You will not need to download any software and the lecture will work in any browser. For the best experience use a desktop or laptop - but it will also work on an iPad or similar tablet. You will be also able to re-watch. After the lecture, all those who register will automatically be sent copies of the lectures to view in your own time.
The Invention of the Italian South: The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
On Christmas night 1130, the antipope Anacletus II crowned the Norman ruler, Roger II, King of Sicily. The kingdom came to be known as the 'The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’, based on the idea that the royal dominion centred in Palermo looked also towards the southern mainland . This ‘other Sicily’ consisted of the Norman-annexed County of Calabria and Duchy of Apulia. By 1137, Naples had been absorbed and it became the enlarged kingdom's capital in 1266. Sicily and the southern Italian mainland were dominated for centuries by competing dynasties predominately from France and Spain: Hohenstaufen Emperors, Dukes of Anjou, Kings of Aragon, together with sundry Habsburgs and Bourbons.
James Hill offers two lectures on the Italian south. In the first, he explores the period from medieval times to the early modern era, from the arrival of the Normans and the development of the kingdom both in its political capital Palermo and its intellectual one, Naples, through the context of its ruling dynasties and their patronage. In the second, he focuses on Naples and Habsburg-Bourbon rule from the 17th to the 19th century. In both lectures, a rich heritage of architecture and visual (particularly mosaic) art will never be far from our eyes.
Lecture 1 – Wednesday 12 February 2025, 11am
Glittering Prizes: The Kingdoms of Sicily and Naples
In the twelfth century the Kingdom of Sicily was the result of a century-long series of territorial acquisitions, which extended from the eponymous island across to southern Italy, until it reached the lower Papal States south of Rome. Sanctioned by Papal approval, it remained the only ‘kingdom’ in Italy for six hundred years. Its origins began in 1016 when forty Normans travelled to Puglia on a pilgrimage. They encouraged their fellow Normans to ‘come to the land that brings forth milk, honey and so many beautiful things’. Key to their success was toleration of those who had come before them and this produced a court rich in ideas and artistic expression. Byzantine and Arab styles of building and decorative arts - particularly mosaic art – varied languages, laws and diverse customs were all absorbed by the Normans and their successor Hohenstaufen German relatives. Naples became the kingdom’s capital in 1266 and Hohenstaufen rule was followed by the French House of Anjou who maintained rule in Naples, but lost Sicily to Peter of Aragon, the first ‘Spanish’ dynasty to rule part of Italy. The eventual union of Aragon and Castille (which led to the formation of Spain) and its absorption by the Habsburgs through marriage led to and the sole rule of the kingdom under Charles V in 1516.
Lecture 2 – Wednesday 19 February 2025, 11am
Past & Present Rediscovered: Naples & a Kingdom Restored
By the 17th century Naples was the second largest city in Europe and a vital Mediterranean port. Spanish Habsburg viceroys, the Neapolitan aristocracy, and the city’s clergy and religious orders all jostled for prestige, producing a building boom and a surge in artistic patronage - all elevating Naples to new heights. From 1734 the Spanish House of Bourbon became Kings of Naples garlanding the city with palaces and villas. This urban renewal formed the backdrop to the discovery of Pompei and other ancient sites, the potential of which was not lost on an army of excited Grand Tourists and diplomats such as Sir William Hamilton. After the fall of Napoleon the monarchy was restored with Sicily, Puglia and the rest of the mainland south fully reintegrated into the re-established kingdom. Though reformist in nature, the state beyond Naples was mired in poverty and brigandry, while beset by plague and rebellion. The result was it was quickly swept aside by revolution and Garibaldi’s Risorgimento, the Two Sicilies becoming part of the newly minted Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
Format for Lecture
James will give two (approximately) one-hour illustrated lectures for £29.
You will not need to download any software and the lecture will work in any browser. For the best experience use a desktop or laptop - but it will also work on an iPad or similar tablet. You will be also able to re-watch.
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