The Hauteville

From the Hautevilles to the end of Frederick II's reign in Sicily

The sovereignty of the Hautevilles in Sicily – the conquest began in the 1060s, the dynasty lasted until 1194 – and the reign of Frederick II (r. 1220–50) – are often considered a single entity. True, the population of the island was largely, if not in the majority, Islamised and Arabised, but beginning in the 1220s Frederick took a stand against the Arabo-Muslims who opposed his authority and had them deported to Lucera, in Apulia. Thus his reign ended with a clear change in the relationship between the ruler and the Muslim population.

Several phases can be identified in the history of 12th–13th century Sicily and these are reflected in the artistic and architectural output of the Hautevilles and the Swabians.

From county to kingdom

Robert Guiscard, who became Duke of Calabria in 1057, began the conquest of the island in 1061, with his brother Roger, later Count of Sicily. Robert died in 1085 and Noto, the only town still offering resistance, fell in 1091.

When Count Roger I died in 1101, his wife Adelaide became regent and transferred the capital from Mileto, in Calabria, to Messina. In the decade that followed, Palermo became the capital; thus did the Hautevilles move into the former Muslim capital, a still highly Islamic city which they would make the seat and theatre of their power.

In 1127 Count Roger II, who already controlled Calabria as well as Sicily, set out to conquer southern Italy. In 1130 he had himself proclaimed King of Sicily and recognised by the schismatic pope Anacletus II.

A characteristic of the architecture and arts of the period was the inclusion of features considered "Byzantine", "Islamic" or Northern European which gave 12th-century Sicily an aesthetic language of its own.

Prior to 1130 the most notable architectural ventures were for religious buildings, and were undertaken as part of the re-establishment of ecclesiastical institutions and the founding of monasteries.  

Between 1130 and his death in 1154 Roger II shaped a policy worthy of the enlightened ruler he felt every sovereign should be. As a patron receptive to the varied components of the artistic and scholarly Mediterranean koiné, he sponsored a number of projects, among them the famous Palatine Chapel in Palermo, with its painted ceiling. He instigated the building of the cathedral in Cefalù, whose ceiling is also decorated with a mix of elements, some of them Islamic, and also commissioned Al-Idrisi's Geography, a work unique in its time. In addition, he called in Arabic-speaking civil servants as part of a radical reform of the administration of Sicily and Calabria, and developed a ceremonial and court life that combined Byzantine and Islamic features. His overall policy was aimed at a broader public than the Sicilian court and the people of the island, especially as from the 1120s through to 1160 the dynasty controlled a number of coastal cities in "Ifriqiya" and Central Maghreb, among them Djerba, Mahdia, Sfax, Tripoli and Bone. 

Other leading figures followed their sovereign's example: George of Antioch, Roger's principal adviser, commissioned the building of the La Martorana church in Palermo.

William the Wicked and William the Good

The reign of William I ("the Wicked") was as brief (r. 1154–66) as it was stormy. During his time on the throne, Palermo lost all control of the African coast and a succession of rebellions was triggered by the Latin aristocracy's efforts to increase their power at the expense of the supposedly inferior Arabo-Muslim servants of the crown.

A little to the southeast of Palermo, the summer retreat of La Favara and its artificial lake seem to be the work of Roger II, but were used by his son William I, who also commissioned the building of La Zisa, another holiday retreat, southwest of the capital. The "Golden Conch" – the agricultural plain surrounding Palermo between the sea and the first hills to the south – offers a further display of the splendour of the Hautevilles.

William I died in 1166, leaving a son, William, who was too young to rule and whose mother Margaret acted as regent until 1171. The reign of William the Good was one of peace at home which allowed for a relatively vigorous foreign policy. He died without issue in 1189 and a period of marked instability set in.

William II's policy was very similar to that of Roger II, even if it continued the Latinisation of the island. He welcomed Arabic-speaking scholars to his court, among them Al-Idrisi, Ibn Jubayr, and poets who sang his praises. He was also a builder of monuments: a pavilion surrounded with greenery, the Cuba di Palermo was in the heart of the Genoard (from the Arabic Jannat al-ard, "the earthly paradise") south of the palace district; and the cathedral at Monreale, signalling the establishment of a new bishopric on the edge of a highly Arabised locality not far from Palermo, was considered the ideal church by the sovereign. All these buildings used the "Siculo-Norman" architectural language mentioned above.

Both these reigns were marked by monarchy-backed translation ventures, but mainly from Greek into Latin. 

The end of the Hautevilles and the reign of Frederick II

William II's succession was problematical: he had designated his aunt Constance, posthumous daughter of Roger II and wife of future Emperor Henry VI, but she failed to find acceptance. In 1190 Tancredo de Lecce, the illegitimate child of one of Roger II's sons, took power. His reign, which lasted only four years, was a turbulent one: he had to cope not only with a Muslim uprising in Sicily, but also with Henry VI. His son, the young William III succeeded him in 1194, but was outmanoeuvred by Henry VI and dispatched to Germany.

The deaths of Henry VI in 1197 and Constance in 1198 left their son, the future Frederick II, under the protection of Pope Innocent III. Before he became old enough to mount the throne, the island was racked by repeated Muslim uprisings and battles between his supporters and his opponents. Made emperor in 1212, Frederick returned to Italy in 1220 and launched a twenty-five year war against the Muslim rebels in Sicily, some of whom were deported to Lucera. 

This marked extension of the Hauteville policy of strong sovereignty has often been contrasted with the emperor's interest in the work of Arabo-Muslim scholars, but in fact both were complementary aspects of the definition of universal imperial power as laid down by Frederick II. 

In Sicily Frederick is mainly remembered for such military building ventures as Castel Maniace in Syracuse, Castello Ursino in Catania and the castle in Augusta, a city he himself founded. Otherwise he built very little, and left almost no trace in Palermo, where he seldom lived. His building style, while the culmination of a series of refinements including features from the Latin Orient, abandoned the fusion of the preceding era and Arabo-Muslim servants almost vanished from the court. The emperor surrounded himself with scholars like Michael Scotus and Theodore of Antioch, who translated works from the Arabic, but not with their Arabo-Muslim counterparts, although he did consult these latter via letters sent to Muslim princes.

A. N.