By the eighteenth century, Britain was well established as an international trading nation. Goods arrived in London from all over the world, while in the

On Easter Monday, March 30 th 1282, an incident took place at Palermo which had profound consequences not only for Sicily but for the whole

The popular vision of Sicily is that of an island which has been oppressed and exploited for centuries by foreign invaders. This vision is widely

In the third century BC Syracuse was the leading city of Sicily and one of the great cities of the Mediterranean. Admired for its wealth

Lucia was martyred in 304, during the persecutions of Diocletian, at the age of twenty-one. Her body remained in Syracuse until 1039 when it was