John of Procida ( it, Giovanni da Procida) (1210–1298) was an Italian medieval physician and diplomat.
He was born in
Salerno, educated in the
Schola Medica as a physician. He was a noted physician for his age and received a professorial chair at this university. He came to the attention of
Frederick II, who was patron of the university, and he eventually became Frederick's personal physician and attended him to his death. He was also personal physician to Cardinal John Orsini, the future
Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III ( la, Nicolaus III; c. 1225 – 22 August 1280), born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1277 to his death on 22 August 1280.
He was a Roman nobleman who ...
. Being noticed for his intelligence and pragmatism, he rose through the diplomatic ranks in the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
Kingdom of Sicily. He was actually John III, son of John II of Procida and Clemenza Logoteta, of the family of the lords of the island of
Procida
Procida (; nap, Proceta ) is one of the Flegrean Islands off the coast of Naples in southern Italy. The island is between Cape Miseno and the island of Ischia. With its tiny satellite island of Vivara, it is a ''comune'' of the Metropolitan Ci ...
.
He was originally a counsellor of
Frederick II and was entrusted with the education of Frederick's son
Manfred
''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of a Gothic fiction.
Byr ...
. He was at Manfred's side until his defeat at the
Battle of Benevento
The Battle of Benevento was a major medieval battle fought on 26 February 1266, near Benevento in present-day Southern Italy, between the forces of Charles I of Anjou and those of King Manfred of Sicily. Manfred's defeat and death resulted in Ch ...
in 1266. In that year he went to
Viterbo
Viterbo (; Viterbese: ; lat-med, Viterbium) is a city and ''comune'' in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo.
It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in its early history ...
, Italy and arranged the marriage of his daughter to the Neapolitan
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
, Bartholomew Caracciolo, and then served with the Hohenstaufen army. After the defeat of the Hohenstaufens at
Tagliacozzo
Tagliacozzo ( Marsicano: ') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, central Italy.
History
Tagliacozzo lies in an area inhabited in early historic times by the Aequi and the Marsi, although the first mentions of the town ...
he escaped to Venice. His estates were confiscated by Charles; and his wife and daughter were mistreated or raped by the French knight sent to evict them and one of his sons murdered. In 1269 or 1270 he was in Germany trying to drum up support for the return of the Hohenstaufen to the throne of Sicily. While existing Sicilian legends overplay John of Procida's role in the dramatic politics of this time, Runciman concurs that he was at the centre of a "vast political conspiracy" in support of the House of Hohenstaufen (backed by the Byzantines and their Genoese allies) and against Charles of Anjou and his ally the Pope.
In 1279 and 1280 John (or, as Runciman argues, one of his sons at his behest) travelled to Sicily to stir up the discontents in favour of King Peter of Aragon and thence to Constantinople to procure the support of the emperor
Michael VIII Palaeologus
Michael VIII Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Μιχαὴλ Δούκας Ἄγγελος Κομνηνὸς Παλαιολόγος, Mikhaēl Doukas Angelos Komnēnos Palaiologos; 1224 – 11 December 1282) reigned as the co-emperor of the Empire ...
. Michael refused to aid the Aragonese king without papal approval and so diplomatic efforts turned to Rome, where he gained the consent of Pope Nicholas III, who feared the ascent of
Charles of Anjou
Charles I (early 1226/12277 January 1285), commonly called Charles of Anjou, was a member of the royal Capetian dynasty and the founder of the second House of Anjou. He was Count of Provence (1246–85) and Forcalquier (1246–48, 1256–85) ...
in the
Mezzogiorno
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the pe ...
. John of Procida then returned to Barcelona. The result of these travels was to link Byzantine gold and Genoese assistance behind Aragonese ambitions in Sicily. Through John's secret diplomatic actions the conditions were set for the 1282 uprising of the
Sicilian Vespers
The Sicilian Vespers ( it, Vespri siciliani; scn, Vespiri siciliani) was a successful rebellion on the island of Sicily that broke out at Easter 1282 against the rule of the French-born king Charles I of Anjou, who had ruled the Kingdom of ...
which destroyed Charles' crusading invasion fleet (aimed first at recapturing Constantinople) at anchor in
Messina, providing the conditions for the security of Constantinople and the ability of
Peter III to recover the island.
On 2 February 1283, Peter, who had invaded Sicily in the wake of the Vespers uprising, nominated John as
Grand Chancellor. He was put in charge of the island when Peter went to
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
to take up a challenge by Charles later that year. All this did not stop the aged diplomat from continuing his frenetic activity at the varied courts of Europe's monarchs. It was on one of these trips that he died, at Rome, at the age of eighty-eight years, in 1298.
The legacy of John of Procida is controversial. ''
Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia
''Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia'', fully ''Cronica di lu rebellamentu di Sichilia contra re Carlu'', is a Sicilian historical chronicle of the War of the Vespers written around 1290. The anonymous ''Rebellamentu'', probably written at Messina, was ...
'', a
Sicilian-language
Sicilian ( scn, sicilianu, link=no, ; it, siciliano) is a Romance language that is spoken on the island of Sicily and its satellite islands. A variant, ''Calabro-Sicilian'', is spoken in southern Calabria, where it is called Southern Calabro n ...
tract from 1290, lauds him highly and it may well be his own memoir as dictated to a scribe.
[Mendola, p. xxii] He is more typically portrayed, particularly by
Guelph
Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...
partisans, as ''cospiratore contro l'autorità costituita'', a "conspirator against the constitutional authority", as in the
Tuscan ''
Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco
The ''Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco'' ("Book of John of Procida and Palaeologus") is a medieval Tuscan history of the Sicilian Vespers. It focusses on the conspiratorial role played by John of Procida, cast as the villain. It was almost certa ...
'', which presents him in negotiations with Michael VIII, and in the ''
Leggenda di Messer Gianni di Procida
The ''Leggenda di Messer Gianni di Procida'' ("Legend of Mister John of Procida") is a short medieval Tuscan history of the Sicilian Vespers, synoptic with another early Tuscan account, the '' Liber Jani de Procida et Palialoco''. Both texts focus ...
'', written by a
Modenese Guelph. His reputation has experienced a bit of a rehabilitation, and he has been called one of the first politicians and diplomats in the modern senses of the terms. Clearly, his diplomatic role was important: the Sicilian uprising began the
War of the Sicilian Vespers
The War of the Sicilian Vespers or just War of the Vespers was a conflict that started with the insurrection of the Sicilian Vespers against Charles of Anjou in 1282 and ended in 1302 with the Peace of Caltabellotta. It was fought in Sicily, C ...
, the "world war" of the 13th century, a key event in the subsequent history of Europe.
According to legend, he was in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
''incognito'' on 29 October 1268, when they executed
Conradin
Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...
. He supposedly recovered the ''guanto di sfida'' (gauntlet) Conradin threw into the crowd before his execution.
Sources
* Chaytor, H. J. (1933)
''A History of Aragon and Catalonia''.London: Methuen.
* Mendola, Louis. ''Sicily's Rebellion against King Charles''. New York, 2015. Translation of
Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia
''Lu rebellamentu di Sichilia'', fully ''Cronica di lu rebellamentu di Sichilia contra re Carlu'', is a Sicilian historical chronicle of the War of the Vespers written around 1290. The anonymous ''Rebellamentu'', probably written at Messina, was ...
.
*
Runciman, Steven
Sir James Cochran Stevenson Runciman ( – ), known as Steven Runciman, was an English historian best known for his three-volume ''A History of the Crusades'' (1951–54).
He was a strong admirer of the Byzantine Empire. His history's negative ...
. ''The Sicilian Vespers''.
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
, 1958.
References
{{Authority control
1210 births
1298 deaths
People from Salerno
13th-century Sicilian people
13th-century Italian physicians
Medieval Italian diplomats
13th-century diplomats
People of the War of the Sicilian Vespers
Court of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
Characters in The Decameron