List of rulers of Sicily
This list contains the sovereign rulers of Sicily from the conquest of Sicily by the Normans to the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in the course of the Italian unification movement. The viceroys ruling in Sicily , who were merely representatives of foreign sovereigns , are listed in a separate list .
The years indicate the reign.
The Norman-Hohenstaufen Sicily
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Hauteville |
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Roger I. | 1071-1101 | Son of Tankred of Hauteville | With his brother Robert Guiscard he conquered the island of Sicily, which he ruled as "Grand Count". | |
Simon | 1101-1105 | Son of the predecessor | Under the tutelage of his mother Adelheid von Savona . | |
Roger ii | 1105-1154 | Brother of the predecessor | Until 1112/13 under the tutelage of his mother Adelheid von Savona. Roger II united the Norman possessions of Lower Italy (Calabria, Apulia) with Sicily and in 1130 received the royal dignity from antipope Anaclet II . The rightful Pope Innocent II recognized this survey in 1139. In 1137 he added the Duchy of Naples to his dominion . | |
Wilhelm I. (called the bad one ) | 1154-1166 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Wilhelm II (called the Good ) | 1166-1189 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Tankred from Lecce | 1189-1194 | Rogers II illegitimate grandson | ||
Roger III | 1193-1194 | Son of tankreds | Fellow-king of his father. | |
William III. | 1194 | Son of tankreds | William III. was by Emperor Heinrich VI. deposed, who claimed the successor of Wilhelm II on behalf of his wife. | |
Constance | 1194-1198 | Daughter of Rogers II | Wife of Emperor Heinrich VI. | |
The Hohenstaufen |
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Heinrich | 1194-1197 | Husband of Konstanze | Roman emperor. Ousted the Norman dynasty and established the Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily. | |
Friedrich | 1198-1250 | Son of the predecessor | Roman Emperor; after the election of the Roman king of the title rex Sicilie always in conjunction with Fredericus secundus needed | |
Heinrich | 1212-1217 | Son of Friedrich | Fellow-king of his father. Roman king from 1222. | |
Konrad | 1250-1254 | Son of Friedrich | Elected Roman King, King of Jerusalem and Sicily | |
Konradin | 1254-1258 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Manfred | 1258-1266 | Son of Friedrich | Usurped the throne against Konradin. Killed by Charles of Anjou in the Battle of Benevento . | |
House Anjou |
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Charles I of Anjou | 1266-1282 | Ended the rule of the Hohenstaufen with papal support. |
The Aragonese Sicily
In 1282, after the outbreak of the Sicilian Vespers , Charles of Anjou lost control of Sicily. King Peter III von Aragón seized the opportunity, landed on the island and crowned himself King of Sicily. However, Charles of Anjou was able to maintain his rule on the mainland part of the kingdom, whereby the old Norman-Staufer empire was effectively divided into an insular (Trinacria) and a continental (Mezzogiorno) kingdom. The Anjou dynasty resided in Naples from then on (see Kingdom of Naples ), but officially continued the title of "King of Sicily".
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House Barcelona |
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Peter I. | 1282-1285 | Manfred's son-in-law | King of Aragon (Peter III). After the Sicilian Vespers in 1282 he conquered the island of Sicily and crowned himself king. | |
Jacob I. | 1285-1295 | Son of the predecessor | King of Aragon (James II) | |
Friedrich II. | 1295-1337 | Brother of the predecessor | Called himself "Friedrich III." Out of respect for the Emperor Friedrich II , who was however the first king of Sicily with this name | |
Peter II | 1337-1342 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Ludwig | 1342-1355 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Friedrich III. the simple one | 1355-1377 | Brother of the predecessor | ||
Maria | 1377-1401 | Daughter of the predecessor | ||
Martin I. | 1392-1409 | Husband of Maria | From 1392 to 1409, Maria and Martin I were guarded by their father, King Martin I of Aragón . |
With the heirless death of Queen Maria and King Martin I, his father, King Martin I of Aragón , takes over the rule of Sicily. He establishes the personal union of the crown of Sicily with the Aragonese crown . The kings are represented on the island by appointed viceroys.
see: List of Viceroys of Sicily
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House Barcelona |
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Martin II the humane | 1409-1410 | Father Martin I. | King of Aragon (Martin I). Blanka of Navarre took over the reign in Sicily from 1409 to 1419. | |
House Trastámara |
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Ferdinand I the Just | 1412-1416 | After a two-year vacancy, elected King of Aragon and Sicily by the Caspe Compromise . | ||
Alfons I. | 1416-1458 | Son of the predecessor | King of Aragon (Alfonso V). Alfonso had also been King of Naples since 1442, which was the first time since the division to have a personal union between the "two Sicilies". But this ended with Alfons' death. | |
Johann | 1458-1468 | Brother of the predecessor | King of Aragon (John II) | |
Ferdinand II the Catholic | 1468-1516 | Son of the predecessor | King of Aragon. In 1504 Ferdinand occupied the Kingdom of Naples and made himself its king. He established a permanent personal union of the "two Sicilies". |
Spanish Sicily
After the death of the Habsburgs Philip I , who was King of Castile as the husband of Ferdinand's daughter Johanna , Ferdinand took over the guardianship of Johanna's son Karl in 1506 and thus united the two kingdoms of Aragon and Castile to Spain .
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Habsburg (Spanish line) |
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Charles II | 1516-1554 | Son of Joan and grandson of Ferdinand II. | King of Naples King of Spain (Charles I) Roman Emperor (Charles V) |
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Philip I. | 1554-1598 | Son of the predecessor | King of Naples King of Spain (Philip II) |
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Philip II | 1598-1621 | Son of the predecessor | King of Naples King of Spain (Philip III) |
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Philip III | 1621-1665 | Son of the predecessor | King of Naples King of Spain (Philip IV) |
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Charles III | 1665-1700 | Son of the predecessor | King of Naples King of Spain (Charles II) |
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House of Bourbon |
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Philip IV | 1700-1713 | Grandson of the French King Louis XIV and his wife Maria Teresa of Spain , the sister of his predecessor | King of Naples King of Spain (Philip V) |
Savoy, Habsburg and Bourbon
In the Treaty of Utrecht , which ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713 , the Spanish crown ceded the Kingdom of Sicily to the House of Savoy and the Kingdom of Naples to Habsburg. This ends the personal union of the "two Sicilies" for the time being.
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Savoy |
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Viktor Amadeus II | 1713-1720 |
During the Quadruple Alliance War , Sicily is conquered by Spain. In the Treaty of The Hague in 1720 , the land was ceded to Habsburg. Since the emperor was also king of Naples, the personal union of the "two Sicilies" was restored. Viktor Amadeus was compensated with the Kingdom of Sardinia .
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Habsburg (Austrian line) |
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Charles IV | 1720-1735 | King of Naples Roman Emperor |
During the Polish War of Succession , Sicily was conquered again by Spain. In the peace treaty of Vienna in 1735, Habsburg ceded both Sicily and Naples to the Spanish royal family. Both kingdoms are left to a prince of the house, thus preserving the personal union of "the two Sicilies".
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Bourbon |
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Charles V | 1735-1759 | Son of King Philip IV | King of Naples. Charles became king of Spain in 1759. He gave the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily to his younger son. | |
Ferdinand III. | 1759-1816 | Son of the predecessor | King of Naples. During the Napoleonic Wars, Naples was occupied by the French from 1806 to 1815, who installed their own kings there. |
The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
By decree, King Ferdinand abolished the personal union between Sicily and Naples (Regno di Sicilia ulteriore) in 1816 and united both kingdoms in a real union. The newly created state was called " Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ", Ferdinand remained head of state, but now as Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies.
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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House of Bourbon Sicily |
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Ferdinand I. | 1816-1825 | |||
Franz I. | 1825-1830 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Ferdinand II. | 1830-1859 | Son of the predecessor | ||
Francis II | 1859-1860 | Son of the predecessor |
Dictator of Sicily
Surname | Reign | relationship | Remarks | |
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Giuseppe Garibaldi | 1860-1861 | In the course of the " Risorgimento " Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily in 1860 and then invaded Naples. The last Bourbon king fled into exile, whereupon Garibaldi ruled the state dictatorially until 1861. Then the country was united with the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and finally merged with this in the newly founded Kingdom of Italy . |
See also
- History of Sicily
- List of tyrants of Sicily
- List of the rulers of Naples
- List of Italian rulers
- List of Viceroys of Sicily