Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/848

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SIDON


776


SIDON


ent XI (1715) declared the "Monarchia" at an end. But Benedict XIII (172S) thought it advisable to come to an agreement, and granted the king the right of nominating the judge of the Monarchy (.always an ecclesiastic), who in that way became a delegate of the H0I3' See with supreme jurisdiction in ecclesiastical affairs. But the causes of dissension wei-e not re- moved. Pius IX, in 1S64, abolished the tribunal of the Monarchy. The Italian Government protested, but, in the Law of the Guarantees (art. 15), it ex- pressly renounced all claim to the privilege. The Sicilian Vespers resulted in once more separating the island from the kingdom, which was then held b.v the House of Anjou. Peter of Aragon, who claimed the right, asheir of the House of Swabia, was summoned by the Sicihans, and defended the island against the Ange- vin fleet, in spite of the excommunication of Martin IV. His son James, in 1291, ceded the island to the pope, who wished to restore it to the Angevins, but the Sicihans, in the Parliament of 1296, proclaimed James's brother Frederick king. This caused a fresh war, which was ended by the Peace of Caltabellotta (1302), by which Frederick retained the title of King of Trinacria, but only for his life, and paid in return an annual tribute of 3000 ounces of gold to the Holy See. Contrary to the provisions of the peace, Fred- erick's son Pietro succeeded (1337) and, after him (1342), his five-year old son Louis, and to him again (1355) his brother Frederick III, then thirteen years of age.

Frederick II (Emperor Frederick II and Frederick I of Sicily) had restricted his own authority in favour of the Parliament. The barons profited by this to form four great divisions, over which they placed four great families, the Alagona, Chiaramonti, Palici, and Ventimiglia, whose bloody wars desolated Sicily. Roberto and Giovanna of Naples tried to take ad- vantage of this state of anarchy to recover the island, but without success. In 1377 Frederick III was suc- ceeded by his only daughter Maria, who married (1392) Martin, son of Martin of Momblanco, son of Peter IV of Aragon; in 1409 the kingdom passed by inheritance to the elder Martin, and thus the island was united to the Kingdom of Aragon and ruled by a viceroy. The attempt of Martin II to break the power of the barons gave rise to the idea of having a national king, and bo one Peralta was proclaimed at Palermo. But Catania and Syracuse would have no Palermitan king; Messina submitted spontaneously to John XXIII, who declared the Aragonese line de- posed. The latter, however, took advantage of the prevailing discord: in 1412 Ferdinand, son of Mar- tin II, was acknf)wledged, and succeeded in curbing the powers of tlie Parliament. His son Alfonso I (1416-58) united the Kingdom of Naples (1442) with Sicily. On his death, Sicily was given to John of Ara- gon, whose son Ferdinand (1479-1516) became King of Aragon and Castile (and of Naples, 1503). Sicily thus became a distant province of Spain. There were occasional Sicilian uprisings and conspiracies against Spanish rule: at Palermo, in 1511, there was a second Sicilian Vespers; and in 1517 the whole island was thrown into cf)nfusion by the conspiracy of Gian Lesca. Then followed the civil war between the Luna and the Porollo (1.529), the attempt of the brothers Imperatori and Marcantonio Colonna to conquer the island, and incursions of the Turks.

Morf serious were the revolts at Messina, Palermo, and othf-r cities, in 1647, caused by famine. At Pa- lermo Francesco Ventimiglia, a nobleman, was pro- claimed king, and one Giuseppe Alessi cai)(ain of the people. Alessi met with the same fate as Masaniello at Naples, being slain by the populace whose idol he had been. As Messina, alone of all the cities, had pre- served its municipal liberty: the attempt to destroy this provoked a rising (1674), and annexation to France was proclaimed. Louis XIV agreed to this


arrangement, but in 1676 withdrew his troops and warships from Messina. In 1713, by the Peace of Utrecht, Victor Amadeus II was made King of Sicily, and the Sicilians were contented with independence. But in 1718 war broke out again; Victor Amadeus had to abandon Sicily and Sardinia, and the former was given to Austria. In 1736 it was again united to Naples. The reign of the Bourbons was certainly ad- vantageous to the island. During 1 he Partlienopean Repubhc (1798), and the reign of Joseph Bonaparte and Murat (1806-15), Sicily was the asylum of the royal family, and was protected by the British fleet. At that time (1812) the island had a Constitution like the English Constitution. But, on being restored to the Throne of Naples, Ferdinand IV revoked the Constitution, which indeed had not been very accept- able to the people; he also put an end to the Parlia- ment and all the laws and privileges of the Sicilians, and the island was thus put on the same footing as all the other provinces of the kingdom (Organic Laws of 1817). This caused great discontent in Sicily.

When the Revolution of 1820 broke out at Naples, the Sicilians expected to obtain their independence ; they received an evasive answer which diminished their hopes. General Florestano Pepe, sent into Sicily by the Neapohtan Parliament, was at first ex- cluded from Palermo, but later welcomed, when he had given promises regarding their independence. These promises were not confirmed by the Parliament, which, to punish Palermo, declared Messina the capi- tal of the island; widespread disorders followed, which made it easy for 12,000 Austrians to re-establish the authority of Ferdinand I in the island. The disturb- ances did not cease until they were put down by Gen- eral Del Carretto. In 1847 a new agitation to obtain complete autonomy for Sicily, with its own Constitu- tion, sprang up; but no one thought of Italian unity. On 10 July, 1848, Ferdinand© Maria, Duke of Genoa, was proclaimed King of Sicily, but he refused to ac- cept the throne. Peace having been restored on the Continent, the island was recovered in a few weeks (March and April, 1849). Some disturbances (as at Bentivenga, 1856) were crushed. Meanwhile, the idea of Italian unity had spread among the Liberals, while the populace continued to look forward to Sicilian independence. In 1862 Garibaldi's "Thou- sand" landed in Sicily and soon won the island for Victor Emmanuel II. The bright hopes of inde- pendence and prosperity, however, were not fulfilled; there were risings against the Italian Government (1807), though these were of little importance.

Among ecclesiastical events it should be noted that, in the general re-organizati(m (1818) of the Church in the kingdom, the Dioceses of Caltagirone, Nicosia, and Piazza Armerina were established; in 1844 those of Noto, Trapani, and Caltanisetta were added, and Syracuse was restored to metropolitan rank.

Chiksi, Sirilia illustraia (Milan, 1892); Battaglia, L'erolu- zione sociale delta Sicilia (Palermo, 189.')); Sladf.n, In Sicilu (London, 1901); Pirro, Sicilia Sacra (Palermo, 1733); Lancia Di Brolo, Storia delta Chiesa in Sicilia nei primi died scroti del cristianesimo (Palermo, 2 vols., 1884); Scaduto, Stalo e Chiem, nelle due Sicilie (Palermo, 1887); Strazzulla, La Sicilia Sacra (Palermo, 1900); Anon., Documenti per servire alia storia di Sicilia (Palermo, 1873 — ); Garufi, / documenti inediti dell' epoca normanna in Sicilia (Palermo, 1899); Amari, / muHulmani in Sicilia (Florence, 1854-72); Arctiivio slorico sicitinnn (Palermo, 1873 — ); Arch. star, per la Sic. Orientate (Catania, 1904 — ); Mira, Bihtioarnfia sicitiana (Palermo. 187.';, 1881).— For the LeKatio Simla, see Founo, Storia dell' Apost. Lefinzione annessa nlla ronitin di Siritin (Palermo, 1808); 8KNTIH, Die Monarchia Sirnhi (Freiburg, ISdO); Giannone, // tribunate delta Monar. di Sirilia (I{<>ine, 1S92); FREEMAN, History of Sicily from the Earliest Times (London, 1891—).

U. Benioni.

Sidon, the seat of a Melchite and a Maronite see in Syria. Sidon is the oldest city of the Pho'iiicians, and the metropolis of the great colonial empire estab- lished by this people (Strabo, XVI, i, 22). It is mentioned in the ethnological table of Genesis (x, 19) ;