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Detail of Christ Crowning Roger II from the Church of La Martorana, Palermo
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By Niccolò Graffio
“For God’s sake let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” - William Shakespeare: Richard II, Act III, Scene 2, 1595.
Walking along the streets of Palermo, Sicily, one gets the feeling of being in a nexus of worlds. Whether one gazes at the Teatro Massimo opera house (the largest in Italy and third largest in Europe), strolls through the Church of Santa Teresa alla Kalsa (an outstanding example of Sicilian Baroque architecture!), walks along the ancient streets of La Kalsa with its many vendors, or peers at the mosaics in the Palazzo dei Normanni, one cannot help but notice the many cultural imprints left by this city’s former rulers.
Equally striking, however, is the level of poverty that exists there! Heavily damaged by Allied bombings during World War II, many of this city’s most majestic buildings remain unrepaired. The reasons? Neglect by both local government and Rome. Resources (financial and material) are severely limited on Sicily. The stranglehold of the Cosa Nostra on the economy is another reason. With most of Italy’s economic wealth concentrated (and kept!) in the North, there simply isn’t enough left to maintain these historic treasures, which are sadly left to crumble. It’s hard to believe less than 1,000 years ago this city was one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, city in the Mediterranean region. Such, however, was the case.
To be sure, Palermo is hardly unique in that regard. Many times in history a city was born, grew to prominence, then faded to obscurity as times changed. A little over 800 years ago the city of Angkor was the seat of the Khmer Empire, a powerful state that covered much of Southeast Asia. Today it is an abandoned ruin. The Khmer people, however, remain. We now call them Cambodians.
To really understand how the people of the now-lost Kingdom of the Two Sicilies arrived at their current state it is necessary to go back to the beginning; to study the forces and peoples who were instrumental in founding the kingdom in the first place. To be sure, that cannot be done in a single article. Volumes have been written about it. Rather, this article is simply an overview of the events and personages involved. The timing is not coincidental, either. This holiday season is special in more ways than one. Christmas, you see, is not just celebrated as the birthday of Jesus Christ (though it’s generally recognized by Biblical historians He was not born on December 25th). It is also the anniversary of the birth of the Kingdom of Sicily. Continue reading
