Search results for ""Trinacria Editions""

This informative supplement to the author's Queens of Sicily 1061-1266 further explores the queens' use of power and the Sicilian cultural identity forged by these women. Chapters are dedicated to topics such as: the queens' suppression of adversaries, reginal patronage, titles and heraldry, words spoken by the queens, court cuisine (including recipes) and poetry (with original translations of a number of poems of the Sicilian School), places the queens lived, sexuality and marriage, and more. A chapter lists work by fellow historians. As a cornerstone in the emerging field of Sicilian queenship, this book begins a new conversation in medieval women's studies, laying the foundation for work to come.

Read more less

Late in the twentieth century, young Eva marries the much older Antonio, heir to one of Sicily's last large rural estates. Eva prefers the city to country life, while her husband is constantly haunted by personal demons and past jealousies. In view of family squabbles and external influences, with a changing society and even the murderous Mafia encroaching upon their happiness, does the marriage stand a chance?This is a story of the psyche.Here, told from the parallel perspectives of husband and wife, is the tale of a modern couple's very traditional challenges over the course of 25 years. The old Sicily is vanishing, to be replaced by new realities.Intriguing and passionate, the story of Eva and Antonio captures the essence of the experiences of real Sicilian families.Can Eva change her wild ways? Can Antonio save his marriage? What will become of his property? What will be his legacy? In a plot full of twists and turns, surprises lurk around every corner.

Read more less

Every once in a while a long-forgotten work emerges from the shadows of the Middle Ages to be published in English for the first time. This is the first complete English translation of the prose chronicle named for the abbey of Santa Maria della Ferraria. It was written during the reign of Frederick II, Italy's greatest medieval ruler, early in the thirteenth century about the Normans and Swabians in southern Italy. Based in part on the work of Falco of Benevento and others, it complements our knowledge of a complex era of Italian history. The identity of its author, a monk in an abbey in the Volturno Valley near Naples, is not known. Discovered in the nineteenth century, his manuscript - which reposes in quiet dignity in a library in Bologna - brings to life the figures who forged the Kingdom of Sicily. First published (in its original Latin) in Naples in 1888 in a limited edition of just 275 numbered copies, the chronicle long remained virtually unknown. As a rarity found in just a few library collections, its very existence was something of an 'open secret' among specialized scholars. The Apulia of the title is not simply Puglia, which in the Middle Ages extended from the heel of the Italian peninsula northward to Pescara and even Ancona, but southern Italy generally, embracing regions such as Basilicata and parts of Calabria. Although parts of the chronicle are drawn from earlier sources, the span of time from circa 1195 to 1228 is original, based on the monk's firsthand knowledge of the reign of Frederick II, who visited the abbey in 1223, when the chronicler probably met the monarch (the original Latin of the chronicle's last years was written in the present tense). Even for the Norman reigns of the twelfth century, it brings us a few details not found in the surviving codices of other chronicles. Ms Alio advances the theory that this medieval work, with its style conforming to more than one genre (chronicle, annal), its facts drawn from several sources, and its principal range (1096-1228) spanning several generations, could be considered the first history of the Kingdom of Sicily, which was founded in 1130. It is the last chronicle written in the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of Frederick II to be published in English. As a scholarly work intended for use as a reference, this book contains over 400 informative end notes, five appendices, eight pages of maps and seven genealogical tables, along with numerous (black and white) photographs. It includes an introductory background chapter on the medieval history of southern Italy and its Greeks, Arabs, Lombards and Normans. Also included is an insightful introduction to the chronicle and its author (the longest essay ever published about it in English). Ms Alio's translation is faithful to the original Latin, yet fluid and understandable. Her native's knowledge of southern Italy and its people is evident on every page. This volume is a useful resource for researchers and an interesting excursion into the medieval world for armchair historians. Its publication was long overdue. The book is printed on acid-free paper.

Read more less

A defining reference work whose engaging narrative brings southern Italy’s Middle Ages to life. This is the first major history written in English about the Kingdom of Sicily under its Hauteville and Hohenstaufen dynasties in the High Middle Ages. Encompassing the island of Sicily and most of the Italian peninsula south of Rome, this multicultural society of Muslims, Jews, and Christians East and West, was a nexus where the civilizations of feudal Europe, Byzantine Asia, and Fatimid Africa flourished in synergy into the 13th century.Unlike most histories of the kingdom, this one brings the reader much information about social culture, such as the language and cuisine that emerged from this eclectic era to influence southern Italy and its people in ways still seen today. There are revealing chapters on the language popularized before Italian, and the culinary milieu that gave us spaghetti and lasagne.Women are never overlooked. Among them are Margaret of Navarre, regent for five years, Trota of Salerno, author of a medical treatise, Nina of Messina, the first woman known to compose poetry in an Italian tongue, and the unnamed Bint Muhammad ibn Abbad, who led a rebellion alongside her father.This long-awaited book presents an essential chronological history supplemented by concise sections on topics such as phylogeography, coinage, and heraldry, with dozens of maps and genealogical tables. It has hundreds of endnotes, a lengthy bibliography, a timeline, and appendices on regalia, the kingdom's first legal code, the coronation rite, the longest poem of the Sicilian School, and historiography. A long introduction explores sources, ethnic identity, historical views, and research methods, candidly dispelling a few myths.This hefty volume has something for everybody. It's a fine addition to library collections and a useful reference for students, while its lively narrative makes it an engaging read for anybody curious about this time and place. Those having roots in southern Italy will discover the origins of their ancestral culture, the ethnogenesis that led to what exists today.This long glimpse of a singular society was worth the wait.

Read more less

In the first book of its kind, two of Sicily's leading historians and lecturers outline strategies and resources available in English for professors and other instructors wishing to introduce students to the world's most conquered island. Sicily boasts a cosmopolitan heritage, yielding lessons perfectly suited to our complex times. This guide is not only for educators. It's useful for anybody seeking sources of accurate information about Sicily, a place which over the centuries has been politically connected to Asia and Africa as well as Europe. The authors consider Sicilian Studies as a multifaceted field in itself, not merely a specialized niche within the broad field of Italian Studies. Most of the text consists of succinct descriptions or reviews of books and (in a few cases) articles useful to those seeking to learn about Sicily. The book includes a lengthy chapter setting forth the history of Sicily, along with numerous maps and a 3000 year timeline. This makes it very useful even for teachers who may be unfamiliar with Sicily yet interested in teaching about it. In addition to a consideration of how to teach about Sicilian history, archeology, literature and even cuisine and the Sicilian language, this book offers candid, practical suggestions for those planning study tours or courses in Sicily. This guide is more than a blueprint. It presents a pragmatic concept of what this field can be. This is based on experience. Over the years, the authors have advised professors on how to formulate such courses, and they have occasionally presented lectures to university students. The point of view, as well as the advice, is impartial, unbiased, because the authors are not beholden to any specific academic publisher or institution. Never before have so many works about Sicily covering the island's lengthy history in English been described in a single volume. Chapters are dedicated to foundational principles, historiographical concepts and the history of Sicily, followed by the consideration of works on ancient, medieval and modern Sicily, special topics (women's studies, genealogy, the Mafia), the Sicilian language, the arts (art, film, literature, music), culinary topics and, finally, study tours. At 250 pages, it is fairly concise, with no space wasted, yet highly informative. This guide makes it possible to teach a course related to Sicily even if your institution lacks an Italian Studies department. Its publication was long overdue.

Read more less

Two women, each intelligent, talented, wealthy, beautiful. What could drive them to kill?These stories take us to Rome and Palermo.Two Boyfriends Too Many is the story of Samantha, who seems interested in nothing beyond her all-consuming career as a writer. Twice she ends up with men she loves, and each one is killed in mysterious circumstances. Following the trails of these murders, a police detective encounters every kind of revelation.The Price of Revenge introduces Flora, gifted with an artist's sensibility and a keen awareness of her surroundings. Here is a painter able to draw the profile of the two thugs who killed her boyfriend during a robbery. But both are unknown to the police, and to track them down Flora enters a world that will change her life forever.

Read more less