The Medieval Mediterranean

Islamic and Norman Sicily (800–1200)

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Topic 14. South Italy before the Normans

Viewed socially, culturally, religiously and linguistically, south Italy and the central Mediterranean in the early 1000s were split into three blurred regions: Latin Christian, Greek Byzantine and Arab-Muslim. There were, however, significant 'cultural' overlaps between these areas and they were also sub-divided into spheres of different political influence. On the Tyrrhenian coast, were the former Byzantine duchies of Gaeta, Naples and Amalfi; also on the western side were south Italian 'Lombard' principalities of Capua, Benevento and Salerno; in the heel and toe of the Peninsula were the Byzantine provinces of Apulia and Calabria; Sicily and Ifriqiya were still theoretically under the rule of the Fatimids in Cairo although the island was under the Arab-Muslim Kalbid dynasty, and Ifriqiya was in the hands of the Zirids.

Discussion questions

Topic 15. Al-Mujāhid's attack on Sardinia

The invasion of Sardinia in 1015 by al-Mujāhid, the taifa ruler of Dénia (on the east coast of the Iberian Peninsula), extended Muslim influence into the central Mediterranean via the Balearic Islands. However, it prompted a joint Pisan and Genoese operation to retake the island with papal support. This not only expelled the Andalusi Muslims, but it introduced a long era of Ligurian influence into Sardinia, giving the nascent maritime states firmer footholds in the Tyrrhenian Sea from which to extend their sway southward.

Discussion questions

Topic 16. The rise of the Normans in south Italy

The first Normans began to arrive in south Italy around the turn of the C10th century as pilgrims and mercenary adventurers. They established themselves in Aversa and Melfi, and fought in the armies of local dukes and princes. In 1038 the joined a large Byzantine army which attempted to invade Muslim Sicily. By 1053, they had overcome a papal coalition force at the battle of Civitate, and as dukes and counts themselves, began to consolidate their control over Apulia and Calabria. The most prolific of the south Italian Normans were seven brothers from the Hauteville clan who included the eventual conquerors of Sicily: Robert 'Guiscard' (duke of Apulia, d. 1085) and Roger I (count of Sicily, d. 1101). Their offspring were to become princes of Antioch, dukes of Apulia and the first king of Sicily.

Discussion questions

Topic 17. The Hilalian 'invasion' of Zirid Ifrīqiya

During the 1050s, the range of the Zirid dynasty's influence over Ifriqiya became increasingly limited. Chroniclers record how Hilali Arab tribesmen migrated westwards, overrunning the countryside and tilting the balance of power away from the Zirids in the towns and cities. The political fragmentation of Ifriqiya and its increasing economic debility coincided with the civil war in Sicily, leaving Muslim control over the central Mediterranean seriously undermined at precisely the same time that the Normans were extending their sway southwards in the Italian Peninsula.

Discussion questions

Topic 18. The Norman conquest of Sicily (1061–72)

Latin sources provide detailed and broadly reliable accounts of the conquest period (1060–91). Extending out from bases in the north east of the island, a relatively small number of Norman knights began the 'conquest' while still in the pay of the Muslim Sicilian amir, Ibn al-Thumna. Early phases concentrated on raiding, booty-acquisition and gaining control of a handful of key towns, such as Messina and Troina in addition to those places under Ibn al-Thumna. For the most part, long sieges and set-piece battles were rare e.g. Cerami (1063), and campaigning was often distracted by events on the mainland. After the battle of Misilmeri outside Palermo in 1068, the Zirid forces departed from the island, leaving control of the capital in the hands of a merchant-led coalition under a certain Ibn al-Ba'ba'. For three years, the Norman engaged in siege of Bari until 1071, after which they proceeded to attack Palermo which fell in early 1072.

Discussion questions

Topic 19. The Norman conquest of Sicily and Malta (1072–91)

After the fall of Palermo, many towns made their peace with the Normans while disjointed, 'mopping up' operations followed. Stiff resistance continued only in the south east under the leader of a certain 'Benevert'. Revolts (e.g. at Iato in 1079) were put down swiftly; sea-borne attacks led to the Pisan sacking of the Ifriqiyan capital of Mahdiyya in 1087 and the Norman capture of Malta in 1090. Latin sources offer brief accounts of the Muslim terms of surrender: tribute payments were to be made to the Normans in return for a limited autonomy within their own communities in which the continuity of Islamic law and faith was assured.

Discussion questions

Topic 20. Muslim responses to the Norman conquest

There was no single response among the Muslim communities to the Norman conquest. Reactions were comlex and diverse, but reasonably well attested. They included rapid surrender; joining the Norman army as allies; rebellion; resistance; displacement within Sicily and, for the Muslim elites, emigration overseas. The short-term impact for both the Normans and the Muslims are key to understanding the early relations between the majority of the indigenous population and their new overlords.

Discussion questions

Topic 21. Ecclesiastical lordships

Widespread patronage of both Latin- and Greek-rite churches were an important strategy of the post-conquest generation with profound consequences for papal-Norman relations as well as for the revival of Greek monasticism and the introduction of powerful, new Latin foundations in Sicily. However, the Normans had not always enjoyed good political relations with Rome. Indeed, they had often been - and would continue to be - a source of friction, contention, and potentially dangerous instability for both parties.

Discussion questions

Topic 22. The rise of new elites

The rough consolidation of the mainland and the conquest of the island brought to the fore new figures in the entourage. Their presence can be detected both around the Norman leaders and in positions of executive authority. Some of them were bestowed (or had adopted) titles that misleadingly suggests that there was a high degree of organisation and hierarchy among them. However, other evidence indicates that the rise of new administrative functionaries, prelates, lay lords and local elites across the region also coincided with the emergence of new rivalries, some of which threatened to destabilise Norman rule.

Discussion questions

Topic 23. The early Norman administration of lands and men in Sicily

After a meeting of barons at Mazara in 1093, the first written grants of lands and men were issued to Roger's supporters. The earliest surviving grant from this period dates to 1095 and is a long list composed in Arabic which recorded the names of Muslim 'villeins' conceded to the church of Catania. Such lists were Count Roger's first concerted efforts to manage the divide up and administer the population of the island. These early written grants formed the legal and administrative basis of what would later become a centralised fiscal administration of lands and men, based in Palermo.

Discussion questions

Topic 24. Rebellious lords and the incastellamento question

Possession of the hill tops, defended forts and walled settlements had been an important factor in exercising control over key parts of the island since the Muslim invasion of the ninth and tenth centuries. After the Norman conquest, Count Roger was keen to ensure that a potentially rebellious baronage did not develop, especially in strongholds in easily defensible locations. So, unlike many areas on the Italian mainland which were divided into fiefs, he sought to rule Sicily and Calabria as directly as possible, making relatively few concessions of lands and men to lay lords. His fear of the consequences of rebellious land holders is shown by the dire threats he made to those who usurped his demesne. These were recorded in a rare proclamation made in the mid-1090s relating to the new-found castrum (walled settlement) of Focerò which was later the site of repeated conflict.

Discussion questions

Topic 25. The regency of Adelaide

The standard view of peaceful continuity under Adelaide is undermined by evidence for a widespread, but poorly documented, baronial revolt which broke out after her husband's death in 1101. She is probably best known for the disastrous ‘marriage' to Baldwin, the king of Jerusalem in 1112 having successfully secured the transition of power to her son, Roger. However, changes initiated during her regency were to have long-term consequences for the distribution of power in the region. These included the shift in the political centre of gravity away from the mainland to Palermo, and the acceleration of privileged north Italian settlement in Sicily. Adelaide also patronised Latin- and Greek-rite churches and members of her own kin group, especially Henry her brother who, like her, originally came from Liguria in north-west of the peninsula.

Discussion questions

Topic 26. Christodoulos and George of Antioch

George had worked for the Byzantines in Antioch, but gained most of his experience as a top financial officer for the Zirids in Mahdiya until he fell from favour c. 1108 and fled to Sicily with the help of Christodoulos, Roger's leading functionary. Until c. 1125, these two appear to have directed comital and provincial affairs in Sicily and Calabria, but after the demise of Christodoulos (about whom relatively little is known), executive power was concentrated in George's hands, and he dominated comital and royal affairs as the 'amir of amirs' until his death in 1151. The recent 'discovery' of al-Maqrizi's biography of George of Antioch has shed more light on his importance as a behind-the-scenes svengali figure who, as Roger's closest counsellor, shaped the royal image while establishing and organising the realm's central fiscal and diplomatic offices.

Discussion questions

Topic 27. Roger II as Count of Sicily

Roger became count of Sicily in 1105 after the death of his infant brother, Simon, and ruled with his mother until he came of age in 1112. Very little is known of his early years until he became more personally involved with issues arising over lordships on the mainland where, in 1127, a succession crisis was sparked over the question of Apulia. Its duke, William (the grandson of Robert Guiscard) died without heirs, prompting Roger to claim the title and forcefully extend his sway over the mainland where he had become increasingly powerful since the early 1120s. Although Roger was invested as duke by Pope Honorius II, the latter's death in February 1130 led to a papal schism between rivals Innocent II and the antipope, Anacletus II, whose support of Roger paved the way for the creation of the kingdom of Sicily and Roger's coronation in December 1130. The main sources for the rudimentary unification of the mainland are the Benventan, chronicler, Falco and Roger's biographer, Alexander of Telese.

Discussion questions

Topic 28. Sicily and the Mediterranean (1118–28)

For over decade the Normans focused their attention on expanding control over the sea lanes around Sicily. This was a politically and commerically sensitive and risky operation. For as long as treaties between Sicily and Ifrīqiya had held firm, there had been little direct involvement in each other's affairs. However, a series of mutual raids soured relations and saw the development of Norman naval power. Not all raids were successful either politically or materially: a large-scale attack on Mahdiya in 1123 led by Christodoulos and George of Antioch was an expensive failure, but the recapture of Malta in 1127 again signalled the Normans' wider overseas ambitions.

Discussion questions

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