1282-1713
Aragonese and Spanish

14th Century Ineffectual government with power in the hands of nobility. Black death decimates the population.
15th Century Linked to Spain and cut off from Italian mainland (held by Angevins. In 1442 Alfonso V of Aragon and Sicily conquered the Kingdom of Naples, which he united with Sicily as the Kingdom of Two Sicilies. When Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella of Castille married in 1469 and Spain was united, Sicily and Naples remained part of the Spanish Empire. Sicily was ruled by a viceroy having his residence in the Norman Palace of Palermo.

"Quattro Canti" a Palermo

16th Century Isolation and misgovernment continues. Nobility reinforce the feudal system forcing peasants off the land and leaving estates in the hands of Massari or Gabellotti, bailiffs charged with collection of rent. Sicily is now essentially a source of funds for Spanish expansion.
 

Donna Fugata Castle

Ragusa Ibla Cathedral

S. Agata Cathedral Catania

Discontent leads to rise of brigandry supported by oppressed population who find defence from prosecution in a code of silence, or “omertà”...the beginnings of the Mafia.
Remains of fortified Masserie (farm estates) all over the agricultural interior.
17th Century Repression is compounded by disease and disaster as Sicily’s misery deepens under continuing Spanish misrule. Insurrection in the big cities is effectively and violently quashed.

1669 Huge eruption of Etna destroys much around Catania.
1693 Earthquake and following plague destroys much of the east coast and kills 5% of the population.

Followed by massive rebuilding programme, leaving some of the most spectacular Baroque architecture in Europe. Baroque architecture in Ragusa, Syracuse, Noto.

In the last decades of the 17th century several Sicilian cities rebelled, With the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 started the War for Succession to the throne of Spain and the future of Sicily became completely open.

Catania University