Giovanni Da Procida

Giovanni da Procida (1210-1298) was a major collaborator of the Swabian dynasty, working with Frederick II and then Manfred to continue, after the fall of Corradino, the anti-Angevin policy, which led him to organize the Sicilian Vespers, and the Aragonese conquest of Sicily.
He was a physician, in the tradition of Salerno’s intellectuals, and is linked to Salerno, in addition to his birth and residence, to two major interventions that changed the face of the city. He expanded the harbor into what is still known today as “Molo Manfredi,” in memory of the king who authorized the work conducted precisely by Giovanni d Procida. He was then the creator of the Fair of St. Matthew, which for centuries would characterize the city and became the moment of maximum economic development until the threshold of contemporary times. Lo Cunto delli Cunti speaks of the Fair in the seventeenth century, testifying to its fame, and still in the eighteenth century there are a few travelers on the Grand Tour who visit the Fair in Salerno.
The event was held for St. Matthew’s Day and spread over a vast area from Porta Nova to the slopes of Carmine, with merchants coming from different parts of the world. The Fair hosted animals, including horses from all over the Mediterranean area, and the fixed stalls, which covered the entire fair area, hosted merchants from Northern Europe, Africans, as well as Amalfitans, Genoese, and Venetians, the great merchants of the time.
The role of Giovanni da Procida in the Vespri Siciliani is recognized by Giuseppe Verdi, who staged him as a character in the opera of the same name.