Emirate of Sicily 4025585 223530690 2008-07-04T13:54:22Z Pippu d'Angelo 131574 /* The Aftermath */ clarify that it's Sicilian we're talking about {{Infobox Former Country |native_name = |conventional_long_name = Emirate of Sicily |common_name = Sicily |continent = Europe |region = Italy |country = Italy |government_type = Monarchy | |year_start = 965 |year_end = 1072 |event_start = |date_start = |event_end = |date_end = | |p1 = Byzantine Empire |s1 = County of Sicily |flag_s1 = | |image_flag = |image_coat = |image_map = Italy 1000 AD.svg |image_map_caption = Italy in 1000. The Emirate of Sicily is coloured in light green. |capital = Palermo | |common_languages = |religion = Islam | |leader1 = Hassan al-Kalbi |year_leader1 = 948-964 |leader2 = Yusuf al-Kalbi |year_leader2 = 990-998 |leader3 = al-Akhal |year_leader3 = 1017-1037 |leader4 = Hasan as-Samsam |year_leader4 = 1040-1053 |title_leader = Emir |footnotes = }} The '''Emirate of Sicily''' was an [[Caliphate|Islamic state]] on the isle of [[Sicily]] from [[965]] to [[1072]].<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> ==Failed invasion== In 535, [[List of Byzantine Emperors|Emperor]] [[Justinian I]] made Sicily a Byzantine province, and for the second time in Sicilian history, the [[Greek language]] became a familiar sound across the island. As the power of the [[Byzantine Empire]] waned, Sicily was invaded by the [[Arab]] forces of [[Caliph]] [[Uthman Ibn Affan|Uthman]] in the year 652. However, the invasion was short-lived and the Arabs left soon after. By the end of the 7th century they had captured the nearby port city of [[Carthage]], allowing the Arabs to build shipyards and a permanent base from which to make more sustained attacks on Europe. <ref name="dmsmi">{{cite book|author=[[Denis Mack Smith|Smith, Denis Mack]],|date=1968|title= ''A History of Sicily: Medieval Sicily 800—1713'',|publisher=Chatto & Windus, London,|isbn=7011 1347 2}} </ref> ==Invasion due to Euphemius== In around [[700]], the island of [[Pantelleria]] was captured by Arabs, and it was only discord among the Arabs that prevented an attempted invasion of Sicily coming next. Instead, trading arrangements were agreed with the Byzantines and Arab merchants were allowed to trade goods with them at the Sicilian ports. By 826, [[Euphemius (King of Sicily)|Euphemius]] the commander of the Byzantine fleet of Sicily forced a nun to marry him. Emperor [[Michael II]] caught wind of the matter and ordered that general Constantine end the marriage and cut off Euphemius' nose. Euphemius rose up, killed Constantine and then occupied Syracuse; he in turn was defeated and driven out to [[North Africa]].<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> He offered rule of Sicily over to [[Ziyadat Allah I of Aghlabids|Ziyadat Allah]] the [[Aghlabid]] Emir of [[Tunisia]] in return for a place as a general and safety; an Islamic army of [[Arabs]], [[Berbers]], [[Spaniards]] (then under muslim rule), [[Cretans]] and [[Persians]] was sent.<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> The conquest was a [[see-saw]] affair: with considerable resistance and many internal struggles, it took over a century for Byzantine Sicily to be conquered. Syracuse held for a long time, [[Taormina]] fell in 902, and all of the island was eventually conquered by 965.<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> ==Period as an Emirate== In succession Sicily was ruled by the Sunni [[Aghlabid]] dynasty in [[Tunisia]] and the Shiite [[Fatimid]]s in [[Egypt]]. The Byzantines took advantage of temporary discord to occupy the eastern end of the island for several years. After suppressing a revolt the Fatimid caliph [[Ismail al-Mansur]] appointed [[Hassan al-Kalbi]] (948-964) as Emir of Sicily. He successfully managed to control the continuously revolting Byzantines and founded the [[Kalbid]] dynasty. Raids into [[Southern Italy]] continued under the Kalbids into the 11th century, and in 982 a German army under [[Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor]] was defeated near Crotone in [[Calabria]]. With Emir [[Yusuf al-Kalbi]] (990-998) a period of steady decline began. Under al-Akhal (1017-1037) the dynastic conflict intensified, with factions within the ruling family allying themselves variously with the [[Byzantine Empire]] and the [[Zirid]]s. By the time of Emir [[Hasan as-Samsam]] (1040-1053) the island had fragmented into several small fiefdoms. [[Image:Palermo 2005 041.jpg|thumb|right|260px|The [[Cathedral of Palermo]].]] The Arabs initiated land reforms which in turn, increased productivity and encouraged the growth of smallholdings, a dent to the dominance of the landed estates. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. A description of [[Palermo]] was given by [[Ibn Hawqal]], a Baghdad merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb called the Kasr (the palace) is the center of Palermo until today, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of [[Al-Khalisa]] ([[Kalsa]]) contained the Sultan's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices and a private prison. Ibn Hawqual reckoned 7,000 individual butchers trading in 150 shops. Throughout this reign, continued revolts by Byzantine Sicilians happened especially in the east and part of the lands were even re-occupied before being quashed. Agricultural items such as [[orange (fruit)|oranges]], [[lemon]]s, [[pistachio]] and [[sugarcane]] were brought to Sicily, <ref name="jpriv">{{cite book | last = Privitera | first = Joseph | title =Sicily: An Illustrated History | publisher =Hippocrene Books | url =http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0781809096/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top | isbn = 978-0781809092}}</ref> the native Christians were allowed [[freedom of religion]] but had to pay an [[Jizya|extra tax]] to their rulers. However, the Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as inner-dynasty related quarrels took place between the Muslim regime.<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> By the 11th century mainland southern Italian powers were hiring ferocious [[Normans|Norman]] merecenaries, who were Christian descendants of the [[Vikings]]; it was the Normans under [[Roger I of Sicily|Roger I]] who captured Sicily from the Muslims.<ref name="stan">{{cite news|url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf|publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu|title=Brief history of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> The Norman [[Robert Guiscard]], son of Tancred, [[Norman conquest of southern Italy|invaded Sicily]] in [[1060]]. The island was split between three Arab [[Emirate|emir]]s, and the sizeable Christian population rose up against the ruling Muslims.<ref>[http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art139.htm Saracen Door and Battle of Palermo]</ref> After taking [[Apulia]] and [[Calabria]], Roger I occupied [[Messina]] with an army of 700 knights. In [[1068]], [[Roger I of Sicily|Roger de Hauteville]] and his men defeated the Muslims at [[Misilmeri]] but the most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo, which led to Sicily being completely in Norman control by [[1091]]. After the conquest of Sicily, the Normans removed the local emir, Yusuf Ibn Abdallah from power, but did so by respecting Arab customs. <ref name="initalymag">{{citenews|url=http://www.initaly.com/regions/sicily/chronol.htm|publisher=In Italy Magazine|title=Chronological - Historical Table Of Sicily|date=[[7 October]] 2007}}</ref> The loss of the cities, each with a splendid harbor, dealt a severe blow to Muslim power on the island. The city of [[Enna|Qas'r Ianni]] (modern Enna) was still ruled by its emir, Ibn Al-Hawas, who held out for years. His successor, [[Ibn Hamud]], surrendered, and converted to [[Christianity]], only in [[1087]]. Afer his conversion, Ibn Hamud subsequently became part of the Christian nobility and retired with his family to an estate in [[Calabria]] provided by Roger I. In [[1091]], [[Butera]] and [[Noto]] in the southern tip of Sicily and the island of [[Malta]], the last Arab stongholds, fell to the Christians with ease. By the [[11th century]] Muslim power in the Mediterranean had begun to wane.<ref>Previte-Orton (1971), pg. 507-11 </ref> ==The Aftermath== The Norman [[Kingdom of Sicily]] under [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]] was characterised by its multi-ethnic nature and religious tolerance.<ref>[http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art171.htm Normans in Sicilian History]</ref> Normans, Jews, Muslim Arabs, Byzantine Greeks, Longobards and "native" Sicilians lived in harmony.<ref>[http://concise.britannica.com/ebc/article-9377080/Roger-II Roger II - Encyclopædia Britannica]</ref><ref>[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D61331F935A15757C0A961948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 Tracing The Norman Rulers of Sicily]</ref> [[Arabic language|Arabic]] remained a language of government and administration for at least a century into Norman rule, and traces remain in the [[Sicilian language|language of the island]] today. <ref name="dmsmi">{{cite book|author=[[Denis Mack Smith|Smith, Denis Mack]],|date=1968|title= ''A History of Sicily: Medieval Sicily 800—1713'',|publisher=Chatto & Windus, London,|isbn=7011 1347 2}} </ref> Rather than exterminate the Muslims of Sicily, the Roger II's grandson Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II of Hohenstaufen]] (1215—1250) allowed them to settle on the mainland and build mosques. Not least, he enlisted them in his Christian army and even into his personal bodyguards.<ref>[http://www.royalist.info/execute/biog?person=3527 Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor]</ref><ref>[http://www.deremilitari.org/resources/articles/saracen_archers.htm Saracen Archers in Southern Italy]</ref> A large scale Muslim rebellion broke out in [[1190]], triggering organized resistance and systematic reprisals<ref>{{cite book|first=Pierre|last=Aubé|title=Roger Ii De Sicile - Un Normand En Méditerranée|publisher=Payot|year=2001}}</ref> and marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily. The Muslim problem characterized [[Hohenstaufen]] rule in Sicily under [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]] ([[1194]]-[[97]]) and his son Frederick II ([[1197]]-[[1250]]). In the 1220s, in order to stamp out the Muslim rebellion, Frederick adopted a programmatic system to remove Islam from Sicily entirely. This was achieved with the expulsion and forced deportation to the Apulian town of [[Lucera]] where they were isolated. The Normans gradually "Latinized" Sicily over the course of two centuries, and this social process laid the groundwork for the introduction of Catholicism (as opposed to Eastern Orthodoxy). The process of Latinization was fostered largely by the Roman Church and its liturgy. The annihilation of Islam in Sicily was completed by the late 1240s, when the final deportations to Lucera took place.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Abulafia|authorlink=David Abulafia|title=Frederick II: A Medieval Emperor |location=London|publisher=Allen Lane|year=1988}}</ref> ==See also== * [[Kalbids]] * [[History of Islam in southern Italy]] ==References== {{Reflist|2}} [[Category:10th century conflicts]] [[Category:11th century conflicts]] [[Category:Muslim history]] [[Category:History of Sicily]] [[Category:Islamic conquests]] [[Category:Islam in Italy]] [[Category:Former Muslim countries in Europe]] [[Category:Former emirates]] [[cs:Sicilský emirát]] [[it:Storia della Sicilia araba]] [[nl:Emiraat Sicilië]] [[scn:Sicilia (èbbica àrabba)]]