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THE KINGDOM OF SICILY
The Palazzo dei Normanni (in English, Palace of the Normans) or Royal Palace of Palermo is a
palace in Palermo, Italy. It was the seat of the Kings of Sicily during the Norman domination and
served afterwards as the main seat of power for the subsequent rulers of Sicily. Today it is the seat of
the regional parliament of Sicily.
The 12th century was one of Sicily’s richest periods. Palermo was the undisputed
marketplace of the west Mediterranean, and Norman lords introduced still more
new crops. Most Sicilian sugar was cultivated by imported chattels from Slavic
lands (from whom our words “slaves” comes), but slavery was in fact growing
increasingly rare in the Middle Ages.
In its place, the feudal system had been evolving since the 10th century. Feudalism
worked on the principle of superior lords delegating control over resources to
inferior lords, in return for various obligations (particularly military). A minor lord
would serve as a knight and provide foot soldiers for the king in return for lands
and control over serfs. He might then grant some of these lands and serfs on to
other lesser knights, or hold
them directly himself. Feudalism produced a complex world, with overlapping
chains of authority and loyalty. Often Church and personal ties so fragmented
authority that it was hard to speak of a “state” at all. Sicily had an unusual version
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 138 of 200