"You can't write the history of Italy without looking at the Catalans."

Barcelona"You can't write the history of Italy between 1200 and 1500 without looking at the Catalans and their ambitions," explains British historian David Abulafia (Twickenham, 1949). Emeritus professor of Mediterranean history at Cambridge University, he is the author of essays translated into Spanish as The discovery of humanity, The Great Sea: A Human History of the Mediterranean andA sea without limits. A human history of the oceans. Now, for the first time, it can be read in Catalan, with The struggle for dominance of the Mediterranean. The great Catalan expansion from 1200 to 1500 (Sails and Winds). In the book, translated by Oriol Ràfols, the historian addresses the conflicts that occurred in the Mediterranean between 1200 and 1500 for political and naval supremacy and for control of its center, Sicily, and southern Italy.

Abulafia focuses primarily on the rulers of Catalonia-Aragon and the struggles against their rivals in Italy and the rest of the Mediterranean, the House of Anjou. "I was always very interested in Italy, especially from the moment I realized that historiography didn't pay much attention to southern Italy and Sicily. Studying it inevitably led me to the Catalan world," explains the historian. Abulafia reflects on the extent to which political, dynastic, and commercial motives were behind the conquests. "We cannot underestimate the ambitions of the monarchs nor the benefits they derived," he asserts.

A conquest with few resources

He cites as an example the conquest of Sicily by Peter the Great"If bets had been made in 1282 (and Charles of Anjou was fond of betting, even criticized for playing dice during a crusade in the East in 1248), Peter would not have seemed a very good choice. In fact, at first, the Sicilians were more inclined to support the restoration of the monarchy. Peter started from the back row and emerged as a convincing winner," he says. Peter was in North Africa in 1282, on the eve of the invasion of Sicily. Was it a coincidence that he was so close to the Italian shores at the very moment when the Sicilians rose up against Charles of Anjou? Once he was invited to Sicily to be crowned by right of his wife, Constance, Peter the Great succeeded in ridding himself of most of his enemies. His resources were far inferior to those of the Angevin king of Sicily, but he had some advantages: the excellent skill of his naval capitals, with a small but effective fleet, and the support of the Sicilian population at critical moments.

According to the historian, in the 13th century the Catalans had no clearly focused program to create an empire. "What John Seeley said about the British Empire can be applied almost exactly to the Catalan-Aragonese confederation. The rulers didn't realize until the middle of the 14th century what they had achieved," he explains. Specifically, Seeley said: "We have conquered and colonized half the world without realizing it." Peter the Great was succeeded by James II. "He was known as James the Just, but he could also have earned the title James the Hypochondriac or James the Astute. He managed to deceive the Angevins and the papacy," Abulafia assures. With the conquests of Sardinia and the rise of Mallorca, which became a hub for a wide variety of products from around the world, the golden age of Catalan trade began. Important routes linking Mediterranean Europe with the Muslim world and the Indian Ocean were established, and the animosities between the Genoese, Pisans, Florentines, and Catalans were left behind.

The Problem of Religion

"If the Catalan-Aragonese monarchs had not claimed Sicily, they might have developed a very intense trade with North Africa. Barcelona had always benefited from its position in the Western Mediterranean," Abulafia affirms. The monarchs were well aware that they could extract many benefits from it. One of the problems was reconciling a Christian royalty with having to govern a large number of Muslims and Jews. Depending on the time and place, drastic solutions were chosen, such as expelling Muslims and Jews or selling them into slavery. There were also more tolerant ones, such as allowing them to practice their religion with restrictions. For some monarchs, this latter option was also a source of income, because Jews, for example, could pay a large sum of money and be exempt from attending Catholic sermons.

"There was a certain culture at that time in the Iberian Peninsula. I wouldn't speak of coexistence, but Jews and Muslims were part of the social fabric, just as there were rich and poor, nobles and peasants. It was simply the reality of the time, but there were pressures, such as those exerted by Ramon de Penya, Muslims and Jews," says the historian, marveling at the figure of Ramon Llull. "He was clearly against forced conversion and was convinced that he could demonstrate the authenticity of Christianity through logical proof. Book of the Gentile and the Three Wise Men absolutely fascinating. The other side of the coin is that it doesn't seem that Llull managed to convert anyone on all his travels," explains Abulafia.

All that splendor did not last forever, and over the years the Catalan-Aragonese Crown became increasingly subordinated to Castile. Even so, the British historian defends the figure of Ferro. throughout his life, there is an attempt to return to the politics that had been exercised from the Catalan-Aragonese Crown, such as the conquests in southern Italy and the campaigns in North Africa. Furthermore, he married Germana de Foix with the aim of having a son who would inherit Catalonia and Aragon and wanted to divide the Iberian Peninsula again," explains Abulafia. An important difference with his predecessors is the expulsion of the Jews. "If we think of his grandfather Alfonso, that would have been unthinkable. In fact, Alfonso's son, Ferdinand I, the King of Naples, welcomed many Jews expelled from the Peninsula in 1492."