Today i'm going to tell you about the history of the Emirate of Sicily and how this affects
the Sicily of today. Ja'far ibn Muhammad was assassinated even as Syracuse fell in 878 to
the Muslims. Internal squabbles continued to slow progress. The Byzantines retained only
a small hold on the north east of Sicily while Aghlabids controlled the vast majority of Sicily
Stalemate. A Byzantine counter-offensive began in 880. Admiral Nasar made an
audacious raid on Palermo and also defeated an Aghlabid fleet at the battle of Stelai.
Although Abu Thawr’s Muslims kept up the pressure on the eastern coast he could not break through.
Sicilian Muslims, previously happy with the ongoing trade now rose up
as the war against the Byzantines ground to a halt.
The population of Palermo ejected their ruler and this triggered a further campaign near Milazzo
in 888. A brief truce and further squabbling slowed the Muslim forces and some even switched sides to the Byzantines in Taormina
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A concerted Byzantine campaign
was repelled by Abu'l-Abbas, who attacked Taormina Catania and Val Demone which is north east Sicily.
Returning from an attack on the Italian mainland Abu'l-Abbas defeated and took over
a Byzantine fleet which had recently arrived from Constantinople. In 902, a renewed attack on
Taormina broke the truce and routed the Byzantine garrison finally taking the city. Byzantine Sicily
was almost lost and Sicily was now effectively a Muslim island. Sicily was now part of the
Fatimid Caliphate, made up of Shiite Fatimids from Egypt from around 909. The Fatimids would continue
the campaign of mopping up the final Byzantine outposts in north east Sicily. While Taormina
rose up again against Muslim control between 902 and 962. This only led to a 30-week siege
Rometta (near Messina) would collapse around 965 despite desperate Byzantine efforts
and included the battle of the straits by Messina. Sicily was now a base for raids on Otto ii
the holy Roman Emperor on the Italian mainland
the Byzantine general George Maniakes began a Sicilian campaign in 1038 and capitalizing on
internal squabbles between the Fatimid groups. Maniakes captured the eastern coast of Sicily.
Repeating earlier Byzantine mistakes, he was recalled to Constantinople by jealous rivals
Messina, the final Byzantine outpost fell in 1042. The emir ruled the army appointed governors
appointed judges and managed the treasury from the building now known as Palazzo Normanni.
It is believed that Palermo began to produce fine material used for clothing. The Fatimids
also introduced their own currency. Sicily became Islamic but to different degrees western
Sicily was very influenced by Islam with a significant Arabic population
whereas areas to the east of Sicily were less influenced. The new rulers implemented land reforms
which increased agricultural production and also benefited smaller land holdings
this reversed the earlier questionable Roman legacy of building up large agricultural estates
owned by a small group of loyal families
The Arabs improved irrigation and introduced the production of oranges lemons and pistachios
a merchant of the time described Palermo in 950 as a walled suburb with a great mosque
a sultan's palace baths offices and a prison different religions were tolerated but non-Muslims
were subject to a poll tax and a land tax albeit Muslims were taxed slightly differently
Christians and Jews could avoid paying the poll tax
by converting to Islam and for a range of reasons a large number of the population did this
by the 10th century Fatimids began to oppress the Christians and force them to convert to Islam
north eastern Sicily remained stubbornly Greek speaking and Christian and resisted conversion
the local population were Greek speaking Byzantine Christians and some Jews
in the 11th century nobles in southern Italy hired Norman mercenaries led by Roger Hauteville,
later known as Roger I of Sicily to invade the emirate of Sicily. In 1038 George Maniakis led
both and Byzantine and Norman campaign into Sicily. Having taken Syracuse he lost his position of leadership
A Muslim counter-offensive reconquered all the cities previously captured by the Byzantines
By 1050 Palermo was one of the largest most spectacular cities in Europe. While the local
population was largely Christian, the Orthodox and Catholic populations began to separate in 1054.
Robert Guiscard attacked Sicily again in 1060. the Emirate of Sicily finally began to fall apart
due to internal disputes and the island was divided first into four regions.
The rulers of these four regions began to jockey for control of the entire island.
Ibn Thumna allied with the Normans to rule the island resulting in a sizable contingent of
Muslim troops in the Hauteville Norman army an army sailed from north Africa to recover
control of the four regions of Sicily. This army disastrously lost two key battles to the Normans,
the first in 1063 when a mix of Sicilians and Africans lost to a Norman force at the Battle of Cerami
underlining the Norman control of the north east of Sicily this victory by the
Normans triggered a wider Sicilian Christian uprising against the Muslim rulers of Sicily
In 1068 Roger gained a vital victory at the battle of Battle of Misilmeri causing
the north African army to flee the island of Sicily. Catania fell to the Normans in 1071
as did Palermo and Trapani in 1072. Losing three such port cities was devastating for the Muslim
rule. The Muslim stronghold of Syracuse governed by Ibn Abbad who launched an extensive counter-attack in 1075
Syracuse eventually did fall after a siege of the city in 1086 during which Ibn Abbad died.
Qas'r Ianni known later as Castrogiovanni and Enna surrendered and converted to Christianity
in 1087. The former ruler of Qas'r Ianni, Hammud retired to Calabria with his family
under the protection of Roger I. The last stand was in Butera and Noto which finally fell in 1091. the
new Norman rulers interestingly respected the existing customs of the Sicilian Arabs
Arab Byzantine Norman culture would leave its mark on Sicilian culture. The tuna industry
was introduced by the Arabs and the technique Mattanza is now largely banned
mineral extraction and salt production were begun in the areas of Trapani and survive until today
Sicily was populated with Arabic culture and Arabic literature and there is a very specific
Sicilian concept of hospitality although of course there was resistance as well
the poor would call their Arab masters “sceccu” which in Sicilian is donkey as a play on the word
Sheikh. The pastry canola is Arabic so is lemon sorbet couscous with pesce, couscous with fish
is an Arabic dish found in the western Sicilian area of Trapani pasta with sardines is likewise
of Arabic origin. Arabic had a major influence on Sicilian language. Arabic words became mainstream
look for the words beginning with the letter c as previously they replaced the letter q
Many towns were subsequently renamed after the Arabic era such as Caltanisseta and Calatafimi
the name Caltagirone has evolved from the Arabic words for castle of pottery jars.
The following buildings include a mixture of Byzantine Arab and Norman architecture
they are world heritage sites. al-Qasr the Royal Palace is now known as Palazzo dei Normanni. It
was the seat of the emir, the ruler of Sicily and is the oldest royal residence in Europe.
Ziza palace was designed by an Arab craftsman for a Norman ruler.
It is Moorish architecture whose name derives from the Arabic word 'splendid.'
La cuba is similar to Ziza and is a mix of Arabic and Norman architecture
Palermo cathedral which was founded by Pope Gregory the first
began as a Byzantine building was converted to an Arabic mosque and then a Norman cathedral
The cathedrals at Monreale and Cefalù are both examples of Byzantine Arab and Norman
architecture. The church of San Cataldo is an Arab Norman architecture building built
during the Norman occupation of Sicily