Fun fact: in 1110 Roger met king Sigurd of Norway (who was the first European monarch to actually go on crusade), the two became good friends and Sigurd even called roger a king 20 years before the coronation
Byzantines were the greatest.They just had to abandon the whole of Italy because they had to bear the brunt of the Islamic tsunami from the 7th-11th century
I'm Italian and I'm glad you make videos like this. I haven't found, even in Italian, such a clear and detailed videos about muslims and normans in Italy. Thanks 🙏
Where I grew up in Normandy, there were statues of duke Robert and his brother Roger on the walls on the cathedral of Coutances, it’s around that place that the Hauteville family came from. I’m a bit proud now
@@arx3516 The Sicilians and calabrese love throwing chili peppers and whole peppercorns in some cheeses; I’m not a connoisseur, but I don’t think the French would dare do that to their cheese children
Sicily is real gem, had an opportunity to visit last year, it changed me forever, didn't expect to be so interesting and so full of different influences, hope i will visit again one day
The Sicilian "lu Malu" is also translated as "the Wicked". Remember his family dynasty was founded by Robert Guiscard translated as "the Resourceful", "the Cunning", "the Wily", "the Fox", and "the Weasel".
I'm sicilian, and i'm very proud to be the discendent of this melting pot of different cultures. Come to visit our beautifull island, is full of history everywhere! Hope you'll make a video about Frederk II, the so-called "stupor mundi". Thank you!
There was no melting pot of different cultures. Normans, arabs and byzantines were foreign invaders who kept the native sicilians down and enslaved those who opposed them.
Proud to be born in Calabria, in a Greek-speaking town, with a Greek surname on my mother’s side and by a Sicilian father, who has given me an Arabic surname. Everyone in my family has very different traits: I had an aunt from Girgenti (Agrigento) who really looked Middle-Eastern. My grandma was red headed with green eyes, and I have brown hair but grow a reddish beard. Stories like mine are pretty common in my area.
@@maxsavage3998 Calabria is fantastic and very underrated. I don't think it surpasses Sicily. I think they're both very beautiful. In terms of culture they are very similar and terms of history they are deeply intertwined.
@@maxsavage3998 What difference does that make? Calabria may have suffered more raids by pirates (they were Saracens) but Sicily was actually conquered by the Saracens. Alot of Sicilians of that era fled to Calabria. There are monasteries and sanctuaries in Calabria that were built by Christians who left Sicily when the Saracens took over.
Buddy I had to purge my discord of alt righters ive known for years yesterday....they did not go down without a fight. It got brutal, they used links...LINKS! Anyway I feel ya dwag, hope this video doesn't bring out the big brains...
The Kingdom of Sicily was such a fascinating medieval state but is unfortunately commonly overlooked compared to its contemporaries. Italians, Lombards, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Germans - the cultural scene of Sicily was so dynamic and diverse. Thanks for doing such an excellent video on them!
Under the mighty Norman Vikings.. things would not have been same as France. Would arabs or anybody else dare say things or do things against the wish of those mighty Vikings? Read their personal bibliography. Some of them personally mentioned by the contemporary historians describe them mighty God like.. One description I recall..where the contemporary person... Would call that Viking king as powerful as he would cause 10,000 men to flight in sherer terror with his mere roar. We are talking about a race that was perhaps unimaginable for the current Era's human mind and conception . That mighty race has long disappeared .. maybe these Vikings were the same as those nephilims mentioned in Bible ( not 100% true yet relatable) - heroes of yore , men of renown. Similar descriptions like that attributed Vikings is also attributed to those nephilims.
@@tibsky1396 Yeah, this tendency to link 11th century Normans with vikings in the English speaking world (even on this channel) is really annoying. I blame the Anglo world's obesession with vikings. Mid 10th century Normans barely had any ties with vikings anymore, so let's not even talk about mid 11th century (1050s and 1060s) ones... They were like 90% French and 10% Norse genetically, and culturally they were even less Nordic than that. As for Normans in Sicily in the late 11th century and early 12th century, they'd be mainly French and Italian, with a very negligible amount of Nordic heritage.
I'm proud to say that my current Ghaznavid empire is a deeply multicultural empire. With Punjabis, Rajputs, Oghuz, Mashriqis, Persians, Bedouins, Bengalis, Tajiks, and even some Egyptians. It is not, however, a very religiously pluralistic empire. Its not a Crusader Kings game without some sort of bigotry.
Wow, this is interesting. Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims living in a tolerant country and are pretty okay with each other... (But not for long) I need to know more about Ancient Sicily under Roger II.
@@LaughingMan44 Sad, but true. Historical "religious tension" tended to be a bit worse than offensive tweets or hurtful words. Anything short of mass deportation or genocide probably wasn't even worth writing down by contemporary sources.
@@savioblanc yeah yeah just talk about Jizya to discredit the Muslim civilization and forgeting how taxes work in mid ages. Jizya is communal taxes per family based and the standard taxes that use in the Catholic europe is communal taxes per individual based tax. Thats is why the tax in Islamic based rule is more cheaper than in Catholic kingdom that time at least until the renesaince came.
@@LaughingMan44 I think it's possible for the three religions to be tolerant with each other on today's standards. I mean, India is a melting pot of different religions but I've known Muslims, Hindus, Christian, and Sikhs that get along fine. Though there are extremists now and then (as always) Dunno about Europe though especially since Islamophobia and several attacks on religion are on the rise there.
Me, a sicilian: doesn't know if should be proud because K&G covers another time my island, or be ashamed because we have been invaded by anyone that passed nearby, or be proud because everyone in history liked Sicily so much that settled, or be ashamed because my island is only known worldwide today for mafia. It's a struggle guys, not gonna lie
And the reptilians of Alpha 9 will invade next. My friend did you listen to this episode.... everyone Latin, greek Arab Norman got along and created a super state. You have nothing to be ashamed of
I am Lebanese and our culture is extremely similar to the one from sicily and southern Italy . Not only that , our features , our food . So thank you for explaining this historically . Clearly we were part of the roman Empire too (-: but we ae so alike Southern Italians . Your map also explains clearly the difference between North and South Italy , very different .
It's like one of those times during CK2 play through, when Portugal for no reason gets Finland. This time Norway got Sicily and southern Italy. Why not.
19:54 The kingdom of the two Sicilies falls in 1860. The next year the kingdom of Sardinia takes officially the name of "Regno d'Italia". 1870 is the year of the "breccia di Porta Pia", the conquest of what was left of the Papal States after the campaigns of 1859-60, Rome included. In 1871 Rome becomes the capital
@@milesludi2053 stupor mundi! There is a great book about Frederik II written by Ernst Kantorowicz, who was a great german-jew historian (he was famous to have given a famous speech in Berkley University, because in full maccarthism the university asked to swear an oath against communism. Since also Hitler and Mussolini asked university teachers to swear an oath of loyalty, he was very much against it and for that he lost his position).
@@milesludi2053 how he was treated by the Papacy cemented my distain for it as an institution during the era. At every moment it chose to do what was arrogant and foolhardy, most of all working against Friedrich II. Though I do love knowing his personal guards were Muslims because they wouldn’t gave a crap about the Pope’s ravings to kill the man. I love that he also won a crusade while Excommunicated, and without fighting a battle, just through diplomacy.
@@milesludi2053 He didn't found the university in Bologna, instead, he found the University of Naples in 1220s to replace those church universities. The famous theologian Thomas Aquinas once studied there. It still stands in Naples today with the name Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.
@@danendraaryadewa5455 The Armenian people were much more widespread before the genocide. There are still Armenian communities in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
I can see it becoming an expansion for Valhalla but otherwise they may run into repetitive setting with Sicily being Italian (AC2) with Muslim presence (AC1) and Byzantine influence (Revelation).
@@tayduatrinhcoi Yeah but that shit's cool though, and unlike the flavor of the month stuff, it's actually distinctive to assassins creed. I feel like more AC games should be set in the Mediterranean and Middle-East
The Hohenstaufens (some of them) were friendly to the non-Catholics. In fact, Fredredick the II of this house was very friendly to the Muslims and Orthodoxs.
Because Frederick II had a lot of beef with the pope, these non-Catholics, particularly the Muslims of Lucera, Italy, were an important power base. In fact, Frederick II liked to use Muslim soldiers, particularly archers, in his armies, because the pope couldn't excommunicate people who were already outside the church. Ultimately it was the Angevin king Charles II who ended the Muslim presence in the Mezzoriogno, and the Spanish Inquistion would finish them off in Sicily itself.
I think I can confidently say, these are my favorite videos and this is my favorite channel on TH-cam. I love history and I'm totally fascinated with certain topics like transitional periods between major empires, places that were like cultural crossroads, etc. Most of these videos I watch, I'll know a little bit about it, but these videos fill in a lot of blanks. And for some reason, knowing bits and pieces of a story and then getting the blanks filled in and seeing everything in context and perspective when all the pieces come together is one of those extra satisfying/gratifying feelings. I always get home from work and intend to watch videos for a minute while I take my medicine and it kicks in, but I always end up watching history videos for hours.
It's such a shame that Sicilians are grouped in so interchangibly with other Italians when the richness of the history and culture of Sicily is like a country in itself.
The art on this chanel is always amazing. I never understood how you can upload so frequently with this kind of quality content and art. There must be some really talented artists working in the chanel 👍
They have several teams working at once, each having their own artstyle - some excellent, some pretty good, and notably there is one which art is rough
When you see how briefly some of these great civilizations shined and how long the legacy they left behind lasted it gives you some new perspective on your own country.
What a damn shame that everything went to shit after he died. Always happens. A good King or Emperor rules wisely and justly through out their rule to have what they built up brushed away by the incompetent children that followed there after.
Under a long successful rule heirs become complacent and only realize the hardness of life when their predecessor who kept everything running dies. Happens all the time in business these days, that's why it's common that 2nd and 3rd generation owners usually don't lead their companies directly.
Well it's not that his children were incompetent, it's just that they were surrounded by many envious eyes.. and there's a limit to everything. You can't keep the realm together when you have two empires and more surrounding you.
Excellent video! Sicily's history is such a fascinating and underrated one. I wonder if you will next talk about the famous reign of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen over Sicily. This king was very ahead of his time, in terms of religious tolerance and scientific research.
Yes, many people seem to ignore him, sadly also this video, at the end it seems like the Hohenstaufen oppressed everyone, while in real life they continued Rogers legacy. When Charl de Anjou took over in Sicily, THEN the deportations of Muslims began.
I can't believe I lived 25 years, a 30 minute flight from Sicily, and I never got to know how rich and mixed Sicilian and Northern Algerian history and culture are.
A lot of people would often ask if the Normans were so successful why is it that they didn’t endure until today, well it’s one of their sad yet amazing and enduring legacy, their success is not about creating an empire without end but rather it’s what they would leave to a land as a legacy whether it be linguistic or even a dynasty that can be traced back to them, the Normans didn’t create an empire but instead they created an idea and a legacy that is so enduring that it is etched on all of us.
There's one small mistake I'd like to point out. The north-eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Catalonia) is depicted as belonging to the Kingdom of France. By the late IXth century onwards, this region would not be under French rule, and It would be split as the "Catalan Counties" (Barcelona, Urgell, Girona and Cerdanya). Already by 1137 it would be a part of the Crown of Aragon, as is depicted in the later bit of the video. Cheers.
@@worsethanjoerogan8061 I don't rlly buy it. For once oversimplification is a thing. And there are other smaller regions in the map, that are accurately portrayed. It's not a huge deal anyway
Sicily. Its central location in the Med was geopolitically significant. And Syracuse was its capital. Look at the seige of that city in the Peloponnesian war, and the careers of Agathocles, who invaded Africa, Dionysius who also controlled S Italy Pyrrhus who came from the Balkans to Tarentum and then to Sicily, and much later, Charles of Anjou who dominated parts of S Italy and Greece - until being undone by the rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers
This was awesome as an Italian American whos 50% Sicilian and 50% Napolitano and has been to Sicily the history of the island is so fascinating especially during the medieval periods
you could talk about the period of "feudal anarchy" in Italy between 800 and 900. Although it is unknown, it is fundamental because it generated the municipalities and prevented the birth of a feudal monarchy.
@Marcelo Henrique Soares da Silva I speak of the north west of Italy, the part that was conquered by Charlemagne. The Lombards also conquered the south but for political reasons the southern duchies became independent after the conquest of the Franks. The north resumed under the kingdom of Italy but with the lack of a strong monarchy and the rebellions of the northern duchies made it impossible to create a solid state. This led to the re-annexation to the empire and the birth of municipalities.
@@micheleori1644 This was most likely a result due to the creation of the Papal States, in which the papacy sought to divide the Italian peninsula to prevent a single Lombard kingdom from ruling the whole peninsula, as the Franks accomplished in Gaul.
I have been playing this family for the last week in my ck3 game. I am now the Neapolitan Empire and I control all of southern Italy and Sicily all of the Western Mediterranean islands, the west coast of Greece and Albania, all of North Africa west of cyrenaica all the way through the Moroccan mountains controlling the trade routes to West Africa, and I have a massive foot hold in both Spain and France controlling the areas of Valencia through Granada and Provence. In fact I just had over the course of four generations three separate wars defending Christendom from the Mongol Invaders and my family sits on the throne of the crusader states of Egypt, Jerusalem, and Syria. This is the most fun campaign I ever had
Monarchy is such a curious form of government: most of the times you get a bad ruler, the middle ground is rare, but sometimes you get a truly good one. When that happens, when the right person gets the job, it's incredible to see the heights a nation can achieve.....
Yeah. This channel illustrates it everytime. Ramses II, Han Wu di, Chingis, Marcus Aurelius, Yarislov. Great leaders who are unable to see what they built carry on after them because their offspring and grandchildren were aweful choices. The best era of Rome was the 2nd Century when Emperors were chosen, not hereditary and even that ended because of a decadent son taking over.
I´m from Apulia. I´m proud of my rich history and of my Greek - Roman - Langobard - Norman - German - Spanish heritage! Not many people in the world have such a fortune!
I feel it's worth mentioning that King (and Holy Roman Emperor) Frederick II von Hohenstaufen also pushed religious tolerance for Muslims during his reign. Not only were they accepted into Sicily again, but they also provided Kaiser Frederick II with a sizeable force of superior archers who were particularly loyal, both in response to their regained tolernace and acceptance in Sicily, but also because it made any efforts by the Catholic pope to undermine Frederick's control over his army ineffective.
The name "Two Sicilies" originated from the partition of the medieval Kingdom of Sicily. Until 1285, the island of Sicily and the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy) were constituent parts of the Kingdom of Sicily. As a result of the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302), the King of Sicily lost the Island of Sicily (also called Trinacria) to the Crown of Aragon, but remained ruler over the peninsular part of the realm. Although his territory became known unofficially as the Kingdom of Naples, he and his successors never gave up the title "King of Sicily" and still officially referred to their realm as the "Kingdom of Sicily". At the same time, the Aragonese rulers of the Island of Sicily also called their realm the "Kingdom of Sicily". Thus, there were two kingdoms called "Sicily": hence, the Two Sicilies.
I’m currently on volume 2 of Norwich’s awesome work on this part of history. Just got to the passing of King Roger. What an incredible figure and one of the most interesting kingdoms established during the period. I’m really into medieval history right now particular concentrated on England, but I gotta say Roger might be my favorite. Him, his father, and uncle Robert were incredibly based as us young people like to say.
There is no such thing as the term "Sicilian heritage". It sounds silly, it would be like saying some one has "London heritage" or "Chicago heritage"." Sicilians are Italians and not a type of race or ethnic group.
@@theonef570 He just means he has ancestry from Sicily, which is a place that is slightly distinct (both genetically and culturally) from the rest of Italy. It’s strange that people get so riled up about things like this.
@@AmandaFromWisconsinYou don't need tell me what I already know. I understood what he meant but the sentence does not make sense, I do not want people to mistake Sicilians as being some sort of unique ethnic group in Italy. Don't prevent me from correcting ignorance.
@@theonef570 actually no, traditional Sicilians & calabrians consider themselves different people to central & northern Italians. Their dialect is different, even their old school traditional customs in the rural towns & villages are different to the north. Italianism was forced on Sicilians & Calabrians by the Italian kingdom from 1860s onwards.
@@finalprophet813 All of that is correct but regardless Sicilian is not an ethnic group, my original reply was to correct OPs comment which does not make sense.
This episode was amazing! I feel inspired to visit Palermo (after covid is done offcourse) Thanks you for all the hard work you put in to these series!
I'm weirdly so happy for you guys that you are almost at 1.6 mil. Been here since 300k and loved every one of your videos. Keep up the good work! This is what the history channel should have been.
As a lifelong student of history I love these videos/documentaries. Also, tolerant societies frequently are economically successful: doing well by doing good.
To claim that the Normans by the time of the adventures in Sicily were Vikings is a bit misleading. By the time the de Hautevilles were sailing to Italy the Normans had long since adopted french language and customs, and they had developed into their own identity far seperate from the Vikings. They were not French, but to call them Vikings is equally, if not more misleading.
The Normans also were not entirely Norse in ancestry. They arrival of the Norse in Normandy was not unlike the Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily or England. For the most part the original inhabitants remained and just ended up with new leadership. Right from the start the Norse also intermarried with the native Franks.
@Drakon590 Part of it as well, at least with the UK, is that some people are loathe to admit that England was conquered by Frenchmen, even though that is exactly what happened during the Norman Conquest. So the Normans are referred to the descendants of the Norse or Vikings, even though by 1066 the Normans owed as much of their ancestry or more to the Franks as the Norse, that the Normans were culturally French and spoke a dialect of French, and referred to themselves as Franks. It is also ignores that a large portion of the "Norman" army at Hastings wasn't even Norman, with the left wing composed of men from Brittany, Maine, Poitou and Anjou, and the right wing being composed of men from Picardy and Bolougne as well as Flanders.
I've heard a lot of great things about how unique Norman Sicily was and now I have a better idea of what. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
Amazing video as always, i always loved the history of Norman Sicily and it's great that the topic is getting some attention. Though i do have one criticism for the ending. The Sicilian melting pot didn't end with the Hautevilles and its culture kept flourishing for half a century longer. The son of Constance and Henry VI, later Emperor Frederick II (also known as Stupor Mundi, Wonder of the World) was much like his ancestor King Roger II. He was born in Italy and would spend much of his life there, even after ascending as Emperor of the HRE. He could speak at least 6 languages fluently, including Arabic, and had a great respect for their culture, even becoming friends with the Sultan of Egypt al-Kamil It was with him that the golden age of Sicily would end, as his successors would find themselves overwhelmed by Anjou and Aragonese invasions. (Little extra fun fact: Frederick had a passion for falconry (even wrote a book on it) and birds in general, so at some point in his life, al-Kamil gifted him what we today know to have been a Cockatoo from as far as New Guinea/Australia, the first time Europeans would see that bird for the next 200 years at least!)
I am a descendant of an Italian/Sicilian immigrant. Our surname was Catanese. Since mine is through my Granny I didn't get that name but I sure am proud if it running in my blood.
@@bard001 yep especially after its split into hammadids in Algeria and badissids in tunis. Yet the dynasty’s first capital and first place is Algeria. They were the ones who built the modern capital city of Algiers. We Algerians call ourselves Dziri in local dialect
@@bard001 the zirids were mainly the first berber amazigh dynasty to rule in North Africa after the arab elite ( Aghlabids, Rostamids, idrissids, Fatimids ), although Buluggin ibn ziri ( 2nd Zirid Emir ) conquered morocco, Zirids never really ruled it, as it was bastion to maghrawid zenatian dynasty, ( an their leader Ziri ibn Atiya , not to confuse it with Zirid dynasty ), Zirids legacy manly lasts in Algeria and Tunisia especially, they played huge part in culture, building castles, and encouraging sciences, they also were the main reason why the Whole maghreb is Sunni now, when they removed shias and abandoned this beleif, the fatimids sent hordes of arab tribes into north africa, this caused the weakness of the zirids, and main reason why they could not help the Muslims in sicily effectivlely. yet its poorly known in Algeria thanks to the tyrannical regiem.
Largest island,grain growing island for Rome..close to the Italian Peninsula. Fascinating history. Greeks got there, Rome, Normans, Islam…and of the mafia. Quite amazing.
man, the animations and quality just keeps getting better. You guys are the premier history documentary channel in my books. Excellent content, unbiased and researched well, with great production quality.
OOOooooo I have been waiting for this one! Sicily is seen by some people as one of the few medieval kingdoms that didn't TOTALLY suck in Europe....that is all hell of wrong, just ask any peasant. But it did seem like one of the better places to check out with the old time machine and universal translator.
There's a mistake. The Kingdom of the two Sicilies ceased to exist in 1861 and not in 1871. It surrendered the 17th of February 1861 and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed the 17th of March 1861.
When in reference of art or sciences we often talk about the Renaissance in Florence. We forget that The Norman Kingdom of Sicily much earlier, century earlier the so called Renaissance started in Palermo, Sicily wear art and sciences developed for the first time in the middle aged Europe. Constantine Africanus, Trotula, Sikelgaida, in the School of Salerno, in this city even medical operation wear in use and women wear involved as well . Byzantine and Arabs influenced Churches, mosaic, with a Norman flair made Southern Italy Norman Kingdom the first modern state in Europe. Florence and Rome by comparison fade away. Jet this is not though at schools even in Italy.
Hm, I´m a bit irritated by the end of the video. Frederick II was tolerant towards especially the Muslim population too and his whole reign was greatly influenced by them. As far as I know he grew up in Palermo and Italian was his native language.
How was southern Italy populated by Lombards (who migrated in after the 6th century) and Greeks? What happened to the local Italians during the millennia long Roman era?
They didn't disappear... common people are often ignored in history because it's the ruling aristocracy that had the power and wanted to preserve it's own tales and memories, so it was important to distinguish where they came from and who they were. The "Lombards" term used here in 11th century means every italic person who lived under a lombard-roman aristocracy that was formed after the germanic invasion of the peninsula (the lombards were too few and foreign, the italics were too many to rule them, so a compromise had to be made) The Greek presence in the south instead was important and solid before, during and after the Roman era.
Fun fact: in 1110 Roger met king Sigurd of Norway (who was the first European monarch to actually go on crusade), the two became good friends and Sigurd even called roger a king 20 years before the coronation
Nice...
Distant Nordic cousins…
Gone are the days when southern italy was the richer half of Italy.
Well you get used to it then you don’t develop new industries
@@Nanix1991 Guess its the good old strong men create good times, good times create weak men cycle
Thanks to Spanish influence mainly every country Spaniards went they fucked it up
@@EGOCOGITOSUM I disagree with such a blanket statement, though I do agree in the context of Southern Italy
@@EGOCOGITOSUM blame habsburgs not Iberians
Baguette Vikings ruling over latin, greeks and arabs in Italy, sounds like a regular CK game minus the Incest.
Norman are not baguette you idiot , they are Franco-Norse !
@@onehope6448 but do they eat baguette tho?
@@aarspar asking the real questions here!
@@aarspar your priorities are astounding
Byzantines were the greatest.They just had to abandon the whole of Italy because they had to bear the brunt of the Islamic tsunami from the 7th-11th century
I'm Italian and I'm glad you make videos like this. I haven't found, even in Italian, such a clear and detailed videos about muslims and normans in Italy. Thanks 🙏
@@objectoriented3049 who me? I'm from south Italy 😂
You mean the video about Muslims and Normans on the island of Sicily?
By the way modern Italians are a mixture of: Romans + Germanic Tribes (Lombards, Ostrogoths, Herulos and Normans).
@@georgebaccett9951 And what mixture are you made of? Alsatian and Poodle?
No people are a pure race. What's your point?
@@georgebaccett9951
There are still some individuals who featured like North African individuals in Italy
Where I grew up in Normandy, there were statues of duke Robert and his brother Roger on the walls on the cathedral of Coutances, it’s around that place that the Hauteville family came from. I’m a bit proud now
Haha les Normands ont que deux modes : Faire du fromage ou Conquérir l'europe. :p
J’aime le camembert
Je Suis camembert
@@tonyhawk94 now i'm curious to see if the normans influenced traditional sicilian cheeses.
@@arx3516
The Sicilians and calabrese love throwing chili peppers and whole peppercorns in some cheeses; I’m not a connoisseur, but I don’t think the French would dare do that to their cheese children
Sicily is real gem, had an opportunity to visit last year, it changed me forever, didn't expect to be so interesting and so full of different influences, hope i will visit again one day
we look forward to welcome you again
“William the Bad”
Really? They couldn’t come up with a better name than that?
oh you know some peoples are named after their death (or during their live) so
Do you mean William the bastard.
Hi I’m Edward the charming 👋 😁
William the Mediocre seemed a bit too harsh.
The Sicilian "lu Malu" is also translated as "the Wicked". Remember his family dynasty was founded by Robert Guiscard translated as "the Resourceful", "the Cunning", "the Wily", "the Fox", and "the Weasel".
I'm sicilian, and i'm very proud to be the discendent of this melting pot of different cultures. Come to visit our beautifull island, is full of history everywhere! Hope you'll make a video about Frederk II, the so-called "stupor mundi". Thank you!
I hope so too, one of the best medieval kings and emperors to ever live probably.
my family is Maltese we are cousins
My family originate from Tuscany and Sicily I've never bean but I'd seriously love to go!
There was no melting pot of different cultures. Normans, arabs and byzantines were foreign invaders who kept the native sicilians down and enslaved those who opposed them.
Salute from Libya
Proud to be born in Calabria, in a Greek-speaking town, with a Greek surname on my mother’s side and by a Sicilian father, who has given me an Arabic surname. Everyone in my family has very different traits: I had an aunt from Girgenti (Agrigento) who really looked Middle-Eastern. My grandma was red headed with green eyes, and I have brown hair but grow a reddish beard. Stories like mine are pretty common in my area.
Hmm perhaps a better nick name would be "the creative chameleon"?
Calabria is even superior to sicily in history beauty culture nature and plants.
@@maxsavage3998 Calabria is fantastic and very underrated. I don't think it surpasses Sicily. I think they're both very beautiful. In terms of culture they are very similar and terms of history they are deeply intertwined.
@@michaelm-bs2er the difference calabria suffered more natural disasters and raids by Mediterranean pirates upon its peoples than sicily did.
@@maxsavage3998 What difference does that make? Calabria may have suffered more raids by pirates (they were Saracens) but Sicily was actually conquered by the Saracens. Alot of Sicilians of that era fled to Calabria. There are monasteries and sanctuaries in Calabria that were built by Christians who left Sicily when the Saracens took over.
May the algorithm shine its light here.
Depending on my knowledge, Algorithm was established in Baghdad during Abbasid Caliphat.
The algorithm provides
Ameen
All hail TH-cam algorithm
Blessed be the algorithm, our Lady of providence. All praise be unto her, and may we stand always in her favor. Amen.
Long ago, the Normans, Greeks and Arabs lived in harmony.
Then everything changed when the Germans attacked.
When the fire nation attacked
@Gerd Wiesler what belongs to Carthage belongs to Carthage
Fuckin hell mate, you made an Avatar Cameo
@@angamaitesangahyando685 Oh yeah, I was going to write this. In Italy we call him "Federico II of Swabia", aka Stupor mundi aka The first European.
@@angamaitesangahyando685 Frederick was also half norman, he was born in Italy and lived there for most of his life.
Moderating is my least favorite thing in the world, don't make me moderate :-)
Please cover the first Punic war
@@mdmiloy5897 they have already did many videos of the ottoman history
Buddy I had to purge my discord of alt righters ive known for years yesterday....they did not go down without a fight.
It got brutal, they used links...LINKS!
Anyway I feel ya dwag, hope this video doesn't bring out the big brains...
I like how these lefties know how the world will react to their propaganda in advance :)
Please cover the human-covenant war
Sicily sure had a unique history.
50 years ago your comment lol
Spain
@@elgolafre5832 without the s
España o Españita para los amigos
It does bring me great pride to be Sicilian.
The Kingdom of Sicily was such a fascinating medieval state but is unfortunately commonly overlooked compared to its contemporaries.
Italians, Lombards, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Germans - the cultural scene of Sicily was so dynamic and diverse. Thanks for doing such an excellent video on them!
And later, catalans, spanish, germans...
Under the mighty Norman Vikings.. things would not have been same as France.
Would arabs or anybody else dare say things or do things against the wish of those mighty Vikings?
Read their personal bibliography.
Some of them personally mentioned by the contemporary historians describe them mighty God like..
One description I recall..where the contemporary person... Would call that Viking king as powerful as he would cause 10,000 men to flight in sherer terror with his mere roar.
We are talking about a race that was perhaps unimaginable for the current Era's human mind and conception .
That mighty race has long disappeared .. maybe these Vikings were the same as those nephilims mentioned in Bible ( not 100% true yet relatable) - heroes of yore , men of renown.
Similar descriptions like that attributed Vikings is also attributed to those nephilims.
@@LaughingMan44 yes because a state in the medieval times can that easily compared to a modern nation :^)
Lonbards and Italians had already become the same thing by that time.
@@tibsky1396 Yeah, this tendency to link 11th century Normans with vikings in the English speaking world (even on this channel) is really annoying. I blame the Anglo world's obesession with vikings.
Mid 10th century Normans barely had any ties with vikings anymore, so let's not even talk about mid 11th century (1050s and 1060s) ones...
They were like 90% French and 10% Norse genetically, and culturally they were even less Nordic than that.
As for Normans in Sicily in the late 11th century and early 12th century, they'd be mainly French and Italian, with a very negligible amount of Nordic heritage.
Sometimes these stories sounds like stories from a Crusader Kings game.
That map overlay is literally from CK2 lol
@@worsethanjoerogan8061 plus the music is from ck2
Each time I watch one of these videos I end up on Crusader Kings or Europa Universalis...
I'm proud to say that my current Ghaznavid empire is a deeply multicultural empire. With Punjabis, Rajputs, Oghuz, Mashriqis, Persians, Bedouins, Bengalis, Tajiks, and even some Egyptians.
It is not, however, a very religiously pluralistic empire. Its not a Crusader Kings game without some sort of bigotry.
Almost like it's intentional or something
Byzantines finding out Bohemond was not there to destroy them: *surprised Pikachu face*
Pourquoi ne suis-je pas surpris de voir Napoléon Bonaparte suivre et commenter une chaîne nommée Kings and Generals?
Bohemond: Stay chill my Greek neighbor! Why let an unprovoked invasion and some bloodied battles get in the way of a good crusade?
He invaded them again in 1108 so...
Bohemond is the second Hannibal, He winning all the battles but losing the war
If only Bohemond and the Byzantines cooperated, instead of being convenient enemies The history of the crusades would be much different.
His voice is amazing
Whole channel is amazing.
true
Welcome to King's and generals
Wow, this is interesting. Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and Muslims living in a tolerant country and are pretty okay with each other... (But not for long) I need to know more about Ancient Sicily under Roger II.
@@hockeyh *a foreigner with no stake in the dominance of the peoples of Sicily
@@LaughingMan44 Sad, but true. Historical "religious tension" tended to be a bit worse than offensive tweets or hurtful words. Anything short of mass deportation or genocide probably wasn't even worth writing down by contemporary sources.
@@savioblanc those taxes are not really bad if you consider that in exchange your son will not be drafted into army during the war.
@@savioblanc yeah yeah just talk about Jizya to discredit the Muslim civilization and forgeting how taxes work in mid ages. Jizya is communal taxes per family based and the standard taxes that use in the Catholic europe is communal taxes per individual based tax. Thats is why the tax in Islamic based rule is more cheaper than in Catholic kingdom that time at least until the renesaince came.
@@LaughingMan44 I think it's possible for the three religions to be tolerant with each other on today's standards. I mean, India is a melting pot of different religions but I've known Muslims, Hindus, Christian, and Sikhs that get along fine. Though there are extremists now and then (as always) Dunno about Europe though especially since Islamophobia and several attacks on religion are on the rise there.
Me, a sicilian: doesn't know if should be proud because K&G covers another time my island, or be ashamed because we have been invaded by anyone that passed nearby, or be proud because everyone in history liked Sicily so much that settled, or be ashamed because my island is only known worldwide today for mafia.
It's a struggle guys, not gonna lie
Baghdad: first time?
And the reptilians of Alpha 9 will invade next. My friend did you listen to this episode.... everyone Latin, greek Arab Norman got along and created a super state. You have nothing to be ashamed of
You should be proud! What a history!
Non sono siciliano ma ti capisco bello
@@loods2215 grazie fra
I am Lebanese and our culture is extremely similar to the one from sicily and southern Italy . Not only that , our features , our food . So thank you for explaining this historically . Clearly we were part of the roman Empire too (-: but we ae so alike Southern Italians . Your map also explains clearly the difference between North and South Italy , very different .
Norman Sicily: Cultural and Science victory
@MU’TAZILA ISLAM - المعتزلة no, they only reorganized the farming sistem
@MU’TAZILA ISLAM - المعتزلة Much of the Arab advancement was owed to the Greeks, Copts and Persians.
@I NSA yeah no shit. But "Arab culture" was influenced by those groups I mentioned.
Y'all reading way too much into a Civ joke
@@marksmang894 stop being so angry
It's like one of those times during CK2 play through, when Portugal for no reason gets Finland. This time Norway got Sicily and southern Italy. Why not.
the Normans scandinavian traditions stuck with them even if they were frenchified so the warrior culture never died!
@@sharkygames9633 and this way sicilian mafia was born
Francia*
19:54 The kingdom of the two Sicilies falls in 1860. The next year the kingdom of Sardinia takes officially the name of "Regno d'Italia".
1870 is the year of the "breccia di Porta Pia", the conquest of what was left of the Papal States after the campaigns of 1859-60, Rome included.
In 1871 Rome becomes the capital
As a Sicilian this is why I choosed to learn Arabic, Greek, English and Spanish besides my native languages: Sicilian and Italian.
Have you thought of Maltese? Ima sicilian and I am learning it.
@@nicks0alive That's interesting as well, it will be the next step
@@justauser3553 sweet, good luck👌
As an italian with sicilian grandparents I am just about to cry at the end of the video. As epic as always. Will you cover the reign of Frederik II?
@@milesludi2053 stupor mundi! There is a great book about Frederik II written by Ernst Kantorowicz, who was a great german-jew historian (he was famous to have given a famous speech in Berkley University, because in full maccarthism the university asked to swear an oath against communism. Since also Hitler and Mussolini asked university teachers to swear an oath of loyalty, he was very much against it and for that he lost his position).
Wait, which Friedrich II, von Hohenstaufen or von Hohenzollern? Ie “Satan Spawn” or Friedrich der Grosse?
@@milesludi2053 how he was treated by the Papacy cemented my distain for it as an institution during the era. At every moment it chose to do what was arrogant and foolhardy, most of all working against Friedrich II. Though I do love knowing his personal guards were Muslims because they wouldn’t gave a crap about the Pope’s ravings to kill the man. I love that he also won a crusade while Excommunicated, and without fighting a battle, just through diplomacy.
The stupor mundis surely needs some space after this, what a man
@@milesludi2053 He didn't found the university in Bologna, instead, he found the University of Naples in 1220s to replace those church universities. The famous theologian Thomas Aquinas once studied there. It still stands in Naples today with the name Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.
Sicily and Armenian Cilicia were some of the most interesting states in Medieval History.
Yeah, whats up with armenian cilicia? Were they fleeing from armenia proper or were they there the whole time?
@@danendraaryadewa5455 The Armenian people were much more widespread before the genocide. There are still Armenian communities in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.
@@danendraaryadewa5455 he came to cilicia after the fall of armenia from seljuks.
and ancient history as well, they have both long been important crossroads of Mediterranean travel
Armenian aren't history !
Anyone else wanting an Assassin's Creed in Norman Sicily now?
I can see it becoming an expansion for Valhalla but otherwise they may run into repetitive setting with Sicily being Italian (AC2) with Muslim presence (AC1) and Byzantine influence (Revelation).
No
@@tayduatrinhcoi Yeah but that shit's cool though, and unlike the flavor of the month stuff, it's actually distinctive to assassins creed. I feel like more AC games should be set in the Mediterranean and Middle-East
The Hohenstaufens (some of them) were friendly to the non-Catholics. In fact, Fredredick the II of this house was very friendly to the Muslims and Orthodoxs.
He deported the last muslims from Sicily to Lucera but not becuase of muslims but because they were rebels. Anyway he followed using them in the army.
Because Frederick II had a lot of beef with the pope, these non-Catholics, particularly the Muslims of Lucera, Italy, were an important power base. In fact, Frederick II liked to use Muslim soldiers, particularly archers, in his armies, because the pope couldn't excommunicate people who were already outside the church. Ultimately it was the Angevin king Charles II who ended the Muslim presence in the Mezzoriogno, and the Spanish Inquistion would finish them off in Sicily itself.
I think I can confidently say, these are my favorite videos and this is my favorite channel on TH-cam. I love history and I'm totally fascinated with certain topics like transitional periods between major empires, places that were like cultural crossroads, etc. Most of these videos I watch, I'll know a little bit about it, but these videos fill in a lot of blanks. And for some reason, knowing bits and pieces of a story and then getting the blanks filled in and seeing everything in context and perspective when all the pieces come together is one of those extra satisfying/gratifying feelings. I always get home from work and intend to watch videos for a minute while I take my medicine and it kicks in, but I always end up watching history videos for hours.
As a sicilian, I can't wait to watch the old history of my people
Why break your head in history books when you have This Time Machine
Great work
@@scintillam_dei Those are... actually good reasons
Very interesting. I’d also be interested in the early, Greek, history of Sicily and Southern Italy, and the Kingdom of Morea.
The history of Sicily could teach many things to the world. It could be a source for infinite series, movies, stories and so on.
Please let the narrator say,"Here lies anna.." in a foreign language. It always sounds so epic when he reads some ancient quotes.
I'm not sure if he can do Arabic
@@eljanrimsa5843 Yeah his Arabic pronunciation is not strong but at least it brings up the atmosphere
Norman Sicily documentaries are always a win
As a Sicilian, thank you. You relly did this wonderful Island justice.
It's such a shame that Sicilians are grouped in so interchangibly with other Italians when the richness of the history and culture of Sicily is like a country in itself.
The art on this chanel is always amazing. I never understood how you can upload so frequently with this kind of quality content and art.
There must be some really talented artists working in the chanel 👍
They have several teams working at once, each having their own artstyle - some excellent, some pretty good, and notably there is one which art is rough
@@patricianoftheplebs6015 seems legit
When you see how briefly some of these great civilizations shined and how long the legacy they left behind lasted it gives you some new perspective on your own country.
What a damn shame that everything went to shit after he died. Always happens. A good King or Emperor rules wisely and justly through out their rule to have what they built up brushed away by the incompetent children that followed there after.
Under a long successful rule heirs become complacent and only realize the hardness of life when their predecessor who kept everything running dies. Happens all the time in business these days, that's why it's common that 2nd and 3rd generation owners usually don't lead their companies directly.
Which begs the question: why so many great kings happened to also be bad fathers?
Well it's not that his children were incompetent, it's just that they were surrounded by many envious eyes.. and there's a limit to everything. You can't keep the realm together when you have two empires and more surrounding you.
@@JohnnyElRed
Maybe because they spent more time governing than taking care of their kids?
@@csfelfoldi
Well, that sounds like Ibn Khaldun's cyclical theory (or "The Rise and Fall of Civilizations" theory) kind of thing !
Excellent video! Sicily's history is such a fascinating and underrated one. I wonder if you will next talk about the famous reign of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen over Sicily. This king was very ahead of his time, in terms of religious tolerance and scientific research.
Yes, many people seem to ignore him, sadly also this video, at the end it seems like the Hohenstaufen oppressed everyone, while in real life they continued Rogers legacy. When Charl de Anjou took over in Sicily, THEN the deportations of Muslims began.
I can't believe I lived 25 years, a 30 minute flight from Sicily, and I never got to know how rich and mixed Sicilian and Northern Algerian history and culture are.
@@jaif7327 haha You're right. I just checked it's 1H15 minutes.
More like Tunisia than Algeria
A lot of people would often ask if the Normans were so successful why is it that they didn’t endure until today, well it’s one of their sad yet amazing and enduring legacy, their success is not about creating an empire without end but rather it’s what they would leave to a land as a legacy whether it be linguistic or even a dynasty that can be traced back to them, the Normans didn’t create an empire but instead they created an idea and a legacy that is so enduring that it is etched on all of us.
There's one small mistake I'd like to point out.
The north-eastern region of the Iberian Peninsula (modern day Catalonia) is depicted as belonging to the Kingdom of France.
By the late IXth century onwards, this region would not be under French rule, and It would be split as the "Catalan Counties" (Barcelona, Urgell, Girona and Cerdanya).
Already by 1137 it would be a part of the Crown of Aragon, as is depicted in the later bit of the video.
Cheers.
They probably simplify the map a bit for aesthetic reasons.
Probably a simplification, as they were technical vassals of the French kings, but to that point, it was little more than a technicality
Exactly, and Navarra the basque country and Rioja weer certainly not aragoneese. Saluts desde Barcelona!
@@worsethanjoerogan8061 I don't rlly buy it.
For once oversimplification is a thing. And there are other smaller regions in the map, that are accurately portrayed.
It's not a huge deal anyway
Sicily. Its central location in the Med was geopolitically significant. And Syracuse was its capital. Look at the seige of that city in the Peloponnesian war, and the careers of Agathocles, who invaded Africa, Dionysius who also controlled S Italy Pyrrhus who came from the Balkans to Tarentum and then to Sicily, and much later, Charles of Anjou who dominated parts of S Italy and Greece - until being undone by the rebellion of the Sicilian Vespers
And Timoleon of Corinth. That guy was special.
I rode on a Sicilian Vesper once. It got good gas mileage.
WTH is wrong with you guys? I haven't finished "Roman Conquest of Greece" yet! Gimme some time!
That's one way of expressing amazement at K&G's incredible production speed
don't blame anyone but yourself! you'll have to do your K&G homework more frequently :)
I watched that in one sitting. Couldn't get off my seat.
The "Cappella Palatina" is probably the most beautiful chapel that I've ever seen. Probably even more beautiful than the "Cappella Sistina".
This was awesome as an Italian American whos 50% Sicilian and 50% Napolitano and has been to Sicily the history of the island is so fascinating especially during the medieval periods
K&G always making my days after work a lot better.
At Work for me lol
you could talk about the period of "feudal anarchy" in Italy between 800 and 900. Although it is unknown, it is fundamental because it generated the municipalities and prevented the birth of a feudal monarchy.
Si tanto fico zio
@Marcelo Henrique Soares da Silva I speak of the north west of Italy, the part that was conquered by Charlemagne. The Lombards also conquered the south but for political reasons the southern duchies became independent after the conquest of the Franks. The north resumed under the kingdom of Italy but with the lack of a strong monarchy and the rebellions of the northern duchies made it impossible to create a solid state. This led to the re-annexation to the empire and the birth of municipalities.
@@micheleori1644 This was most likely a result due to the creation of the Papal States, in which the papacy sought to divide the Italian peninsula to prevent a single Lombard kingdom from ruling the whole peninsula, as the Franks accomplished in Gaul.
I have been playing this family for the last week in my ck3 game. I am now the Neapolitan Empire and I control all of southern Italy and Sicily all of the Western Mediterranean islands, the west coast of Greece and Albania, all of North Africa west of cyrenaica all the way through the Moroccan mountains controlling the trade routes to West Africa, and I have a massive foot hold in both Spain and France controlling the areas of Valencia through Granada and Provence. In fact I just had over the course of four generations three separate wars defending Christendom from the Mongol Invaders and my family sits on the throne of the crusader states of Egypt, Jerusalem, and Syria. This is the most fun campaign I ever had
Monarchy is such a curious form of government: most of the times you get a bad ruler, the middle ground is rare, but sometimes you get a truly good one. When that happens, when the right person gets the job, it's incredible to see the heights a nation can achieve.....
Yeah. This channel illustrates it everytime. Ramses II, Han Wu di, Chingis, Marcus Aurelius, Yarislov. Great leaders who are unable to see what they built carry on after them because their offspring and grandchildren were aweful choices. The best era of Rome was the 2nd Century when Emperors were chosen, not hereditary and even that ended because of a decadent son taking over.
I´m from Apulia. I´m proud of my rich history and of my Greek - Roman - Langobard - Norman - German - Spanish heritage! Not many people in the world have such a fortune!
Being colonized by everyone is now a "fortune"?
ROMAN EMPIRE: I am proud of you Sicily
Holy Roman Empire & Eastern Roman Empire: *REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEEEEEEE REEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!*
I feel it's worth mentioning that King (and Holy Roman Emperor) Frederick II von Hohenstaufen also pushed religious tolerance for Muslims during his reign. Not only were they accepted into Sicily again, but they also provided Kaiser Frederick II with a sizeable force of superior archers who were particularly loyal, both in response to their regained tolernace and acceptance in Sicily, but also because it made any efforts by the Catholic pope to undermine Frederick's control over his army ineffective.
Excellent, the "Two Kingdoms of Sicily". Normans are so interesting
The name "Two Sicilies" originated from the partition of the medieval Kingdom of Sicily. Until 1285, the island of Sicily and the Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy) were constituent parts of the Kingdom of Sicily. As a result of the War of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302), the King of Sicily lost the Island of Sicily (also called Trinacria) to the Crown of Aragon, but remained ruler over the peninsular part of the realm. Although his territory became known unofficially as the Kingdom of Naples, he and his successors never gave up the title "King of Sicily" and still officially referred to their realm as the "Kingdom of Sicily". At the same time, the Aragonese rulers of the Island of Sicily also called their realm the "Kingdom of Sicily". Thus, there were two kingdoms called "Sicily": hence, the Two Sicilies.
@@hexa-kun4654 fair fair I'd forgotten about Sicilian Vespers and Charles of Anjou
I just LOVE these videos, they are incredibly well done.
Great video as usual, keep up K&G"s 👍🏼
I’m currently on volume 2 of Norwich’s awesome work on this part of history. Just got to the passing of King Roger. What an incredible figure and one of the most interesting kingdoms established during the period. I’m really into medieval history right now particular concentrated on England, but I gotta say Roger might be my favorite. Him, his father, and uncle Robert were incredibly based as us young people like to say.
As someone with Sicilian heritage, I appreciate this.
There is no such thing as the term "Sicilian heritage". It sounds silly, it would be like saying some one has "London heritage" or "Chicago heritage"." Sicilians are Italians and not a type of race or ethnic group.
@@theonef570 He just means he has ancestry from Sicily, which is a place that is slightly distinct (both genetically and culturally) from the rest of Italy. It’s strange that people get so riled up about things like this.
@@AmandaFromWisconsinYou don't need tell me what I already know. I understood what he meant but the sentence does not make sense, I do not want people to mistake Sicilians as being some sort of unique ethnic group in Italy. Don't prevent me from correcting ignorance.
@@theonef570 actually no, traditional Sicilians & calabrians consider themselves different people to central & northern Italians.
Their dialect is different, even their old school traditional customs in the rural towns & villages are different to the north.
Italianism was forced on Sicilians & Calabrians by the Italian kingdom from 1860s onwards.
@@finalprophet813 All of that is correct but regardless Sicilian is not an ethnic group, my original reply was to correct OPs comment which does not make sense.
This channel always comes out with such premium content.
This episode was amazing! I feel inspired to visit Palermo (after covid is done offcourse)
Thanks you for all the hard work you put in to these series!
I'm weirdly so happy for you guys that you are almost at 1.6 mil. Been here since 300k and loved every one of your videos. Keep up the good work! This is what the history channel should have been.
History is so interesting.
As a lifelong student of history I love these videos/documentaries. Also, tolerant societies frequently are economically successful: doing well by doing good.
19:47
Byzantine empire still stands from 1300-1800
What could have been -_-
Watching this video feels like a quick presentation of John Julius Norwhich's second book about this topic
To claim that the Normans by the time of the adventures in Sicily were Vikings is a bit misleading. By the time the de Hautevilles were sailing to Italy the Normans had long since adopted french language and customs, and they had developed into their own identity far seperate from the Vikings. They were not French, but to call them Vikings is equally, if not more misleading.
He said descendants of the Vikings in 20:13
@@cantbetamed2210 he also directly said they were viking earlier.
The Normans also were not entirely Norse in ancestry. They arrival of the Norse in Normandy was not unlike the Normans in Southern Italy and Sicily or England. For the most part the original inhabitants remained and just ended up with new leadership. Right from the start the Norse also intermarried with the native Franks.
@Drakon590 Part of it as well, at least with the UK, is that some people are loathe to admit that England was conquered by Frenchmen, even though that is exactly what happened during the Norman Conquest.
So the Normans are referred to the descendants of the Norse or Vikings, even though by 1066 the Normans owed as much of their ancestry or more to the Franks as the Norse, that the Normans were culturally French and spoke a dialect of French, and referred to themselves as Franks. It is also ignores that a large portion of the "Norman" army at Hastings wasn't even Norman, with the left wing composed of men from Brittany, Maine, Poitou and Anjou, and the right wing being composed of men from Picardy and Bolougne as well as Flanders.
I've heard a lot of great things about how unique Norman Sicily was and now I have a better idea of what. My compliments to all those who made this video a reality.
Amazing video as always, i always loved the history of Norman Sicily and it's great that the topic is getting some attention.
Though i do have one criticism for the ending.
The Sicilian melting pot didn't end with the Hautevilles and its culture kept flourishing for half a century longer.
The son of Constance and Henry VI, later Emperor Frederick II (also known as Stupor Mundi, Wonder of the World) was much like his ancestor King Roger II.
He was born in Italy and would spend much of his life there, even after ascending as Emperor of the HRE.
He could speak at least 6 languages fluently, including Arabic, and had a great respect for their culture, even becoming friends with the Sultan of Egypt al-Kamil
It was with him that the golden age of Sicily would end, as his successors would find themselves overwhelmed by Anjou and Aragonese invasions.
(Little extra fun fact: Frederick had a passion for falconry (even wrote a book on it) and birds in general, so at some point in his life, al-Kamil gifted him what we today know to have been a Cockatoo from as far as New Guinea/Australia, the first time Europeans would see that bird for the next 200 years at least!)
I am a descendant of an Italian/Sicilian immigrant. Our surname was Catanese. Since mine is through my Granny I didn't get that name but I sure am proud if it running in my blood.
Thanks for this. As an Algerian i always wanted to go there and visit the castles 🏰
@@bard001 yep especially after its split into hammadids in Algeria and badissids in tunis. Yet the dynasty’s first capital and first place is Algeria. They were the ones who built the modern capital city of Algiers. We Algerians call ourselves Dziri in local dialect
@@bard001 the zirids were mainly the first berber amazigh dynasty to rule in North Africa after the arab elite ( Aghlabids, Rostamids, idrissids, Fatimids ), although Buluggin ibn ziri ( 2nd Zirid Emir ) conquered morocco, Zirids never really ruled it, as it was bastion to maghrawid zenatian dynasty, ( an their leader Ziri ibn Atiya , not to confuse it with Zirid dynasty ), Zirids legacy manly lasts in Algeria and Tunisia especially, they played huge part in culture, building castles, and encouraging sciences, they also were the main reason why the Whole maghreb is Sunni now, when they removed shias and abandoned this beleif, the fatimids sent hordes of arab tribes into north africa, this caused the weakness of the zirids, and main reason why they could not help the Muslims in sicily effectivlely. yet its poorly known in Algeria thanks to the tyrannical regiem.
Largest island,grain growing island for Rome..close to the Italian Peninsula. Fascinating history. Greeks got there, Rome, Normans, Islam…and of the mafia. Quite amazing.
This remind me of Age of Empire II DE Sicilian new civilization. King Roger the most tolerant Christian european King, Arab muslim love king roger.
man, the animations and quality just keeps getting better. You guys are the premier history documentary channel in my books. Excellent content, unbiased and researched well, with great production quality.
Very Nice vídeo!
very good info that we need
OOOooooo I have been waiting for this one!
Sicily is seen by some people as one of the few medieval kingdoms that didn't TOTALLY suck in Europe....that is all hell of wrong, just ask any peasant. But it did seem like one of the better places to check out with the old time machine and universal translator.
half my ancestry hails from that island. what a fascinating history.
I hope we would see another video about andalousia it seems to have a lot in common with the Sicilian example
French Vikings from Italy 😂
greek-writing arab-ruling french vikings from Italy
reality can be stranger than fiction
By the way modern Italians are a mixture of: Romans + Germanic Tribes (Lombards, Ostrogoths, Herulos and Normans).
I'm Sicilian and I moved to Denmark in 2016. Nobody believes me when I say we somewhat kind of have Viking ancestry
There's a mistake. The Kingdom of the two Sicilies ceased to exist in 1861 and not in 1871. It surrendered the 17th of February 1861 and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed the 17th of March 1861.
When in reference of art or sciences we often talk about the Renaissance in Florence. We forget that The Norman Kingdom of Sicily much earlier, century earlier the so called Renaissance started in Palermo, Sicily wear art and sciences developed for the first time in the middle aged Europe. Constantine Africanus, Trotula, Sikelgaida, in the School of Salerno, in this city even medical operation wear in use and women wear involved as well . Byzantine and Arabs influenced Churches, mosaic, with a Norman flair made Southern Italy Norman Kingdom the first modern state in Europe. Florence and Rome by comparison fade away. Jet this is not though at schools even in Italy.
I already know this is gonna be real good
The amount of quality videos your channel can produce is out of this world
Will you make a sequel on the Hohenstaufen era in Sicily?
Very touching episode .. A glance over history from a different perspective .. Thanks again for an excellent episode
Normans in sicily by john julius norwich is a must read book for this topic!!!
When it comes to facts the book is excellent. However his anti-Catholic bias does come out quite a bit. Other than that it is a great read.
I'm from Iraq Baghdad and I took a DNA test and was surprised to find that some of my DNA is from Sicily, I always wondered how? Maybe this is it :P
Fun fact: there's an opera 'King Roger' about Roger II by Karol Szymanowski.
Awesome! The Normans are so interesting.
Am I to conclude that the primary use of the intellect in ruling rather than the sword made Roger the..erm...new Norman?
The story of Roger de flor is also incredible
Hm, I´m a bit irritated by the end of the video. Frederick II was tolerant towards especially the Muslim population too and his whole reign was greatly influenced by them. As far as I know he grew up in Palermo and Italian was his native language.
Italian didn't exist at all back at that time
@@bastianodimebag Whatever local tongue was spoken there. Please tell me. Thanks in advance.
@@ronin47-ThorstenFrankGiovanni Villani, a chronicler, said he spoke Latin, Sicilian, Greek, Arabic, German and French
@@bastianodimebag Ah, thank you again. I understand my confusion now - the Sicilian was confused, or better simplified, in my sources.
10:22
I'm amazed by him. Such a genius
"A well place whisper here & a timely bribe there was far more efficient than warfare."
Was that an intentional rhyme?????
These days whenever I read something the voice is narrated by you devin I like you and learn so much from this channel
10 hours old and i didn't notice until i have to leave for work, fml. But hey, great video even though i never clicked play
How was southern Italy populated by Lombards (who migrated in after the 6th century) and Greeks? What happened to the local Italians during the millennia long Roman era?
They didn't disappear... common people are often ignored in history because it's the ruling aristocracy that had the power and wanted to preserve it's own tales and memories, so it was important to distinguish where they came from and who they were.
The "Lombards" term used here in 11th century means every italic person who lived under a lombard-roman aristocracy that was formed after the germanic invasion of the peninsula (the lombards were too few and foreign, the italics were too many to rule them, so a compromise had to be made)
The Greek presence in the south instead was important and solid before, during and after the Roman era.
“Little” event known as the first crusade. Oh the irony
Was eagerly waiting for this one. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed.
Amazing art and illustrations!