Women of Sicily: Saints, Queens and Rebels - Paperback

by Jacqueline Alio (Author)

Rarely have women found their place in the chronicles of Sicily's thirty-century history. Here one of Sicily's most popular historians introduces seventeen women of varied backgrounds who defied convention to make their mark in the annals of the complex history of the world's most conquered island.

Meet a timeless sisterhood of pious Roman maidens, steadfast Sicilian queens, and a Jewish mother who confronted the horrors of the Inquisition. Theirs are inspiring stories of the courage of conviction bursting forth to overcome the challenges of adversity.

In addition to these profiles - most of these women lived before 1500 - the author presents a general survey and chronology of Sicilian history. Significantly, the book treats Sicily as the sovereign nation these women knew, and not as a 'region' of the unified Italy or a tiny piece of Europe. The chronology (timeline) reaches into the present century, and there's an appendix dedicated to Sicilian women today.

Author Biography

Jacqueline Alio is one of Sicily's leading historians, and part of a new wave that is writing the history of Sicily's women. Over the last decade, she has been consulted by The History Channel, The Discovery Channel and other media. An accomplished medievalist, she has published the results of her original research while writing insightful articles for a general readership. Online, her articles have captivated millions, gaining her a special place as one of the Sicilian historians with the most readers around the world. In print, scholarly works like her translation of the Ferraris Chronicle have earned her kudos in academic circles. Margaret Queen of Sicily, the first biography of that regent, is the lengthiest published work of original scholarship written in English by a historian in Sicily. She co-authored the first book in English to outline the emerging field of Sicilian Studies. Her most recent book, the result of years of research, is a compendium of biographies of the queens of Sicily into the middle of the 13th century.