1101: Roger I, The Grand Count of Sicily and Calabria, dies at 70 years of age. 1113: First papal privilege for the Hospital of St John. 1120: William I is born. 1128: Pope Honorius II invests Roger II as duke of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. 1130: Bari castle besieged. The antipope Anacletus II concedes the titles of King of Sicily, Apulia, Capua and Calabria to Roger. Roger II is crowned King of Sicily in the cathedral of Palermo. 1137: Bari castle stormed and destroyed by the emperor Lotar II. 1139: Routing the papal army at Galluccio, Roger captures Pope Innocent and forces him to reconfirm Roger's Kingdom and lordship over all Italy south of the Garigliano. 1140: Bari castle rebuilt by Roger. At the Assizes of Ariano, Roger promulgates the corpus of law covering every aspect of his rule. 1146: George of Antioch (Grand Vizier, Emir of Emirs and Archonte of Archontes for Roger II) conquers Tripoli. This begins the Sicilian expansion into North Africa. 1148: Hospitallers attack Damascus. 1154: Roger II dies in Palermo. William I (the bad) ascends to the throne. William II (the good) is born. 1155: A baronial uprising against Maio di Bari (William's Emir of Emirs) signals the decline of royal authority in Sicily and the rise of the nobility. 1156: Destruction of Bari city by William the Bad; Bari castle suffers considerable damage. 1160: Maio di Bari is assassinated in another baronial uprising, led by Matteo Bonello. 1166: William I dies in Palermo. William II (the good) ascends to the throne. 1169: A tremendous earthquake destroys Catania, and the resulting tidal wave breaches the walls of Messina. 1174: In response to the plans of the English Archbishop of Palermo, Walter of the Mill (Gualteiro Offamilio), to build a new cathedral in Palermo challenging the status of the King, ground is broken by King William on the Benedictine Monastery of Monreale. The Cathedral of Santa Maria la Nuove remains as the most spectacular example of Arab-Norman architecture, and among the most beautiful churches in the world. 1177: William II marries Joan, the daughter of Henry II of England. 1185: William commences a great campaign against the Byzantines. Nearly successful, his Army is ambushed and defeated in sight of Constantinople. 1186: Constance, daughter of Roger II, marries Henry of Suebia (the future Emperor Henry VI) in Milan. 1187: Battle of Hattin; fall of Jerusalem & move to Acre. 1189: The decline of Norman Sicily begins in earnest. William II dies without an heir. 1190: Tancredi, Count of Lecce, illegitimate grandson of William I by his son Roger assumes the throne. Richard Coer-de-Lion of England arrives with an Army of crusaders, occupies and sacks Messina. 1192: Hospitallers advise Richard I of England against attack on Jerusalem. 1194: Henry VI Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman Emperor, invades southern Italy to claim the throne of Sicily in the name of his wife, Constance, daughter of Roger II. Tancredi dies in Palermo. Henry VI enters Palermo. William III (heir to Tancredi) is blinded, castrated and imprisoned. The tomb of Tancredi is desecrated. Henry VI is crowned King of Sicily. The Norman rule of Sicily comes to an end. The future Frederick II of the House of Hohenstaufen is born at Jesi, in the Marches. 1197: Henry VI dies in Messina after catching malaria during a hunting excursion. He is buried in the cathedral of Palermo. 1198: Frederick is crowned king of Sicily. He was not yet four. Pope Innocent III becomes regent of state and of the young Frederick. Two days later, Constance d'Hautville dies. 1208: Innocent imposes order on insurrectionist barons by forcing them to swear allegiance to Frederick at the Diet of San Germano. Frederick II reaches legal majority and assumes all the responsibilities of king. He is aided and advised by papal favorites Cardinal Cencio Savelli (later Pope Honorius III), Bishop Ruggero of Catania, and "Master Francesco." 1209: Frederick marries Constance of Aragon, sister of Peter II. 1215: Frederick is crowned king of Germany in Aquisgrana. 1216: Cencio Savelli becomes Pope Honorius III. Frederick's conflict with the Papacy over his desire to unite the Kingdom of Sicily with the Holy German Empire begins in earnest. 1218: Hospitallers partake in siege of Damietta. 1220: Frederick is crowned Holy Roman (i.e. German) Emperor in Rome by the Pope. 1221: Frederick begins a crack-down to wrest power from the Sicilian Barons. 1222: Empress Constance dies. 1225: Frederick marries Yolanda of Brienne, daughter of King John of Jerusalem. 1226: Frederick is excommunicated by Pope Gregory IX for failing to complete a crusade against the infidels. 1228: Frederick finally departs on Crusade, but it is a "bloodless crusade" in which Frederick engages in diplomacy rather than battle. Negotiating for peaceful passage through Moslem territory, Frederick even promises the Sultan of Egypt that if Jerusalem is captured by Christian forces, they won't really keep it. 1229: The "crusading" Frederick enters Jerusalem in triumph. The Pope is not particularly pleased. 1230: The Empire and the Papacy reach an uncomfortable truce at the Peace of San Germano after Frederick's returning crusaders are met by (and then defeat) a papal army in Apulia. Pope Gregory retracts Frederick's excommunication. 1231: Frederick II articulates his political vision in the Liber Augustalis (or Melfi Charter), the greatest edifice of medieval law known. It creates the conceptual structure of the "secular" State, and codified the laws and rights of such a governing body in diametric opposition to eccliastical jurisdiction. 1233: Bari castle restored by Frederick II of Swabia. 1245: Pope Innocent IV reissues Frederick's excommunication. 1250: Frederick II dies in Apulia. Frederick's son (by Yolanda of Brienne), Corrado, becomes (according to Frederick's will) King of Sicily and Corrado IV of the Holy German Empire. Frederick's bastard son (by Bianca Lancia), Manfredi, is simultaneously nominated as Vicar and Regent of the Kingdom of Sicily. 1252: Pope Innocent IV supports Richard of Cornwall (brother of Henry III of England) as king of Sicily. 1254: Henry II of England accepts the Sicilian Crown in the name of his son, Edmund of Lancaster. Corrado dies, leaving a two year old heir, Corradino. Manfredi defeats a Papal army near Foggia, Apulia. 1258: Manfredi is crowned King of Sicily in the Palermo Cathedral. 1266: Manfredi is killed at the Battle of Benevento against the French. Charles I of Anjou (brother of King Louis IX of France) is formally proclaimed King of Naples and Sicily by Pope Clement IV. 1268: Corradino, the last Suebian pretender to the throne of Sicily, is beheaded by Charles I after being betrayed by Giovanni Frangipane. All Europe is horrified and angered. 1271: Hospitallers join Edward (later Edward I) of England's crusade. 1282: Beginning in front of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Palermo, the Sicilian people rise up against the French. In the course of one night and one morning 2,000 French men and women are killed, Angevin flags are replaced with those of Frederick II, and heralds are sent to ignite support across Sicily. The revolt spreads first to Corleone, then to Messina. Within a few weeks, Sicily is cleared of all Frenchmen. Pedro III of Aragon lands at Trapani. Five days later, at Palermo, he is proclaimed King of Sicily. Charles retreats across the strait of Messina. 1285: Charles of Anjou dies, willing the throne of Sicily to his nephew Charles Martel. Pedro III of Aragon dies, willing the throne of Sicily to his son James. 1289: Hospitallers involved in unsuccessful defence of Tripoli. 1291: Hospitallers forced out of Acre to Cyprus. 1296: Frederick III of Aragon is proclaimed King of Sicily in Catania effectively seperating it from Aragon for more than a century. His brother becomes James II King of Aragon. In a letter to his brother James, Frederick announces his intentions to conquer the Angevin holdings in southern Italy. Frederick promulgates the "Frederickian Constitution" establishing the residency of the Sicilian Monarch and the restructuring of the Sicilian Parliament. 1298: Under the urging of Pope Boniface VIII, a joint Angevin-Aragonese fleet led by King James embarks to subjugate Sicily. 1299: The fleet, under the command of Roger of Lauria, inflicts serious damage and injuries on Frederick's forces. Frederick himself is wounded. Unwilling to do further violence to his brother, James withdraws and the invasion ends. 1302: Charles of Valois invades Sicily. During the seige of Sciacca an outbreak of the plague decimates his troops and animals. Charles of Valiois and Frederick III sign the Peace of Caltabellotta, ending the invasion and securing Frederick's rule. Frederick's title is "rex Trinacriae." 1306: Hospitallers begin invasion of Rhodes. 1310: Hospitaller Crusade consolidates control of Rhodes, becoming the Knights of Rhodes. 1311: Knights of Rhodes headquarters established on Rhodes. 1312: May 2: Property of suppressed Templars granted to Knights of Rhodes by Clement V. 1313: Frederick's troops land in Calabria in an invasion targeted towards Angevin Naples. His plans are frustrated by the death of his ally, Henry VII on August 24. Frederick returns to Sicily, landing at Trapani. 1314: An Angevin armada lands near Carini, and lays siege by land and sea on Trapani. A truce is declared for until March of 1316. 1320: The Sicilian Parliament approves Fredericks continuation of the war against Robert of Anjou, and in opposition to the will of Pope John XXII. As a consequence, Sicilians are officially banished from Christendom for fourteen years. All churches are shut down, all holy bells are silenced, and public prayers and processions are abolished. 1321: In defiance of the Church, Frederick crowns his chosen heir to the throne, his son Peter (II), as King of Sicily. 1337: Frederick III of Sicily dies in the convent of the Knights of Saint John between Palermo and Catania. He is buried in Catania's cathedral. In the wake of Frederick's death, the Sicilian nobility, led by the families Ventimiglia, Palizzi, Chiaramonte and Moncada, become the dominant powers on the island. 1338: An Angevin expedition led by Charles of Artois occupies Termini. 1339: Another Angevin invasion siezes the fort in Lipari's port and occupies Milazzo. 1342: Peter II dies suddenly. His five year old son, Ludovico, inherits the crown. Peter's brother, John of Randazzo, serves as Genral Vicar (regent). 1355: Ludovico dies at the young age of seventeen. The reins of power fall into the hands of his sister, Constance (called the Abbess) and then to his other sister, Eufemia. 1362: The young Frederick IV (the simple), now installed as King of Sicily weds Constance, the daughter of Peter IV of Aragon in Catania. Nine months later the future Queen Maria is born. 1363: Constance is felled by the plague. 1372: Frederick IV signs a treaty with Jeane I d'Anjou, Queen of Naples. Under this pact Frederick agrees to rule in Sicily alone as "King of Trinacria." Sicily is recognized as a fiefdom of Naples. 1374: Knights of Rhodes take over defence of Smyrna. 1377: Achaea leased for 5 years to Knights of Rhodes. Frederick dies and is buried in the Catania cathedral. He is succeeded by his fifteen year old daughter, Maria. Her regent is Artale of Alagona. 1378: Knights of Rhodes master Juan Fernández de Heredia captured by the Albanians. During the "summit" of Caltanissetta, Artale of Alagona creates a new Sicilian power structure consisting of four autonomous Vicars. The Vicariate is collectively ruled by Artale, Feudatory of Catania; Manfrede Chiaramonte, now Grand Admiral of the Kingdom; Francesco Ventimiglia, the Count of Geraci, granted the powers and title of Grand Chamberlain; and the Catalan Duke of Randazzo, Guglielmo Peralta, John of Aragon's son-in-law. 1379: Resenting his exclusion from the Vicariate, Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada, Duke of Augusta, abducts Queen Maria from her residence at the Ursino Castle in Catania to his own castle in Augusta. 1390: Maria marries Martin the Young, Duke of Montblanc, nephew of Peter IV of Aragon. 1392: Martin, his father (Martin the Old), and Queen Maria return to Sicily at Trapani and are duly receieved by the Sicilian barons. 1400: First record of Giovianazzo Tresca's residence in Bari. 1402: December: Smyrna falls to Tamerlane. Queen Maria dies without an heir. 1404: Giovanni Tresca a military judge in Terra di Lavoro 1409: Martin the Young dies. 1410: Martin the Old dies. 1412: The Parliament of Caspe (Aragon) elects Ferdinand of Castille (the Just) as King of Sicily. 1440-1444: Mamluks attack Rhodes. 1480: Turkish siege of Rhodes. 1522: Turkish siege of Rhodes. 1523: Knights of Rhodes leave Rhodes. 1530: Knights of Rhodes known as the Order of Malta when given Malta & Tripoli by Charles V. 1535: Order of Malta participate in Charles V's capture of Tunis. 1540: Confiscation of Order of Malta's property in England. 1551: August 14: Order of Malta surrenders Tripoli to Turks. 1565: May 19-September 8: Great Siege of Malta by Turks. 1571: Order of Malta part of papal force in the Battle of Lepanto. 1587: Giovinazzao Tresca member of the Order of Malta. 1614: Malta raided by Turks. 1664: Order of Malta attacks Algiers. 1879: Carlos Tresca is born in Sulmona, Italy. 1904: Carlos Tresca flees to the United States to escape a jail sentence for libal associated with the paper he was editing at the time. 1943: Carlos Tresca is murdered on a New York street by an unknown assailant.