EVERYONE LOVES LARRY

The “Joseph” and “Joachim” the chapter title refers to are Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother, and Joachim Murat, his brother in law.   In 1801 the French

The title of the chapter refers to Captain Nelson, the great English Admiral, William Hamilton, the English statesman, and of course, everybody’s favorite rampaging French

The Treaty of Utrecht was really a series of treaties by which the European powers sought to regulate their mutual relations. The one that concerned

The second half of the 1400’s saw two cataclysmic events: The fall of Constantinople to the Turks and the expulsion of the Moors from Spain.

The terms of the Caltabellota treaty made it clear that the Angevins had not renounced claims to Sicily. The Spaniards and French went at it

The Sicilian Vespers led to the ousting of the French as rulers of Sicily and the installation of the Spaniards as rulers.  When Frederick II

Frederick II, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was given this nickname: Stupor Mundi– Wonder of the World.   He began his rule in 1198 and lasted until

William, ‘the Bad’, took over in 1154. What prompted the nickname ‘the bad’? He suffered from two main misfortunes: the first is that he was

With the Normans, Sicily would come into her golden age. Unfortunately for Sicily, that golden age ended 800 years ago.  In 911, Rollo, a Viking,