146 Bresc
constructing nationhood. The plans for sharing Sicily between the Pisans and
Genoese, which were presented to Frederic Barbarossa and later to Henry VI,
would have resulted in an altogether different political organization, like in
Sardinia.
The division of Sardinia was sanctioned by the emperor in 1175, but never
put into effect. However, Corsica was partitioned into zones of influence by
Innocent II in 1133: Genoa had control over the archdioceses of Mariana,
Nebbio, and Accia; Pisa over Ajaccio, Alaria, and Sagone. This division reflected
a long history of separatism between northern Corsica, which was democrat-
ic and more active, and southern Corsica, which was poor, feudal, and left to
the so-called “cinarchesi” families. While Sardinia and Corsica were parceled
up into overseas “contados” under Pisan and Genoese domination, Sicily re-
mained united. The only moment when Sicily faced division was under feudal
domination from 1350 to 1392. The feudalization of Sicily was not altogether
complete (the apparatus of justice continued to function and acted as an arbi-
ter and buffer), veritable seigneuries relied on the main cities and on the col-
laboration of foreign merchants, namely the Genoese at Palermo.5
Nor would Sicily experience “traumatic feudalism,” like Sardinia did after
1327, with the arrival of the Catalans.6 Frederic III introduced 86 Catalan
families, who were few in number and soon Sicilianized, though not easily ac-
cepted. These Catalans were strategically placed at key points of power and
manifested their solidarity with each other, leading to the formation of oppos-
ing political parties—the “Latins” and the “Catalans.” Each identified with a
nation, but the identities of both were in fact composite.7
2 Democracy, Justice, and Royalty
While public power was continuous in Sardinia, especially in tax collection and
public justice, a fault line remained in the existence of a significant population
of serfs there and in Corsica. In contrast, serfdom more or less disappeared in
5 Henri Bresc, “Le gouvernement de l’étranger: aristocrates et marchands ‘experts’ à la cour
de Palerme au XIVe siècle,” in La Circulation des élites européennes. Entre histoire des idées et
histoire sociale, eds Henri Bresc, Fabrice d’Almeida, and Jean-Michel Sallmann (Paris, 2002),
pp. 80–98.
6 As expressed by Cécile Crabot, Les Feudataires catalans et la Sardaigne (1323–1420): noblesse et
expansion de la Couronne d’Aragon, doctoral thesis, Paris X-Nanterre, 2000 (2006).
7 For the groupings of “feudal” families, barons and knights (523 houses), see Antonino
Marrone, Repertorio della feudalità siciliana 1282–1390 (Palermo, 2006).