Nomecomune

Province of Palermo, Region Sicilia (Sicily), Italy

Locality: Situated in a magnificent position on a terraced hill dominating the COnca d'Oro Valley, Monreale is the main tourist center in the surroundings of Palermo, the Sicilian capital, and world-famous for its Cathedral, a masterpiece of Norman art.

History: Monreale, from "Mons Regalis" (Royal Mountain), sorse nel XIII secolo circa intorno al celebre Duomo, fatto costruire nel 1174 dal re di Sicilia Guglielmo II. Il sito ove sorge la città fu ritenuto di grandissima importanza strategica (per dominare la valle e per controllare l'unico passo che dal mare introduce verso l'interno dell'isola e la valle del Belice) già dagli arabi, che vi costruirono un casale. I re normanni lo elessero successivamente come luogo di caccia, innalzandovi un palazzo (dovrebbe coincidere con l'attuale costruzione che ospita il Municipio). Da qui l'appellativo di Mons Regalis. La città divenne importante con Guglielmo II, il normanno che costruì nel 1174 la Cattedrale di Santa Maria La Nuova e l'annesso monastero. La leggenda vuole che la chiesa sia stata edificata dal re per esaudire il voto alla Madonna per uno scampato pericolo; si ha ragione di credere però che il monastero sia stato in realtà un presidio militare e che i monaci fossero anche dei guerrieri. La nascita dell'abbazia è infatti sicuramente legata alle vicende politiche del tempo ed alla lotta feroce benché sotterranea tra il re normanno e l'arcivescovo di Palermo, Gualtiero Offamilio (Walter of the Mill, di origine inglese), che capeggiava il partito dei feudatari locali, insofferenti al dominio straniero. La fondamentale funzione difensiva oltre che (prima che) religiosa del complesso architettonico è sottolineata dal fatto che l'abbazia, poi divenuta sede arcivescovile, fu dotata subito dal re, e via via arricchita dai suoi successori, di un immenso patrimonio di beni e terreni (ancora oggi il territorio di Monreale è uno dei più estesi della Sicilia); nelle epoche successive l'arcivescovo della città esercitò d'altronde sempre un enorme potere in Sicilia. e history of Monreale can be summed up in the name of one man: King William II "The Good." The last of the Norman Kings of Sicily was the grandson of the illustrious Roger II. Prior to the construction of Santa Maria la Nuova, it is believed Monreale was a tiny Saracen hamlet named "Ba'lat," where local farmer's would gather to cart their produce to the market, or "souk," down in Palermo. That outdoor market still exists to this day and is known as Ballarò. It is possible that Ballarò's name derives from an Arabic phrase meaning "Ba'lat Market." During the Norman dominion, Ba'lat, soon to be renamed Monreale, became a favorite hunting ground of the Hauteville monarchs. In those days, deer, boar and wild cats still roamed Sicily, where there were more forests than today, and falconry was popular among the aristocracy. Walter of the Mill, the English bishop of Palermo, was the head of faction of nobles who sought to influence and control the young king into granting them more power and lands. This faction also wanted to lessen the power and number of the many Muslim ministers and functionaries in William's court. Walter had beenNorman Knight Figures William's tutor when the king was a child and during his mother's regency. William was just 13 years old when his father, William I, died in 1166, and until he reached his majority in 1171 he was subject to the regency of his mother, Margaret of Navarre. However, the kingdom was actually controlled by Matthew d'Ajello, the royal vice-chancellor, and Walter, the bishop of Palermo, the latter having attempted to exert undue influence on the William as his tutor. The young sovereign wished to demonstrate his independence through the construction of a grand cathedral. The first of King William's objectives was to establish himself firmly as sovereign. William had only been crowned in 1171 when he turned eighteen; he was 21 when the construction of the cathedral was begun. The second reason King William wanted the cathedral built was to impress on his subjects, especially the Muslims, the power and riches of his monarchy. William II wanted to inculcate the sense of rule by divine right upon his subjects, thus the cathedral's mosaic of Christ crowning William king. Many Muslims from Palermo had fled to the hill country surrounding the capital after a rebellion against William's father in 1161. Led by Matthew Bonello, the Norman-Sicilian nobility had begun to support an anti-Arab policy, leaving the Saracens to establish themselves in easily-fortified towns such as San Giuseppe Jato, Corleone and Cinisi, though they were nominally loyal to King William. The site of the duomo and the Benedictine monastery attached to it was strategically well-placed for controlling the passes that served as the gateway to these communities. The nearby castle of Castellaccio bolstered this military strategy. Though little of the monastery except the cloister has survived to the present, the monastery ofBuy a book! Monreale originally boasted twelve embattled towers and thick walls, features that would have allowed the structure to be rapidly transformed into fortress if need be. A few of the towers are still visible. The Arabs did eventually rebel, after King William's death, in reaction to the mistreatment and excessive taxation imposed upon them by the Abbot of Monreale, under whose feudal they had been placed by William II and the Pope. Monreale Cathedral itself was attacked by the Muslims on several occasions, the worst attack occurring in 1216. However, the "rebellions" were never a serious threat to the Christian rule of Sicily. In 1246, Frederick II Hohenstaufen dispatched a large army from Palermo to put an end to this once and for all. Frederick's army captured Corleone and besieged the Saracen castle at San Giuseppe Jato for nearly two years until it yielded, when it was razed.

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