favourites at his court. The Greek influence lasted still longer. The Moslem religion did gradually die out. Though there must be a good deal of Moorish blood among the Sicilians, they have all long become Christians.[1] The Greeks of Sicily and Southern Italy have left, besides traces of their blood and character, their rite, too, as a memory of the days when they were the dominant element of those parts. The first stratum, if one may so call it, of the Byzantine rite in Italy is the remnant of the old Greeks of Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily.
We must now see how Christianity was introduced here, and in what form the first Christians of Lower Italy said their prayers.
- 2. Christianity in Sicily and Lower Italy to the Eighth Century.
The Italians of the South count their Churches as Apostolic foundations. That so common an attitude in the case of any relatively old Church that we should not be much impressed by it. But in this case there are undoubted facts which supply at least a good foundation for their belief.
Both St Peter and St Paul came to Lower Italy. In St Paul's first journey to Rome, after he had appealed to Cæsar, he came, after the shipwreck at Malta, in an Alexandrine ship first to Syracuse. Here he remained three days. Then he sailed to Rhegium, stayed there one day, went on to Puteoli, where he stayed among the brethren seven days (there were
- ↑ The Royal charters of Norman Sicily, written in three languages, Latin, Greek, and Arabic; the inscriptions in these languages on churches and monuments at Palermo remain as witnesses of the three elements of the Norman kingdom. Best of all is this represented by the gorgeous chapel of the King's palace (the Cappella Palatina) at Palermo. This was built for Roger II in 1129-1140. Its Romanesque doors, Byzantine cupola and mosaics, Saracen arches, Arabic, Greek, and Latin inscriptions, give exactly a picture of the state of Roger's court.
Manfred, united Sicily to his kingdom; Charles of Anjou kept Naples. The "Two Sicilies" were the island and the mainland opposite. The lighthouse at Messina divided them. Southern Italy was "Sicilia citra Pharum," the island "Sicilia ultra Pharum." The king was "King of Naples and the two Sicilies." Roger II called himself "Rogerius Dei gratia Siciliæ, Apuliæ et Calabriæ rex, adiutor Christianorum et clypeus." The form "Rex Siciliæ citra et ultra Pharum" also occurs. See Carlo Nardi, "Dei titoli del Rè delle due Sicilie" (Naples, 1747). In Arabic the king was alMalik or asSultan; in Greek he was Ῥήξ or Ῥίξ. Βασιλεύς always means "emperor." Roger II described himself as Ῥογέριος ἐν Χριστῷ τῷ θεῷ εὐσεβὴς κραταιὸς ῥὴξ καὶ τῶν χριστιανῶν βοηθός. Frederick II was: Βασιλεύς τῶν Ῥωμαίων, τῆν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ Σικελὶας Ῥὴξ.
