If he is the same person, as seems probable, as a "Stefano da Messina" mentioned in other documents, he made Latin and Greek translations of two Arabic treatise on astronomy—Liber rivolutionum (Book of Revolutions) and Flores astronomiae (Flowers of Astronomy)—which he dedicated to King Manfred, son of Frederick II.
At a time when all the Italian languages were very similar, Tuscan copyists altered the Sicilian word endings and other orthographic conventions to produce Tuscanised texts.
This image was first employed in a canso of Rigaut de Barbezieux: the tigress is said to be enchanted by her own beautiful stripes and so be forget about the hunters that pursue her.
[3] While Pir meu is written in the standardised Sicilian of court poetry, the volgare (siciliano) illustre, the first stanza shows hints of the common tongue (siciliana-comune).
[4] A fourth, Amor, da cui move tuttora e vene, customarily assigned to Pier delle Vigne, has been lately ascribed to Stefano.