Monreale Abbey, Santa Maria La Nuova

I mentioned this abbey in the last post on St. Louis. Monreale is about 8 km south of Palermo's cathedral, straddling Mt. Caputo. Work on the abbey began in 1172, one year after the coronation of William II (the Good). He used this project to advance the Latin Church in Sicily over the Orthodox, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. The abbey was built like a fortress since it guarded the mountain passes near Ba'lat,a forested Arab hamlet used by the royals for hunting and falconry. It also served as a Benedictine monastery. The superstructure was finished by 1176 and the mosaics and cloister were done by 1189. The bronze doors came from Pisa in 1186. The abbey contains the largest concentration of Norman, Arab and Byzantine art in one location. 150 mosaics take up 6000 square meters of wall space, larger than St. Mark's in Venice. 228 columns surrounding the cloister feature ornate capitals carved with scenes from Norman history. Muslims rebelling over excessive taxation by the abbot of Monreale led several attacks against the abbey, the worst in 1216, but they had little overall impact. By 1246, Frederick II has put down these rebels and consolidated political control over Corleone and San Guiseppe Jato. Below are some pictures of this unique and ornate location.Pictures from IStock

Monreale Ceiling above the main altar

Monreale mosaic of Christ Pantocrator

Monreale mosaics

Monreale Mosaic of Noah building the Ark

St Louis in Sicily?

Who would ever imagine that there is a bit of St. Louis in Sicily? No, it's not the city of St. Louis, but the actual saint. The heart of Louis IX, King of France, is in a special tomb at Monreale Abbey, formally named Santa Maria la Nuova. Louis died on campaign in Tunisia in 1270. Aging and ailing, the devout king took up the battle for the true church in Tunisia after crusading in the Albigensian campaign against the Cathars in the Languedoc region of France, and in the Holy Land 1248-1250 after the fall of Jerusalem in 1244. The campaign in Tunisia may have been initiated at the behest of Louis's brother, Charles of Anjou, King of Naples and Sicily. Although Sicily was handed over to Charles by papal edict in 1262, he had to defeat King Manfred in 1266 to assume his reign. It is Charles that the Sicilian patriots rise up against in the Sicilian Vespers. But back to the heart... Louis and his troops managed to conquer Carthage in the Tunisian campaign but the army was defeated by plague. Louis died there in 1270. A long processional bearing his body back to France then wound its way through Sicily and a number of French provinces before his burial in Paris. Apparently bits and pieces of the king were left in holy shrines along the way. The population venerated Louis as a saint for many years before his formal canonization in 1297. Without Louis's power during the era, his religious devotion, and the many perks he arranged for his large family, would Charles have ever been King of Sicily? Would there have been a Sicilian Vespers massacre for us to write about?

Louis IX of France

Charles of Anjou, King of Naples and Sicily