Presents the results of the main ongoing archaeological and historical research focusing on medieval suburbia and rural sites in Sicily. The volume is divided into thematic areas: Urbanscapes, suburbia, hinterlands; Inland and mountainous landscapes; Changes in rural settlement patterns; and Defence and control of the territory.

This 1995 book is a detailed study of Sicilian life and economy in the 'transitional' reign of Frederick III (1296-1337).

This 1995 book is a detailed study of Sicilian life in the reign of Frederick III (1296–1337), a period which saw Sicily reduced from a bustling and prosperous Mediterranean emporium to a poor backwater torn apart by violence. The relative economic and social backwardness of Sicily within modern Italy has attracted considerable scholarly attention. Attempts to explain its ingrained poverty and civil strife usually blame either the legacy of two thousand years of colonisation by rapacious foreigners or the inherent weaknesses in the island itself and its people. More recently a model of 'economic dualism' has pointed to basic structural flaws in the economic relations that were established between the island and its continental trading partners from the twelfth century onwards. This book, by focusing on Frederick III's crucial reign, argues that there were many more things 'wrong' with Sicilian life than just the shape of its overseas trade relations.

Late medeival Sicily is shown to have been neither underdeveloped nor dependent on foreign trade.

The work presented in this book opens a new window on the history and archaeology of medieval Sicily, by focusing on the development of human-animal relationships from Byzantine times to the later Middle Ages. This large-scale study of animal bones and teeth relies on the analysis of material from old and recent excavations, as well as on a comprehensive review of data available from the literature. The results shed light on two major lines of investigation on Arab and Norman-Aragonese Sicily: the influence of different dominations on dietary practices, most notably the extent to which the taboo on pork consumption spread in the island under the Arab administration, and the longer-term changes in animal husbandry as a consequence of the technological developments and novel approaches to landscape exploitation introduced by the Arabs.

An entertaining account of the eventful period that goes from the Norman conquests of Sicily to the death of Frederick II, focussing on the political, military and social factors that contributed to the establishment of the first absolute state. A must for lovers of Sicilian history.