Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
476
The last western Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, is deposed. Goths, Ostrogoths and Byzantines
tussle over the spoils of the empire.
827-965
A Saracen army lands at Mazaradel Vallo in Sicily in 827. The island is united under Arab rule and
Palermo becomes the second-largest city in the world after Constantinople.
1059
Pope Nicholas II and Norman mercenary Robert Guiscard sign a concordat at Melfi, making Robert
the duke of Apulia and Calabria. Robert agrees to rid southern Italy of Saracens and Byzantines.
1130
Norman invader Roger II is crowned king of Sicily, a century after the Normans landed in southern
Italy; a united southern Italian kingdom is created.
1215
Frederick II is crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Aachen where he symbolically re-inters Charle-
magne's body in a silver and gold reliquary. He takes the cross and vows of a crusader.
1224
The Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II is founded in Naples. The oldest state university in
the world, its alumni include Catholic theologian and philosopher Thomas Aquinas.
1270-1500
The French Angevins and Spanish Aragonese spend the best part of two centuries fighting over
southern Italy. Instability, warfare, the Black Death and overtaxation strangle the region's economic
development.
1516
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain inherits southern Italy. The region is strategically import-
ant to Spain in its battle with France. Charles invests in defences in cities like Lecce.
1600
Naples is Europe's biggest city, boasting a population of over 300,000. Among its growing number of
residents is renegade artist Caravaggio, who arrives in 1606.
1647
Gross mismanagement causes the southern Italian economy to collapse. In Naples, the Masaniello
Revolt breaks out over heavy taxes. Revolt spreads to the provinces and peasant militias rule the
countryside.
