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The Sicilian nobility was a privileged hereditary class in the Kingdom of Sicily, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Kingdom of Italy, whose origins may be traced to the 11th century CE. ==History== The Romans, Byzantines and Saracens exported different elements of their aristocratic structures to the island of Sicily, however, it was not until the Norman invasion of 1061, led by Roger I de Hauteville, that the Sicilian aristocracy and feudal system took root. By the mid-twelfth century the majority of the island was divided into an agglomeration of agrarian communities (fiefs), controlled by Roger I, known as the ''Great Count'', and his knights. Count Roger was the youngest of five sons born to the petty Norman lord, Tancred de Hauteville. During the mid-eleventh century, southern Italian powers from the mainland sought military assistance from Norman mercenaries in an attempt to wrest control of Sicily away from its Saracen rulers. In 1068, Roger and his army of knights and foot soldiers were victorious at Misilmeri (''Menzil el Emir''), and by 1072 Sicily was under Norman control. The knights were given estates for their loyalty and military service to Roger and his army. ''Il Catalogus Baronum'' ("Catalogue of Barons"), was an early twelfth-century document listing the Norman vassals of the region and their respective feudal rights, possessions and duties. Although some historians claim it was a Norman creation others contend that it was modelled on the ''dîwân al-majlis'', a document introduced by the Fatimidi prior to the Norman invasion. Instead of renaming the regions which they controlled, the Norman aristocracy opted to change their own surnames, recorded in ''il Catalogus Baronum'', often adopting that of the territories over which they obtained authority and taxation powers. Historians contend that this is the reason why so little of the original document has names of Norman origin. Some argue that this was because the Norman invaders in Sicily were often cadets of petty Norman lords rather than Norman magnates; allegedly they simply did not want their Norman names on the document, opting to reinvent themselves in their new homeland. Even the Hauteville dynasty itself was descended from petty Norman lords. Knights who became the first barons arrived in the region unattached, often marrying into the local population. Historians contend that the simplicity of recording ownership of land, utilising pre-existing place names, and changing their own names to correspond with the barony, far outweighed a desire to hold onto their family names. Roger I’s son, Roger II, became Sicily’s first king. By the mid-fourteenth century, the titles of baron and count were common, whereas formerly the vassals were either ''signori'' (lords) or ''cavalieri'' (knights). Although Sicilian feudalism did not entail serfdom, it did permit knights and barons to tax and control the lands they held in fee from the king. Under Norman rule, the title ''signore'' signified the highest rank of landed nobility. Although frequent reference to the baronage can be found in Sicily as early as the fourteenth century, it was not until the nineteenth century that these ''signori'' were formally designated ''baroni'' and their property holdings baronies. Some families favoured the Longobard system of land transfer, inheritance divided amongst all male heirs; however, most Norman families were practitioners of male primogeniture, the Frankish custom of inheritance, which served to maintain family fiefdoms in their original form. Conversely, under the Longobard system estates became smaller over time. Over the centuries, established noble families were advanced through the aristocratic ranks. By the eighteenth century, the titles ''principe'', ''duca'' and ''marchese'' were held by many men whose ancestors, only several centuries earlier, had been barons and lords. ''Conte'', ''signore'' and ''cavaliere'' are titles that have been used by the Sicilian nobility. Over the centuries many families emerged as landed aristocracy or nobility similar to the English gentry and peerage. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sicilian nobility」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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