Medieval Sicily occupies a crucial position in literary history: incorporating the three monotheistic traditions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, it has a repertoire of texts in Arabic, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Romance. 

In the 13th century, Sicily was also the protagonist in a pivotal event in world literature: the rise of the Italian lyric. This early Italian poetry was to influence Dante and Petrarch, as well as humanists and scholars throughout Europe until at least the 18th century.