Note: After the
Sicilian Vespers (1282) Sicily and Naples were ruled by different dynasties. Sicily (Aragonese line): •
Frederick III (r. 1296–1337) •
Peter II (r. 1337–1342) •
Louis (r. 1342–1355) •
Frederick IV (r. 1355–1377) •
Maria (r. 1377–1401) Naples (Angevin line): •
Robert of Anjou (r. 1309–1343) •
Joanna I (r. 1343–1382) — with
Louis of Taranto as co-king (1346–1362) •
Charles III of Naples (r. 1382–1386) •
Ladislaus (r. 1386–1414) Aragon (Crown of Aragon; external but decisive): •
Peter IV of Aragon (r. 1336–1387) — received Queen Maria after her 1379 abduction and directed Aragonese policy toward Sicily •
John I of Aragon (r. 1387–1396) — overlaps Artale’s last years
Background In the mid-fourteenth century Sicilian politics split into two loose camps. The “Catalan” party backed the Aragonese–Catalan crown (strongest in Catania and the east), while the older “Latin” baronage (rooted in the north and west) often aligned with Angevin interests from Naples after the
Sicilian Vespers.
Ascendancy and the Angevin wars (1355–1364) In 1355, on his father’s death, Artale became Count of
Mistretta, took over leadership of the Catalan faction, and was appointed
maestro giustiziere (chief justiciar). In 1356–57 Angevin galleys raided the coast near Catania. On 27 May 1357, off
Aci, Artale defeated their flotilla, and
Louis of Taranto (the Angevin king of Naples) withdrew across the
Strait. Although the Angevin ships pulled back, the inland “Latin” barons—among them
Manfredi III Chiaramonte and
Francesco II Ventimiglia—continued the war by land from the west. Between 1358 and 1360 Artale secured
Catania from the Latin coalition led by Manfredi III Chiaramonte—retaking the city in 1359 and, after a garrison defection,
Castello Ursino on 25 March 1360. To cool the civil war he then ceded the wardship (
tutela) of the young
king to
Francesco Ventimiglia in 1361 and promoted the Agreement of
Enna in 1362, a settlement that paved the way for the later “Four Vicars”, a baronial regency that governed on the monarch’s behalf. In 1364 he lifted the Angevin siege of
Messina, a turning point after which the Neapolitan military presence in Sicily steadily collapsed.
Territorial settlements and baronial politics (1365–1377) Between 1365 and 1375 Artale reshaped his lands mainly by making swaps with the royal government (the crown) and by receiving grants after rebellions. In 1365 he traded the county of
Mistretta to the crown in exchange for
Paternò and
Francavilla. In the same year he also received
Mineo from the queen’s estates. As part of these settlements he returned
Naro and the castle of Delia to the crown; in 1366 the crown assigned them to Matteo Chiaramonte, Count of Modica. In 1367 he recovered
Mistretta and was granted
Calatabiano (confiscated from the rebel Manfredi Aurea). He later exchanged Calatabiano for
Motta Sant'Anastasia with the Count of Aidone. In 1375 he was assigned income from a municipal tax in
Messina (the
gabella), adding cash revenue to his landed base. His influence in
Catania and the east remained pre-eminent throughout this period.
Four Vicars and later years (1377–1389) After
King Frederick IV died in 1377, Artale is recorded as
vicario generale del Regno (vicar general of the kingdom) and guardian of his daughter
Maria, who inherited the throne as a minor. In 1378, to manage the truce among rivals and keep government functioning, he brought together a collective regency known as the “Four Vicars”, composed of Artale,
Manfredi III Chiaramonte,
Guglielmo Peralta and
Francesco II Ventimiglia. The vicars governed in the queen’s name, with each predominating in his own region; in practice most power rested with Artale and Chiaramonte. As vicar Artale pursued an “Italian” policy. In 1379–80 he sought the involvement of
Gian Galeazzo Visconti by proposing Maria’s marriage, but the plan collapsed when she was abducted from
Castello Ursino by
Guglielmo Raimondo Moncada and delivered to
Peter IV of Aragon. The setback ended Artale’s hegemony, which gave way to that of Chiaramonte. He remained active in the 1380s: in 1382 he seized the county of
Agosta from Moncada and later explored an anti-Aragonese alignment with
Genoa and
Pope Urban VI. ==Patronage==