Butera
Butera castle was taken from the Byzantines by the Emir Alaba in
853-4 after a 5 or 6 month siege. It then remained in Arab hands
until the beginning of April 1088 when it was attacked by Count Roger Hauteville
(d.1101), although he had gained a
victory there as early as 1063. After a long siege in which the
castle was surrounded the garrison surrendered and Roger deported the
local Muslim aristocracy to Calabria, although the peasants were
suffered to remain. Later the castle was mentioned in two of
Roger's diplomas of 1091-1093 and one of Pope Urban II (1088-99).
Before 1094, Roger's daughter Flandrina was married to the Lombard,
Henry Vasto (d.1137). By 1115 the couple had certainly acquired Paterno
and by 1130 Butera. Possibly this was Flandrina's marriage
portion, or more likely as the gift of Count Roger's widow, Flandrina's
mother in law. She was Adelaida (d.1118), the sister
of Henry Vasto (d.1137). Henry and Flandrina were succeeded by
their son Simon (d.1156), who was arrested for his plotting against
Admiral Maio (d.1160) in 1154 and held without trial. Simon's
illegitimate son, Roger Sclavus, was one of those responsible for the
capture of King William I
in 1160 before fleeing, as well as raising Butera in revolt the next
spring. Presumably he led the revolt because Manfred Vasto who
was living in 1158, the legitimate son of Count Simon (d.1156), was
dead.
On 2 April 1134 it was recorded that Richard Bublii and his nephew
Henry had given the church of St Mary of Butera to the bishop of Lipari
and Patti. About 1154, Idrisi described Butera as a ‘very
reasonable fortress', who's city had a population of Normans,
Byzantines, Arabs and Lombards, when it was raised to a county,
presumably for Simon Vasto. In January 1156 Bartholomew
Garsiliato led a rebellion against Admiral Maio, seizing Butera
castle. Subsequently the rebellion was joined by the castles of Noto, Sclafani and Caltanissetta.
King William returned from the mainland to deal with the problem.
He freed Simon Vasto, now called Count Simon of Policastro and marched with him on Butera with
an army where he and the count persuaded the garrison to surrender
on terms of exile at the king's pleasure, but keeping their lives and
property.
On 10 November 1160 Matthew Bonellus of Caccamo
slew Admiral Maio and raised 2 unsuccessful revolts against King
William. After his second revolt which resulted in the capture of the king on 9 March 1161 and death of his eldest son in his own palace, on the thirteenth, Roger Scalvo and Count Tancred of Lecce (d.1194) occupied Butera and Piazza Armerina
respectively
that April. They then proceeded to slaughter the peaceful Muslims
living near both fortresses.
Bonellus, who had been pardoned after the March revolt, was now
arrested and imprisoned, although one unreliable chronicler states that
he was blinded and hamstrung, before soon dying from his injuries.
Again William went with
his army against the rebels. First he destroyed Piazza Armerina and
then he besieged Butera by digging a ditch around it. The
castle and town were stubbornly defended by the count and Roger, who
expected further rebellions to break forth to their assistance.
Such revolts shook Southern Italy, but Sicily remained quiet and, as the summer drew to a close,
Roger and Tancred made peace on the terms of being allowed to go into
exile. Butera castle was then
destroyed, although it was obviously later rebuilt. In 1168 Count
Henry of Montescaglioso demanded the county that Count Simon Vasto had
once held in Sicily, ie the castles of Butera and Paterno,
which had been in royal hands since. This was refused and he was
subsequently arrested for treason and allegedly blinded.
Before 1250 Galvano Lancia (d.1268) claimed the county of Butera though
the inheritance of his mother, who would appear to have been Bianca
Maletta (d.1215+). Peter Ruffo of Messina (d.1256+) refused this
order of Prince Manfred before he became king in 1258.
The castle also saw action
in the war of the Sicilian Vespers (1282-1302). Late in 1282 Walter
Caltagirone, its lord, rebelled against King Peter (d.1285), but was
persuaded to surrender as Peter's men claimed he would be a benevolent lord to Sicily.
On discovering that King Peter intended to continue the war into
southern Italy Walter rebelled again and in April 1283 fortified his
castle with 60 knights and seized Modica and Sperlinga castles, but this time he was captured by Alaimo Lentini
of Nicosia and sentenced to death. The castle seems to have survived this, the land certainly being held by one Lupo Alberti as terra Butere in the 1320s,
and in about 1355 the place was still described as both a land and a
castle.
Description
Originally the castle appears to have had 4 rectangular towers at the
corners of a large ward. As such it would bear comparison with Piazza Armerina and possibly the early castle at Caccamo. Of the Butera towers only one remains standing some
80' high externally. The tower has several twin mullioned Catalan
windows with small central pillars and ornate capitals. These are
probably late thirteenth century or later. Recent excavations has
found 3 cisterns and the tower has been consolidated and the rooms
remade with a new iron and glass superstructure added on the site of
the upper floor.
Why not join me at other Sicilian
castles? Information on this and other tours can be found at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry