recovery in Aragon 235
Conclusion 243
CHAPTER 11 The French Invasion of Italy,
1494-95 246
Tensions in Italy 246
The fall of Naples to the French 253
Conclusion 257
General Conclusion 259
Further Reading 263
Maps 281
Genealogical Tables 287
Index 293
IX