The Decline and Fall of Medieval Sicily
Politics, Religion, and Economy in the Reign of Frederick III, 1296–1337

This 1995 book is a detailed study of Sicilian life and economy in the 'transitional' reign of Frederick III (1296–1337).

Clifford R. Backman (Author)

9780521521819, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 22 August 2002

376 pages, 1 map 4 tables
23.2 x 15.1 x 2.4 cm, 0.56 kg

"Backman writes with great fluency and has produced a thoughtful, wide-ranging book that fills a gaping whole in the literature on the medieval Mediterranean." David Abulafia, Jrnl of Eco Hist

This 1995 book is a detailed study of Sicilian life in the reign of Frederick III (1296–1337), a period which saw Sicily reduced from a bustling and prosperous Mediterranean emporium to a poor backwater torn apart by violence. The relative economic and social backwardness of Sicily within modern Italy has attracted considerable scholarly attention. Attempts to explain its ingrained poverty and civil strife usually blame either the legacy of two thousand years of colonisation by rapacious foreigners or the inherent weaknesses in the island itself and its people. More recently a model of 'economic dualism' has pointed to basic structural flaws in the economic relations that were established between the island and its continental trading partners from the twelfth century onwards. This book, by focusing on Frederick III's crucial reign, argues that there were many more things 'wrong' with Sicilian life than just the shape of its overseas trade relations.

1. The kingdom at risk
2. The international scene: war without and within
3. A divided society I: the urban demesnal world
4. A divided society II: the rural baronial world
5. The religious scene: piety and its problems
6. In the margins: slaves, pirates, and women
Conclusion
Tables
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]