History of Palermo - Swabian Period and The House of Anjou

Swabian Period and The House of Anjou

The state marriage between the emperor Henry VI and the last descendant of the Norman monarchs, Constance of Hauteville, gave the Kingdom of Sicily and Palermo to the Hohenstaufen house of Germany. However, the noblemen refused to be ruled by a foreigner, and Henry had to fight a rival king, before conquering Palermo in 1194 and being crowned as King. The second ruler of the house of Swabia was the famed Frederick II, who spent his early years in Palermo as a rogue. He probably considered himself as primarily a true Sicilian instead of a German. Under his reign Palermo became the effective capital of the Holy Roman Empire. Palermo’s court anticipated Renaissance courts and hosted some of the better intellectuals, artists and scholars of the period. The first Italian poetical school was born in Palermo.

Frederick died in 1250 and was buried in the cathedral. His illegitimate son Manfred succeeded him and continued his cultural and administrative politics. However, in 1268 Manfred was defeated by Charles I of Anjou, and the Kingdom of Sicily passed to this new French house. Palermo suffered a decay as the capital was moved to Naples. Charles and his officials exploited Sicily heavily and the island rebelled in 1282 (the Sicilian Vespers), giving itself to the Aragonese.