Palermo boasts a long and eventful history beginning with the Phoenician conquest and going through the Roman, Arab, Norman and Swabian dominations. The Arab enormously contributed to the city growth and left indelible traces of their civilization, notably in the architecture and in the urban layout of the city. The Norman made Palermo the capital city of the Kingdom of Sicily that achieved its height under Roger II who would remarkably foster Sicilian arts and economy. Fond of beauty, in all of its forms, Roger ordered the construction of numerous palazzi, that, still, are major attractions of the town. The Swabian Frederick II was also a lover and patron of arts. He founded a school of poetry and actively contributed to developing natural and physical sciences. Upon his death the Island was taken by the French Angevins, of whom is far more remembered the bad tax policy than the cultural one. The Sicilian Vespers, a revolt broken out in Palermo in 1282 soon spreading to the rest of the Island would ultimately drive them from Sicily. Despite the lost of its status as capital city to Naples, Palermo enjoyed a new period of prosperity, notably marked by a remarkable urban growth. It followed the Catalan-Aragon rule that, following Ferdinand marriage to Isabel of Castile, would join the latter Spanish dynasty. Palermo’s major palazzi and churches were refurbished and restored and many new ones were built, most thanks to local clergy.