Calatabiano
The name Calatabiano may derive from the Arabic word Kalaat
meaning castle and possibly ‘bianco', meaning white, although
it used to be held the this was the classical Castello di
Bidio. Supposedly the local Hellenic population utilised the
flat zone in the lower part of the present castle to build a place of
worship. The resulting 75'x30' temple was ashlar built with
igneous stone blocks and a limestone cornice. Of this nothing
survives but some limestone ashlars mixed with fragments of the temple,
some 30 Greek terracotta vases, a Greek lantern and a golden fibula
found buried in the nearby 26' deep cistern. The presence of
cow bones and a goddess statue might indicate votive sacrifices to the
likes of Ade, Persefone or Demetra. Finds in the upper castle
or castrum, inside a rectangular hole at the base of the big cistern
include shards of Greek vases, a section of column and several coins
dating from 343-337 BC. Other site finds include coins, a
tripod, a Greek pan and a bronze spear point. All this
suggests a heavy occupation of the site and cannot preclude some early
form of fortification here.
From the Roman period comes amphoras and bricks made in the Roman ovens
in Naxos. There is also a triangular arch, similar to those
of the Greek theatre in Taormina, set above a Byzantine stone
compartment being used first as storage place for food and then as a
prison. There is a representation of a stylized fish, the
ancient Christian's Ictus - Iesus Cristos Theu Ios Soter (Jesus Christ
Son of God the Saviour) - on the external stone walls.
General Belisarius, under the Emperor Justinian (d.565), retook Sicily for the
Byzantine Empire in 535. It is assumed that he or his
successor had at least the castrum at Calatabiano built. The
fortress may have been attacked some 300 years later when the Muslims
were putting pressure on the district - Messina fell in 842/3, Enna in
859 and Syracuse in 878. Radiocarbon dating says that a
Viking, probably fighting for the Byzantines, was killed around 840 AD
and his corpse was buried 13' deep under a layer of burnt soil in the
tank outside the castle. The 6'2" tall man has two holes in
his skull and jaw, which are interpreted as his death wounds.
With him were found several coins from the reigns of Leone VI (866-912)
and the Empress Irene Bisanzio (780-802). One coin was as old
as the Emperor Eraclio who reigned from 610 to 641 AD.
Earlier there had been Muslim incursions into Sicily in 652, 669 as well as
later. These had resulted in the unspecified building of
Byzantine fortifications on the island. In the eighth century
Arabic forces attacked the Syracuse area repeatedly before being
repulsed. The final war began in 827 with the rebellion of
Euphemius, but it was only in 902 that Taormina finally fell and it is
assumed that Emir Ibrahim laid waste to the castles around there,
namely Taormina, Calatabiano, Francavilla and Castiglione. As
Radiocarbon dating is not precise, the Viking may have died as late as
this.
After the Islamic conquest, Calatabiano seems to have been abandoned as
excavation found no trace of Arabic occupation. Soon after
1060, when the Hauteville brothers Robert Guiscard (d.1085) and Roger
Hauteville (d.1101) invaded the country, it is to be presumed the
castle was refortified. Messina was taken early in their
advance, but the area around Catania held out until 1071.
Taormina between the two only fell in 1079. Presumably by
this date Calatabiano had also surrendered. The castle then
seems to have remained in Hauteville hands.
Two generations after the Norman conquest the castle was allegedly
given by King
Roger (1105-54) to the Paris family in 1135, but it seems unlikely that
they actually arrived in Sicily before 1162. The castle
appeared as Kalaat-al Bian in Idrisi's Book of Roger of 1154, although this reading has been challenged.
Later, in or after 1162, Bartholomew Paris, King William I's
executioner and
lord of Mascali, is said to have bought the castle for the next to
impossible amount of 100,000 golden tari. The
fortress subsequently passed to Bartholomew's eldest child, Pain Paris
(d.1167), and then to his brother, Walter (d.1201). These 2
were successively counts of Avellino. Pain lost Calatabiano
due to his treachery to the king in 1167, his title, but not
Calatabiano, passing to his brother, Walter (d.1201). At this
time a certain Robert
Calatabiano, their possible successor at the castle, was accused of
multiple acts of theft, rape and cruelty and that he had restored a
Muslim shrine in Mare Castle.
He also ran what seems to have been a brothel where the
implication was that the inmates were coerced into prostitution and
even killed for pleasure. Robert was consequently jailed in a Mare castle
dungeon and died there soon afterwards, presumably in 1168.
As a consequence Calatabiano castle, if it was held by Robert, seems to
have been
resumed by the Crown.
The Emperor Frederick II (1198-1250), while residing at Palermo, gave Calatabianum
with all its tenements and appurtenances to Bishop Bernard of Messina
(1196-1227/31) in June 1201. Probably before this, the aforementioned Walter Paris
or a man of the same name, once again lost the castle for the crime of lese-majesty in disobeying
orders. As late as 1208, even though supposedly dead, he seems to
have been recognised as head of the Paris family. Meanwhile, the
castle was given to Arnold Reggio, otherwise known as Count Armaleo
Monaldeschi, the son-in-law of Walter Paris. He seems to have
obtained the castle as heir to Paris. Despite this, the Emperor's
wife, Constanza of Aragon (d.1222), while acting as regent from 1212 to
1216, gave the castle of Calatabianum with all its hamlets, villains, lands, tenements and appurtenances (casalibus, villanis, terris, tenimentis et pertinentiis suus)
to Bishop Walter Pelear of Catania (1208-29/31) at Messina in March
1213. She stated that this was done as the two counts had
repeatedly violently attacked the bishopric and committed treason to
their lord with the result that their lands had been confiscated.
She further stated that after the downfall of the counts, the castle
had been given to Count Arnold only at the mandate and licence of the
Crown for which the bishop was now to pay 15,000 tari to Arnold
in compensation. Consequently the castle was now to be held by
the church of Catania for ever without molestation, peacefully and
quietly. The bishop is then claimed, without evidence, to have
expanded the castle during his remaining years. Despite this the
castle seems to have reverted to the Crown and may have been held by
Crown appointees.
After the death of the Emperor Frederick II on 13 Dec 1250, the castle was
given to John Moro, the son of a Saracen slave, by King Conrad IV
(1250-54). Later, in November 1254, Pope Innocent IV confirmed
his lands when he joined the papal cause against King Manfred (1258-66)
after the death of Conrad IV. Soon after this John was
killed by the Saracens of Lucera who proved loyal to the
Swabians. With John's death the castle fell into the hands of Peter Ruffo of Messina (d.1256+). He had
previously been made count of Catanzaro in Calabria by Frederick II
(d.1250) and the king's marshal of Sicily on 15 December
1250 by Manfred for the young King Conrad. After Peter's defeat at Piazza Armerina in November 1254 all his Sicilian castles were surrendered by him to the Messinans.
Calatabiano was subsequently granted to the church of
Messina.
When Charles Anjou
(d.1285) seized the throne in 1266,
Vassallo Amelia
became lord of the castle depriving the bishopric of Messina of his
rights in Calatabiano. Consequently, the bishop of Messina
complained to the apostolic legate and in 1268 the pope decided that
Calatabiano was to be returned to the bishop of Catania. At this
point William Amendolea claimed the castle and the Crown seized it due
to the many unanswered disputes over its ownership. On 3 May 1272
it was recorded that the castle should have a garrison of either one
knight or a squire. With the war of the Sicilian Vespers
(1282-1302), Admiral Roger Lauria (d.1305) was given Calatabiano in
1285. Subsequently, after plotting against the
Crown, all his belongings, except Aci castle,
were confiscated and
Calatabiano reverted to the Crown. In 1296 it was held from King
Frederick III (1295-1337) by the heirs of Brancaleonis Aurea, who had also
been lord of Rachalmuto.
With the Peace of Calatabellotta
in 1302, Charles of Naples (d.1309) and King Frederick III (d.1337) between them
confiscated all the lands of any nobles guilty of rebellion.
Around this time Roger Lauria of Aci (d.1305) gave his rights in Calatabiano
to his daughter Margaret. This seems to have been disregarded by
King Frederick III, who around 1303
gave the castle to Brancaleone Doria, from whom it passed before 1330
to unnamed heirs. Brancaleone was the son of Bernabo Doria of
Genova (d.1325). His direct family does not appear to have
retained the castle, it having been reclaimed by the Crown before 1350,
possibly on the death of Brancaleone's brother in law, Manfred IV
Saluzzo in 1340. In 1354 King Louis (d.1355) travelling with his
Catalan entourage was refused entry to the castle unless he came
without the Spanish. He consequently spent the night in the burgh
at the foot of the castle hill. The next year the castle was
taken by Artale Alagona. The now royalist castle was a centre for
the operations which led to the 1357 victory of the Aragonese over the
Angevins near Ognina. The Alagonas also acquired Aci castle
about this time and held them as outlets for the produce of their
estates on Mount Etna. They lost their estates when they rebelled
in 1390.
Berengario Cruillas, who had been viceroy of Sicily as early as 1391 as
well as royal chamberlain, obtained the castle by exchange with Tommaso
Romano in 1396. The skeleton of Giovannello the son of Giovanni
Cruyllas, one of the last owners of the castle, is displayed in the
Weapon Room. It has been identified by a radiocarbon date of
around 1450, the contents of the burial and historical
considerations. The castle withstood a Turkish assault in 1544
when the town was sacked. Once again in 1677 the castle held out
while the town suffered, this time from a French attack. In 1693,
due to the earthquake caused by the eruption of Mount Etna, the town
and castle on the hill were abandoned and the town moved definitively
onto the plain below. On the hill, below the castle, the Gothic
church of the Saint Crucifix built in 1484 still stands amongst traces
of the town. Above the front doorway of the church the carved remains of the Cruillas' coat of arms can still be seen.
Description
The castle site stands 720' above sea level and is attributed to the
Byzantines on the grounds that the Greek temple was not
fortified. The first castle would appear to be the cursus
shaped walls protecting the highest point of the hill, now known as the
castrum. This is somewhat similar to the towerless castrum at
Sperlinga. The Calatabiano castrum
consists of 2 D shaped
towers to northeast and southwest. The southwest tower would appear to have been
the keep. This has a square interior, but a rounded exterior
to the north and west. The north wall is nearly 20' thick, the
west one 15', the south one 10' and the interior east one only
2'. The north wall is also projecting from the enceinte,
unlike the northeast tower which is truly D shaped internally and
externally. The walls of the northeast tower are also much more
uniform and thinner. The southwest keep also covers the wrecked
entrance to the castrum. Ground floor loops exist overlooking
the bailey to the southeast as well as a slant. This is still
visible on the west side to the castle entrance and
was used by the defenders to hurl stones down on their
enemies. There is also a water cistern, probably fed from the
castrum roof. The whole structure is built of sandstone and Roman
tile with odd bits of lavastone thrown in as snecker stones.
Southeast of the castrum, some 40' below, is the castle bailey running east to west
along the igneous ridge. The walls of this, with its
Romanesque doorways, would appear to be Byzantine and therefore prior
to 900. Like the castrum this is built of lavastone with
sandstone dressings. However the bailey, especially towards
the ship's prow at the east end, has many Roman tile levelling
courses. As such this would appear Byzantine, if not
older. Within is the hall of Cruillas together with the
original, probably seventeenth century cobblestone paths. The
Cruillas room was once a rectangular tower,
before conversion into a dance hall. The original white roof arch
is made of Syracuse limestone and still sports the Cruyllas arms,
9 crosses, on the keystone. Within the room are fossilised arches
on different, older floor levels - at least one of these is Romanesque.
Next to the Cruillas hall are two
chambers once used as bedrooms. There is also a small chapel,
attributed to the Cruillas, but surely much older as the restoration of
the apse brought to light a beautiful Byzantine painting representing
Christ the Creator, surrounded by four angels.
The outer defences to the south cover the approach up from the town and
consist of a curtain and an open backed rectangular tower.
Some of the walls were built only in 1677, the year of the last battle
fought in the war of Messina. Then a French force attacked
Calatabiano from the valley side, but 150 defending Spanish soldiers
forced them to retire.
Why not join me here and at other Sicilian
castles? Information on this and other tours can be found at Scholarly
Sojourns.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry