The Kingdom of Sicily (Sicilian: Regnu di Sicilia, Latin: Regnum Siciliae, Catalan: Regne de Sicília, Spanish: Reino de Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of Italy from its founding by Roger II in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of southern Italy. Until 1282 the Kingdom (sometimes called the regnum Apuliae et Siciliae) covered not only the island of Sicily, but also the whole Mezzogiorno region of southern Italy and the Maltese archipelago. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto.
In 1282, a revolt against Angevin rule, known as the Sicilian Vespers, threw off Charles of Anjou's rule of the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in the mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled Kingdom of Sicily, although it is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Naples, after its capital. The island became a separate kingdom under the Crown of Aragon. After 1302 the island kingdom was sometimes called the Kingdom of Trinacria. Often the kingship was vested in another monarch such as the King of Aragon, the King of Spain or the Holy Roman Emperor. In 1816 the island Kingdom of Sicily merged with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1861 its areas were united with the Kingdom of Italy.
Coinage:
The Norman kings in the 12th century used the tari, which had been used in Sicily from 913 as the basic coin. One tari weighed about one gram and was 16 1⁄3 of gold. The Arab dinar was worth four tari, and the Byzantine solidus six tari.[5] In the kingdom one onza was equivalent to thirty tari or five florins. One tari was worth twenty grani. One grana was equivalent to six denari. After 1140 the circulation of the copper coin romesina stopped and it was replaced by the follaris. Twenty four follari were equivalent to one Byzantine miliaresion.
After defeating the Tunisians in 1231 Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor minted the augustalis. It was minted in 21 1⁄2 carats and weighed 5.28 grams. In 1490 the triumphi were minted in Sicily. They were equivalent to the Venetian ducat. One triumpho was worth 11 1⁄2 aquilae. One aquila was worth twenty grani. In transactions tari and pichuli were mainly used. |
