Peter II (Latin: Petrus, Italian: Pietro, Sicilian: Pietru; 1304 – 8 August 1342) was the King of Sicily from 1337 until his death, although he was associated with his father as co-ruler from 1321. Peter's father was Frederick III of Sicily and his mother was Eleanor, a daughter of Charles II of Naples.[1] His reign was marked by strife between the throne and the nobility, especially the old families of Ventimiglia, Palizzi and Chiaramonte, and by war between Sicily and Naples.[2]
Contemporaries regarded Peter as feeble-minded. Giovanni Villani, in his Nuova Cronica, calls him "almost an imbecile" (Italianate Latin: quasi un mentacatto) and Nicola Speciale, in his Historia Sicula, calls him "pure and simple" (purus et simplex).[2]
Under Peter, the Neapolitans conquered the Lipari Islands and took the cities of Milazzo and Termini in Sicily itself.[2] He died after a short illness on 8 August 1342[2] in Calascibetta and was buried in the cathedral of Palermo. He was succeeded by Louis, his eldest son, who was only four years old.[3]
Drees, Clayton J., ed. (2001). The Late Medieval Age of Crisis and Renewal, 1300-1500: A Biographical Dictionary. Greenwood Press.
Grierson, Philip; Travaini, Lucia (1998). Medieval European Coinage: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Vol. 14 (Italy) part 3 (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia). Cambridge University Press.
Ritzerfeld, Ulrike (2015). "The Language of Power: Transgressing Borders in Luxury Metal Object of the Lusignan". In Rogge, Sabine; Grünbart, Michael (eds.). Medieval Cyprus: a Place of Cultural Encounter. Waxmann Verlag GmbH.
