A twelfth-century account of the parliaments of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in the Liber de regno Sicilie, 1154–1169

Abstract

SUMMARY In this article, D.R. Clementi gives an account of the period of political instability in the royal government of Norman Sicily after the death of Roger II. The cource, the Liber de regno Sicilie, is a contemporary account written by someone with information from inside the Court who has never been identified, though in the Appendix Dr Clementi has presented circumstantial evidence on this. The main focus of the article is on the role of parliaments in these events, as revealed by the source, using ‘parliaments’ in the original meaning of consultations with the magnates of the realm on matters of major importance, summoned by the ruler, in which decisions might also be referred to the commoners for approbation. They were also a forum in which trials of political opponents could be organised. Circumstances enabled the parliaments to acquire power to influence the choice of ministers, and because it was their right to elect the king, had a significant input of their own.