istoryworld
Events relating to sicily
Trade is carried on from Crete round the Mediterranean as far west as Sicily and in the east down to Egypt
The island of Sicily is colonized from the eastern Mediterranean by both Phoenicians and Greeks
A Carthaginian army lands near Marsala to begin the long involvement of Carthage in Sicily
A clash in Sicily, between Rome and Carthage, leads to the First Punic War
A Roman naval victory at Trapani, off the northwest tip of Sicily, completes the blockade of the Carthaginians and ends the First Punic War
At the end of the First Punic War, Sicily becomes Rome's first overseas province
Roman mosaic is at its most lavish in the floors of Piazza Armerina, in central Sicily
Belisarius lands in Sicily at the start of a five-year campaign to recover Ravenna for the Byzantine emperor
The Arabs get a foothold in Sicily and begin a slow process, not complete till AD 965, of squeezing the Byzantines out of the island
Roger I, the first Norman count of Sicily, completes the conquest of the island from the Muslims
Work begins on the exquisite palace chapel in Palermo, built for the Norman kings of Sicily
The three-year old Frederick II has a claim to the thrones of both Sicily and Germany on the death of his father, the emperor Henry VI
The pope, eager to fill the vacant throne of Sicily, offers it to a son of Henry III of England but gets no firm response
Pope Urban IV offers Sicily to a French prince, Charles of Anjou, who marches south in 1266 to fight for the kingdom
Edward I is in Sicily when he becomes king of England, on the death of his father, Henry III
An incident in a church service sparks the uprising known as the Sicilian Vespers, in which 2000 French are killed overnight in Sicily
Naples is captured by Alfonso V, breaking the link with France and uniting Sicily and Naples as an Aragonese kingdom
An uprising in Sicily in January starts off Europe's 'year of revolutions'
Garibaldi lands at Marsala in Sicily in May with his thousand Redshirts, and wins control of the island for the king in waiting, Victor Emmanuel II
Garibaldi crosses from Sicily to the mainland and by September is in Naples
Europe's worst earthquake, centred on the Strait of Messina, kills up to 200,000 people in Sicily and southern Italy.
British and American troops land in Sicily to begin the Italian campaign
Italians signs a secret armistice with the Allies, as Allied troops land in Sicily
All German and Italian troops are by now driven out of Sicily or captured by the Allies