Treaty of Caltabellotta -1302

Elaborated in 1302 and ratified with adjustments by pope Boniface VIII in 1303, the so‐called Caltabellotta treaty aimed to settle the question of the possession of Sicily, a source of a twenty‐year‐long war between the Angevins and the Aragonese in the western Mediterranean. With the title of “king of Trinacria,” Charles II of Anjou recognized the sovereignty of Frederick of Aragon over the island. After his death, the island would return to the Angevins. This agreement, concluded despite the reluctance of the pope, quickly proved to be devoid of substance. Some of its clauses were not respected, notably by King Frederick, and the war resumed in the early 1310s. Nevertheless, this does not undermine its great importance: it testified to the failure of the papacy to impose theocratic views, marked a notable victory of the Ghibellines and, a posteriori, would become a milestone in the constitution of an Aragonese Sicilian dynasty and the autonomy of the island.