Abulafia, David. Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor. (London: Penguin Press, 1988). The author tries to dispel some of the legends that have grown up around the stupor mundi. The work looks at the life of Frederick II and the conflicts that would eventually lead to the War of the Sicilian Vespers.
Amari, Michele. History of the War of the Sicilian Vespers. Translated by Anne B. I. Percy. Edited, with an introduction and notes, by the Earl of Ellesmere. (London: R. Bentley, 1850). Amari gives a Sicilian and decidedly nationalistic perspective on the origins and conduct of the war. Unfortunately the English translation of this classic work has not been reprinted.
Bisson, T. N. The Medieval Crown of Aragon: A Short History. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1991). An excellent overview of the medieval history of Aragon.
Burns, Robert I. The Crusader Kingdom of Valencia: Reconstruction on a Thirteenth Century Frontier. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967). Father Robert Burns has written extensively on the history of medieval Valencia and the above is just one example.
Desclot, Bernat. Chronicle of the reign of King Pedro III of Aragon. Translated by F. L. Critchlow. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1928-34). The only English translation of the Desclot chronicle of the war.
Dunbabin, Jean. Charles I of Anjou: Power, Kingship and State-Making in Thirteenth-Century Europe. (London: Longman, 1998). A good book on Charles of Anjou giving the French perspective on his reign.
Epstein, Stephan R. An Island for Itself. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992). A standard work on late medieval Sicily.
Mack-Smith, Denis. Medieval Sicily 800-1713. (New York: Viking Press, 1968). A classic overview of the history of Sicily.
Mott, Lawrence V. Sea Power in the Medieval Mediterranean: The Catalan-Aragonese Fleet in the War of the Sicilian Vespers. (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2003). An overview of the war followed by a detailed look at the Catalan-Aragoese fleet based on the fleet accounts. The work also examines the origins of the Office of the Admiral and the fleet's organization.
Muntaner, Ramon. The Chronicle of Muntaner. Translated by Lady Goodenough. 2 vols. (London: Hakluyt Society, 1920). The only English translation of the work by Muntaner, who was an eyewitness to the battles of Roger of Lauria. While the translation is relatively good, in an effort to make the chronicle a literary work Lady Goodenough left out details such a the number of oars the galleys had and also the specific type-names for vessels.
Pryor, John. "The naval battles of Roger de Lauria." Journal of Medieval History 9 (1983): 179-216. A good summary of the naval battles of Roger of Lauria.
Pryor, John. “The transportation of horses by sea during the era of the Crusades: Eighth century to 1285 A.D.” Mariner’s Mirror 68 (1982): 9-27, 103-129.
Pryor, John. “The naval architecture of crusader transport ships and horse transports revisited.” Mariner’s Mirror 76 (1990): 255-273. This and the above reference are important contributions to our understanding of horse transports during the Middle Ages.
Pryor, John. Geography, Technology and War: Studies in the Maritime History of the Mediterranean 649-1571. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988). A excellent overview of seafaring in the medieval Mediterranean.
Runciman, Steven. The Sicilian Vespers. (Cambridge: Canto Press, 1992). This classic work focuses primarily on the events leading up to the war and looks at the causes from a strictly diplomatic history perspective. While an easy read, the chronology of the war can be difficult to follow.
