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Thehistory of Islam in Sicily and southern Italy began withArab colonization inSicily, atMazara, which was captured in 827.[1] The subsequent rule ofSicily andMalta started in the 10th century.[2] TheEmirate of Sicily lasted from 831 until 1061, and controlled the whole island by 965. Though Sicily was the primaryMuslim stronghold inItaly, some temporary footholds, the most substantial of which was the port city ofBari (occupied from 847 until 871), were established on the mainland peninsula, especially in mainlandsouthern Italy, though Arab raids, mainly those ofMuhammad I ibn al-Aghlab, reached as far north asNaples,Rome and the northern region ofPiedmont. The Arab raids were part of a larger struggle for power in Italy andEurope, withChristianByzantine,Frankish,Norman and indigenousItalian forces also competing for control. Arabs were sometimes allied with various Christian factions against other factions.
In 965 theKalbids established the independence of their emirate from theFatimid Caliphate. In 1061 theNormans tookMessina, and by 1072Palermo and its citadel were captured. In 1091Noto also fell to the Normans, and the conquest was complete. Malta fell later that year, though the Arab administration was kept in place,[3] marking the final chapter of this period.[4] The conquests of the Normans establishedRoman Catholicism firmly in the region, whereEastern Christianity had been prominent during the time ofByzantine rule and even remained significant during Islamic period.[5][6] In 1245, Muslims were deported to thesettlement of Lucera, by order ofFrederick II,king of Sicily.[7] In 1300,Giovanni Pipino da Barletta, count of Altamura, seized Lucera and exiled its population, bringing an end to the medieval Muslim presence in Italy.[8]
The first attacks by Arab ships on Sicily, then part of theByzantine Empire, occurred in 652 under theRashidun Caliphate ofUthman.Olympius, the Byzantineexarch of Ravenna, came to Sicily to oust the invaders but failed.[citation needed]
A second Arab expedition to Sicily occurred in 669. This time, a strong, ravaging force consisting of 200 ships fromAlexandria attacked the island. They sackedSyracuse, Sicily and returned toEgypt after a month of pillaging. After theArab conquest of North Africa (completed around 700), attacks from Arab fleets repeated in 703 (during the reign ofMusa ibn Nusayr as governor ofIfriqiya 703–715), 728, 729, 730, 731 (during the reign ofUbayda ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami as governor of Ifriqiya 727–732), 733, and 734 (during the reign ofUqba ibn Qudama as governor of Ifriqiya 732–734).
The first true conquest expedition was launched in 740. In that year,Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri, who had participated in the 728 attack, successfully captured Syracuse. Though ready to conquer the whole island, the expedition was forced to return toTunisia by aBerber revolt. A second attack in 752 aimed only to sack Syracuse again.
In 805, the imperial patrician of Sicily, Constantine, signed a ten-year truce withIbrahim I ibn al-Aghlab,Emir ofIfriqiya, but this did not prevent Arab fleets from other areas of Africa and Spain from attackingSardinia andCorsica from 806 to 821. In 812, Ibrahim's son, Abdallah I, sent an invasion force to conquer Sicily. His ships were first harassed by the intervention ofGaeta andAmalfi and were later destroyed in great number by a tempest. However, they managed to conquer the island ofLampedusa and to ravagePonza andIschia in theTyrrhenian Sea. A further agreement between the new patrician Gregorius and the emir established the freedom of commerce between southern Italy and Ifriqiya. After a further attack in 819 by Mohammed ibn-Adballad, cousin of AmirZiyadat Allah I of Ifriqiya, no subsequent Arab attacks on Sicily are mentioned by sources until 827.
The Arab conquest of Sicily and parts of southern Italy lasted 75 years. According to some sources, the conquest was spurred byEuphemius, a Byzantine commander who feared punishment by EmperorMichael II for a sexual indiscretion. After a short-lived conquest of Syracuse, he was proclaimed emperor but was compelled by loyal forces to flee to the court of Ziyadat Allah in Africa. The latter agreed to conquer Sicily, with the promise to leave it to Euphemius in exchange for a yearly tribute. He entrusted its conquest to the 70-year-oldqadi,Asad ibn al-Furat. The Muslim force numbered 10,000 infantry, 700 cavalry, and 100 ships, reinforced by the fleet of Euphemius and, after the landing atMazara del Vallo, by knights. The first battle against Byzantine troops occurred on July 15, 827, near Mazara, resulting in anAghlabid victory.
Asad subsequently conquered the southern shore of the island and laid siege to Syracuse. After ayear of siege and an attempted mutiny, his troops were able to defeat a large army sent fromPalermo backed by a Venetian fleet led bydogeGiustiniano Participazio. However, the Muslims retreated to the castle ofMineo when a plague killed many of their troops and Asad himself. They later returned to the offensive but failed to conquerCastrogiovanni (the modern Enna, where Euphemius died), retreating back to Mazara. In 830, they received a strong reinforcement of 30,000 African and Spanish troops. The Spanish Muslims defeated the Byzantine commander Theodotus in July and August of that year, but a plague once again forced them to return to Mazara and then to Africa. The African Berber units sent to besiege Palermo captured it in September 831 after a year-long siege.[9] Palermo, renamed al-Madinah, became the Muslim capital of Sicily.[10]
In February 832, Ziyadat Allah sent his cousinAbu Fihr Muhammad ibn Abd-Allah to the island and appointed him as thewāli of Sicily.[10] He defeated the Byzantines in early 834, and in the following year his troops reached as far asTaormina. The war dragged on for several years with minor Ahglabid victories, while the Byzantines resisted in their strongholds ofCastrogiovanni andCefalù. New troops arrived in the island from the new EmirAl-Aghlab Abu Affan and occupiedPlatani,Caltabellotta,Corleone,Marineo, andGeraci, granting the Muslims total control of western Sicily.
In 836, Muslim ships helped their ally,Andrew II of Naples, when he was besieged byBeneventan troops,[11] and with Neapolitan supportMessina was also conquered in 842 byMuhammad Abul Abbas of Sicily, who later established theEmirate of Bari. In 845,Modica also fell, and the Byzantines suffered a crushing defeat near Butera, losing about 10,000 men.Lentini was conquered in 846, andRagusa followed in 848.
In 851, the governor and generalAl-Aghlab Abu Ibrahim died. He was succeeded byAbbas ibn Fadhl. He started a campaign of ravages against the lands still in Byzantine hands, capturingButera,Gagliano, Cefalù, and, most important of all, Castrogiovanni, in winter 859.[12] Many of the captives from Castrogiovanni were sent to theCaliph Al-Mutawakkil, as a representation of Abbas ibn Fadhl's victory.[13] In response, the Byzantine emperor sent a large force in 859–860 underConstantine Kontomytes, but the army and the fleet carrying it were defeated by Abbas. Byzantine reinforcements led many of the cities subjugated by the Muslims to revolt, and Abbas devoted the years 860–861 to reduce them. Abbas died in 861, replaced by his uncle Ahmed ibn Yaqub and, from February 862, by Abdallah, son of Abbas; the latter was in turn replaced by the Aghlabids with Khafagia ibn Sofian, who capturedNoto,Scicli, andTroina.
In the summer of 868, the Byzantines were defeated for the first time near Syracuse. Hostilities resumed in the early summer of 877 by the newsultan,Jafar ibn Muhammad al-Tamini, whobesieged Syracuse; the city fell on May 21, 878. The Byzantines now maintained control over a short stretch of coast around Taormina, while the Muslim fleet attacked Greece and Malta. The latter fleet was, however, destroyed in a naval battle in 880. For a while, it seemed that the Byzantines could regain Sicily, but new land victories for the Muslims re-established their control. A revolt in Palermo against GovernorSeuàda ibn Muhammad was crushed in 887.
The death of the strong EmperorBasil I in 886 also encouraged the Muslims to attackCalabria, where the imperial army was defeated in the summer of 888. However, the first inner revolt was followed by another in 890, mostly spurred by the hostility between Arabs and Berbers. In 892 an emir was sent from Ifriqiya byIbrahim II ibn Ahmad to Palermo but was ousted again a few months later. The prince did not relent and sent another powerful army to Sicily under his son,Abu l-Abbas Abdallah, in 900. The Sicilians were defeated at Trapani (August 22) and outside Palermo (September 8), the latter city resisting for another ten days. Abu l-Abbas moved against the remaining Byzantine strongholds and was also able to captureReggio Calabria on the mainland on June 10, 901.
As Ibrahim was forced to abdicate in Tunis, he decided to lead in person the operations in southern Italy. Taormina, the last main Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, fell on August 1, 902. Messina and other cities opened their gates to avoid a similar massacre. Ibrahim's army also marched on southern Calabria, besiegingCosenza. Ibrahim died of dysentery on October 24. His grandson stopped the military campaign and returned to Sicily.
At this point (902), Sicily was almost entirely under the control of the Aghlabids with the exception of some minor strongholds in the rugged interior. The population had been somewhat increased by Muslim migrants from Iberia, North Africa, and the Middle East. The emir in Palermo nominated the governors of the main cities (qadi) and those of the less important ones (hakim), along with the other functionaries. Each city had a council called agema, composed of the most eminent members of the local society, which was entrusted with the care of the public works and of the social order. The conquered Sicilian population lived asdhimmi or converted to Islam.
The Arabs initiated land reforms that increased productivity and encouraged the growth of smallholdings, a mere dent in the dominance of the landed estates. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. With about 300,000 inhabitants, Palermo in the 10th century was the most populous city in Italy.[14] A description of the city was given byIbn Hawqal, a Baghdad merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb called the Kasr (the citadel) was (and remains) the center of Palermo, and the great Friday mosque stood 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 Hawqal reckoned there were 7,000 individual butchers trading in 150 shops.
In 909, the African Aghlabid dynasty was replaced by theFatimid Caliphate, anIsmailiShi'i dynasty. Three years later, the Fatimid governor was ousted from Palermo when the island declared its independence under EmirIbn Qurhub.[15] His failed siege of Taormina,[16] which had been rebuilt by the Christians, weakened his influence.[16] By 917, a Fatimid fleet, brought by pleas from a dissatisfied Sicilian faction, placed Palermo under siege. After a six-month siege, Ibn Qurhub and his son were captured and executed.[16]
The island was governed by a Fatimid emir for the following 20 years. In 937, the Berbers ofAgrigento revolted again but after two resounding successes were decisively beaten at the gates of Palermo. An army was then sent by the new Fatimid caliph,al-Qa'im bi-Amr Allah, to besiege Agrigento twice until it fell on November 20, 940. The revolt was totally suppressed in 941 with many of the prisoners sold as slaves and Governor Khalil boasting to have killed 600,000 people in his campaigns.
After suppressing another revolt in 948, the Fatimid CaliphIsmail al-Mansur namedal-Hasan ibn Ali al-Kalbi as emir of the island. As his position soon became hereditary, his emirate becamede facto independent from the African government. In 950, Hassan waged war against the Byzantines in southern Italy, reaching up toGerace andCassano allo Ionio. A second Calabrian campaign in 952 resulted in the defeat of the Byzantine army; Gerace was again besieged, but in the end EmperorConstantine VII was forced to accept having the Calabrian cities pay a tribute to Sicily.
In 956, the Byzantines reconquered Reggio and invaded Sicily; a truce was signed in 960. Two years later a revolt in Taormina was bloodily suppressed, but the resistance of the Christians in theSiege of Rometta led the new emperorNikephoros II Phokas to send an army of 40,000 Armenians, Thracians, and Slavs under his nephewManuel, who captured Messina in October 964.[17] The Byzantine forces, however, were swiftly routed in Rometta and at theBattle of the Straits, and the city soon fell to the Muslims, completing the Islamic conquest of Sicily. Manuel, along with 10,000 of his men, was killed in the fray.[18]
The new emirAbu'l-Qasim Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi (964–982) launched a series of attacks against Calabria in the 970s, while the fleet under his brother attacked theAdriatic coasts ofApulia, capturing some strongholds. As the Byzantines were busy against the Fatimids in Syria and with the partial conquest of theBulgarian Empire, the German EmperorOtto II decided to intervene. The allied German-Lombard army was defeated in 982 at theBattle of Stilo. However, as al-Qasim himself had been killed, his sonJabir al-Kalbi prudently retreated to Sicily without exploiting the victory. In 1005, a Christian fleet coming fromPisa sacked the Arab held Reggio Calabria and massacred all the Saracens to the great jubilation of the local population.[19] In 1006 a new Saracen fleet was defeated near Reggio Calabria by the Pisans.[20]
The emirate reached its cultural peak under the emirsJa'far (983–985) andYusuf al-Kalbi (990–998), both patrons of the arts. The latter's sonJa'far was instead a cruel and violent lord who expelled the Berbers from the island after an unsuccessful revolt against him. In 1019, another uprising in Palermo was successful, and Ja'far was exiled to Africa and replaced by his brotheral-Akhal (1019–1037).
With the support of the Fatimids, al-Akhal defeated two Byzantine expeditions in 1026 and 1031. His attempt to raise a heavy tax to pay his mercenaries caused a civil war. Al-Akhal asked the Byzantines for support while his brother abu-Hafs, leader of the rebels, received troops from theZirid Emir ofIfriqiya,al-Muizz ibn Badis, which were commanded by his son Abdallah.
The local population conquered by the Muslims were Greek speaking Byzantine Christians, but there were also a significant number of Jews.[21] These conquered people were afforded a limitedfreedom of religion under the Muslims asdhimmi, protected peoples, but were subject to some legal restrictions. Thedhimmi were also required to pay thejizya, or poll tax, and thekharaj or land tax, but were exempt from the tax that Muslims had to pay (Zakaat). Under Arab rule there were different categories of Jizya payers, but their common denominator was the payment of the Jizya as a mark of subjection to Muslim rule in exchange for protection against foreign and internal aggression. The conquered population could avoid this subservient status simply by converting to Islam. Whether by honest religious conviction or societal compulsion large numbers of native Sicilians converted to Islam. However, even after 100 years of Islamic rule, numerous Greek speaking Christian communities prospered, especially in north-eastern Sicily, as dhimmi. This was largely a result of the Jizya system which allowed subservient co-existence. This co-existence with the conquered population fell apart after the reconquest of Sicily, particularly following the death of KingWilliam II of Sicily in 1189.
In 1038, a Byzantine army underGeorge Maniaces crossed the strait of Messina. This included a corps ofNormans which saved the situation in the first clash against the Muslims from Messina. After another decisive victory in the summer of 1040, Maniaces halted his march to lay siege to Syracuse. Despite his conquest of the latter, Maniaces was removed from his position, and the subsequent Muslim counter-offensive reconquered all the cities captured by the Byzantines.[22]
The NormanRobert Guiscard, son of Tancred,invaded Sicily in 1060. The island was split between three Arab emirs, and the Sicilian population rose up against the ruling Muslims. One year later, Messina fell, and in 1072, Palermo was taken by the Normans.[23] The loss of the cities, each with a splendid harbor, dealt a severe blow to Muslim power on the island. Eventually all of Sicily was taken. In 1091,Noto in the southern tip of Sicily and the island of Malta, the last Arab strongholds, fell to the Christians. By the 11th century, Muslim power in the Mediterranean had begun to wane.[24]
After the Norman conquest, many Muslims decided to leave Sicily and to go into exile like the famous poets likeAbu Al Hasan Al Balnubi andIbn Hamdis who also wrote poetry regarding their exile. Nevertheless, some Muslims remained in the island, but they lived confined in an inner territory of western Sicily, in the area ranging from Palermo to Agrigento.[25] The existence of Muslims was constant issue duringHohenstaufen rule in Sicily underHenry VI and his sonFrederick II. Many oppressive measures were introduced by Frederick to please the popes who were afraid of Muslims so close to the papal state.[26] This resulted in a rebellion by Sicilian Muslims,[27] which in turn triggered organized resistance and systematic reprisals which marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily.[28] Under Frederick's reign, Moors were progressively eradicated until the massive deportation of the lastMuslims of Sicily.[29] The historians have calculated that the number of expelled Muslims from Sicily was around 60,000, which means almost all of the Muslim population of the island.[30][31] Most went to North Africa, while others were initially deported to a series of cities on mainland Italy:Lucera,Girifalco,Acerenza,Stornara,Casal Monte Saraceno andCastel Saraceno.[25] From 1224 to 1239 some of these Muslims tried to return in Sicily, but in 1239 Frederick decided to deport all of them only in Lucera and the other cities were abandoned.[25] The annihilation of Islam in Sicily was completed by the late 1240s when the final deportations toLucera took place.[32]
Some of the expelled Muslims were deported toLucera (Lugêrah, as it was known in Arabic). Their numbers eventually reached between 15,000 and 20,000,[33] leading Lucera to be calledLucaera Saracenorum. The colony thrived for 75 years until it was sacked in 1300 by Christian forces under the command of theAngevinCharles II of Naples. The city's Muslim inhabitants were exiled or sold into slavery,[34] with many finding asylum inAlbania across theAdriatic Sea.[35] After the expulsions of Muslims in Lucera, Charles II replaced Lucera's Saracens with Christians, chieflyBurgundian andProvençal soldiers and farmers,[36] following an initial settlement of 140 Provençal families in 1273.[37] A remnant of the descendants of these Provençal colonists, still speaking aFranco-Provençal dialect, has survived till the present day in the villages ofFaeto andCelle di San Vito.
During Sicily's time in theCrown of Aragon, theSpanish Inquisition arrived on the island. The first Muslim executed during this period was a "renegade" convert, Olivieri de Mauro, who was burned inauto-da-fé on August 11, 1506.[38] This "renegade", however, would be the only person executed by the inquisition in Sicily during the rule ofFerdinand II, which "functioned rather carefully" there.[39]
In the early years of Spanish rule, many Muslims or former Muslims were held asslaves in Sicily and accounted for a significant portion of Sicily's population.[40] Such population was no longer present in Sicily by the early 17th century when, to escape the Spanish inquisition of theMoriscos (Muslims who had converted to Christianity) inthe Iberian peninsula, a few Moriscos migrated to Sicily. During this time there were several attempts to rid Sicily of its formerly Muslim population. Unlike theJewish Neofiti, however, it is doubtful that the order was carried out in practice. The main reason that some former Muslims were able to remain in Sicily was that they were openly supported bythe Duke of Osuna, now officially installed as viceroy inPalermo, advocated to the Spanish monarch inMadrid for allowing the Moriscos to stay in Sicily, exempting them from enslavement or from expulsion toBarbary, as long as they wanted “to beChristians and live accordingly.” On many occasions, the Duke of Osuna openly stressed the heroism of the Moors who had freed eight Christian prisoners inBizerte, Tunisia. They were presented in such a positive light that Osuna did not hesitate to take them into his service.[41]
UnderPhilip II, five Muslims were executed and another two were executed ineffigy by the inquisition. Four of these Muslims, "renegade" European converts, were executed at a specialEaster (or April 1st) 1572auto-da-fé held at the waterfront ofMessina (afterLepanto) in the presence ofDon Juan of Austria and aPapal legate. They were auditor Hamet Reis (Giulio) ofLe Castella inCalabria, Jefer (Pietro) ofCorsica, Curto (Matteo) ofVenice, and Perabana (Francisco Pérez) ofGranada.[42] Perabana, a physician, was born to a Jewish father and a Morisca mother; he converted to Islam after leaving Spain forDjerba. He had previously worked in the hospital on Djerba and treated the wounded in theBattle of Los Gelves in 1560,[43] later joining theOttoman Navy as a doctor in 1571. They had been captured at Lepanto, and while imprisoned he openly professed his Islamic views and called Catholic sacraments "nonsense"; the three others also refused to convert back.[39] Two more converts taken prisoner at Lepanto, Angelo de Azizi (a Morisco) and Joanello lo Carceto (a Berber), similarly refused and were executed inPalermo on June 1st.[44]
Between 1617 and 1640 (underPhilip III andPhilip IV), nine heretics were burned at Palermoautos, including two slaves who "relapsed 'pertinaciously' to Islam."[39] The first was Margarita, known as Arabia, a Turkish woman owned by Francesco Lombardo. She had initially converted to Christianity when first enslaved in Naples believing she would be freed, but never attended Mass and "lived like a Turk"; she was sentenced to death in 1616 but not executed until 1618 as the General Inquisition in Madrid ordered the Sicilians to attempt to sincerely convert her. The second was Mahomet, alias Gabriel Tudesco, a 41-year-old native ofAlgiers owned by a knight inCatania. Previously arrested in 1628 and released in 1638, having avoided part of his sentence by feigning insanity, he and seven other slaves attempted to hijack a boat and flee to North Africa; he was executed on September 9, 1640, becoming the last Muslim executed by the Spanish Inquisition.[44][39]
Even as the conquest of Sicily was ongoing, the Aghlabids began campaigning on the Italian mainland. Their invasions ofCalabria andApulia, as well as their attacks on other centralMediterranean islands, were probably undertaken as an extension of their conquest of Sicily, aiming to aid the latter by attacking other Byzantine positions in the region.[45]: 476 [46]: 208 The first major expeditions to the peninsula took place between 835 and 843.[46]: 208 Amantea was taken in 839 or 846 and occupied until 886, when the Byzantines retook it.[46]: 208 [47]: 249 Taranto was captured in 840 and occupied until 880.[46]: 208 Bari was captured by Muslims either in 840 or 847.[45]Rome wasraided by a Muslim force in 846, although it is not certain that the raiders came from Aghlabid territory.[48]: 26 [49]: 122 Another attack towards Rome took place in 849, leading to agreat naval battle nearOstia during which a fleet of Muslim ships was destroyed, marking a halt to Muslim advances on the peninsula.[50]: 35
Many of the Muslim forces that operated on the peninsula or occupied some of its cities seem to have had only tenuous allegiances to the Aghlabid dynasty.[48]: 49 Some Muslim mercenaries even entered into the service ofNaples or localLombard rulers at various times.[48]: 19–26, 49–54 The early Muslim occupiers of Bari, for example, appear to have served as mercenaries ofRadelchis I ofBenevento. TheEmirate of Bari, which existed from 847 to 871,[46]: 209 had its own rulers whose relations to the Aghlabids are not clearly known.[45]
The Adriatic port city ofBari, in the Apulia region of southern Italy, was captured by a Muslim army in 847, then remained under Muslim control for the next 25 years. It became the capital of a small independent Islamic state with an emir and a mosque of its own. The first ruler of Bari was Khalfun, who had probably come from Sicily. After his death in 852, he was succeeded by Mufarraq ibn Sallam, who strengthened the Muslim conquest and enlarged its boundaries. He also asked for official recognition from Baghdad Caliphal-Mutawakkil's governor in Egypt aswāli (i.e., prefect ruling over a province of the Abbasid empire). The third, and last, emir of Bari was Sawdan, who came to power around 857 after the murder of Mufarraq. He invaded the lands of the LombardDuchy of Benevento, forcing dukeAdelchis to pay a tribute. In 864, he obtained the official investiture requested by Mufarrag. The town was embellished with a mosque, palaces and public works.
In 866 theEmperor Louis organised a response. Aftera five-year campaign, he fought his way deep intoApulia andCalabria but bypassing major population centres like Bari or Taranto. A few towns were freed of Muslim control and the various Muslim bands encountered were universally defeated.[51] Encouraged by these successes, Louis attacked Bari with a ground force of Franks and Lombards and aided by aCroatian fleet.[51] In February 871 the citadel fell and Sawdan was captured and taken to Benevento in chains.[51] In 1002 a last attempt of Saracen conquest was stopped, when a Venetian fleet defeated Muslims besieging Bari.[52]
The Emirate of Taranto is the name given to an approximate Muslim settlement built starting from 840 by warriors from the recently conquered Sicily (827) who would have been under the command of a certain Saba, not better identified but remembered by Venetian chronicle ofJohn the Deacon.[53] What was initially an entrenched camp of Muslim warriors from Sicily was consolidated in 846, to resist as a settlement in Saracen hands until 880.[54] TheVenetians, to defend their role as a commercial port ofByzantium (whose traffic had been threatened by a destructive Saracen raid onBrindisi in 838),[55] already intervened in the spring of 841, probably on behalf of the Byzantines, moving against Taranto with a fleet of sixty ships, but were defeated in theIonian Sea and pursued as far asIstria, where the Muslims sacked the island ofCres, also setting fire toAncona and attempting an incursion from the mouth of thePo.[56] In thecanal of Otranto they then destroyed other Venetian ships coming from Sicily. The following year the Saracens of Taranto pushed again as far asKvarner Gulf, defeating a Venetian fleet that had arrived there to face them.[56] These victories strengthened the base of Taranto, at least in this time not an independent state, much less an "Emirate", but a foothold from which to start raids in the Adriatic and in the surrounding cities, initially at the service of the rebelSiconulf, prince ofSalerno. Thus not only Saracens from Sicily arrived in Taranto, but alsoAfrican Berber andAndalusian corsairs exiled toCrete, attracted by the prospects of easy booty.[57]
The last presumed emir of Taranto, a certain ʿUthmān, allegedly negotiated in 875 or 876 withAdelchi,Duke of Benevento, the liberation of Sawdān, the terrible emir of Bari, prisoner for 4–5 years in Benevento and that he would then take refuge again in Taranto, perhaps having already been its commander before ʿUthmān.[58]
The end of the Islamic presence in the Apulian city occurred in 880, by the Byzantine forces and the commanderLeo Apostyppes. Under the energetic leadership ofBasil I the Macedonian, between 876 and 880 a huge fleet commanded by the SyrianNasar and two armies led by Procopius and Leo were set up.[54] The first result obtained by these was the occupation of Taranto in 880, and the enslavement of its Arab-Berber population, while the town was occupied by a Greek garrison.[54]
Throughout the ninth century, Arab ships dominated the Tyrrhenian Sea.[59] Their pirates prowled the Italian coast launching hit and run attacks against the cities ofAmalfi,Gaeta,Naples, andSalerno.[60] During this period, as the cities took command of their own defences, theDuchies of Gaeta andAmalfi gained their independence from theDuchy of Naples. The Christian states of theCampania were not yet prepared, however, to ally against the new Saracen threat. Amalfi and Gaeta regularly teamed up with the Saracens and Naples was hardly better, all much to the chagrin of the Papacy.[61] In fact, it was Naples that first brought Saracen troops to the south Italian mainland whenDuke Andrew II hired them as mercenaries during his war withSicard,Prince of Benevento, in 836. Sicard immediately responded with his own Saracen mercenaries and their usage soon became the norm.
In 846 theDuchy of Naples, in alliance with maritime powers ofGaeta,Amalfi andSorrento, defeated a Saracen fleet nearLicosa. Before the battle, the alliance had already recapturedPonza which had fallen into the possession of the Saracens earlier that year.[62] In response, a large Saracen force landed atPorto andOstia in 846, annihilating the local Christian garrison.[50] The Arabs struck following theTiber and theOstiense andPortuense roads, as the Roman militia hastily retreated to the safety of the Roman walls.[50][63] At the same time, other Arab forces landed atCentumcellae,marching towards Rome.[50] No contemporary account hints at any Saracen attempt to penetrate the city, but it is possible that the Romans defended theAurelian Walls, while outside of the city, aroundSt. Peter's Basilica, members of the Vaticanscholae (Saxons,Lombards,Frisians andFranks) attempted to resist, but were defeated.[64] In the meantime, an army coming fromSpoleto and headed by Lombard DukeGuy, attacked the Arabs, hindered by booty and prisoners, in front of the city walls, pursuing a part of them until Centumcellae, while another group tried to reachMiseno by land.[65] The Saracens were able to embark, but a storm destroyed many ships, bringing on the beaches many corpses adorned with jewels which could be recovered. After that, the Lombard army headed south, reaching the Arabs atGaeta, where another battle was engaged.[65] On that occasion, only the arrival ofCaesar of Naples, son ofSergius,Magister Militum of Naples, decided the battle in favour of the Christians.[65]
Three years later, the same coalition of maritime powers, led by Caesar of Naples and supported by the Papal States, defeated another Arabic fleet near the recently refortifiedOstia. The Saracen survivors were made prisoners, enslaved and sent to work inchain gangs building theLeonine Wall which was to encompass theVatican Hill. Rome would never again be threatened by an Arab army.[63] After theChristian conquest of Bari, anAghlabid force landed in Calabria andbesieged Salerno, butthe Emperor Louis forced the raising of the siege.[66]
In 877,Pope John VIII, who encouraged a vigorous policy against the Muslim pirates and raiders, led an alliance ofCapua,Salerno and Gaeta and defeated a Muslim fleet nearMount Circeo, capturing 18 enemy vessels and freeing 600 Christian slaves.[67] In 880 or 881, John rescinded his grant ofTraetto toDocibilis I of Gaeta and gave it instead toPandenulf of Capua. As Patricia Skinner relates:
[Pandenolf] began to attack Gaeta's territory, and in retaliation against the pope Docibilis unleashed a group of Arabs from Agropoli near Salerno on the area around Fondi. The pope was "filled with shame" and restored Traetto to Docibilis. Their agreement seems to have sparked off a Saracen attack on Gaeta itself, in which many Gaetans were killed or captured. Eventually peace was restored and the Saracens made a permanent settlement on the mouth of the Garigliano river.[68]
In 898 theAbbey of Farfa was sacked by "Saracens", who burned it to the ground.[69] AbbotPeter of Farfa managed to organise the community's escape and salvaged its library and archives. In 905, the monastery was again attacked and destroyed by "Saracens".[70] Other areas of historical Saracen presence in central and southern Italy include,Saracinesco,Ciciliano andNocera Inferiore.
The Saracen camp atMinturno (in modern-dayLazio) by theGarigliano River became a perennial thorn in the side for the Papacy and many expeditions sought to get rid of them. In 915,Pope John X organised a vast alliance of southern powers, including Gaeta and Naples, the Lombard princes and the Byzantines; 'though, the Amalfitans stood aloof. The subsequentBattle of the Garigliano was successful, and all Saracens were captured and executed, ending any presence of Arabs in Lazio or Campania permanently.[71] In 999 a last Saracen attempt of conquest of Salerno was thwarted by an alliance of Lombards, led byPrince Guaimar III, and a band ofNorman pilgrims returning fromJerusalem.[72][73]
In 1480, an Ottoman Turkish fleet invaded Otranto, landing nearby the city and capturing it along with its fort. The Otranto population (remaining in the occupied city) was massacred after refusing to convert to Islam.
The Ottoman ambitions in Italy were ended. Had Otranto surrendered to the Turks, the history of Italy might have been very different. But the heroism of the people of Otranto was more than a strategically decisive stand. What made the sacrifice of Otranto so remarkable was the willingness to die for the faith rather than reject Christ.[74]
Pope Sixtus IV called for a crusade, and a massive force was built up by Ferdinand I of Naples, among them notably troops ofHungarian king Matthias Corvinus, despite frequent Italian quarreling at the time. The Neapolitan force met with the Turks in 1481, thoroughly annihilating them and recapturing Otranto.
In 1537, the famous Turkishcorsair and Ottoman admiralBarbarossa tried again to conquer Otranto and the Fortress of Castro, but the Turks were eventually repulsed from the city.
Ottoman incursions on the south and west coasts of Italy continued into the 17th century.Pozzuoli andCastellamare in the Bay of Naples were attacked in 1548;Ischia in 1544;Reggio in Calabria in 1594 (cathedral destroyed); andVieste,Vasto andManfredonia were raided and sacked in 1554, 1560, and 1620 respectively.[75]
Starting from 705 to 706, theSaracens from the recently conquered North Africa would harass theSardinians from the coastal towns. Details about the island's political situation in the following centuries are scarce. Because of the Saracen attacks in the 9th century,Tharros was abandoned in favor ofOristano after more than 1,800 years of habitation;Caralis,Porto Torres and numerous other coastal centres suffered the same fate. In 805, the imperial patrician of Sicily Constantine signed a ten-year truce with Ibrahim ibn al-Aghlab, emir of Ifriqiya, but this was not an impediment to the other pirates from North Africa and Muslim Spain to attack repeatedly Sardinia between 806 and 821.[76]
In 1015 and again in 1016 the EmirMujāhid al-‘Āmirī ofDenya (Latinized asMuseto) from thetaifa of Denia, in the east ofMuslim Spain (al-Andalus), attackedSardinia and attempted to establish political control over it. The twelfth-century PisanLiber maiolichinus, a history of the1113–1115 Balearic Islands expedition, records that Mujāhid had managed to take military control of the Sardinian coastal plain;[77] the local Sardinian ruler andjudge of Cagliari, Salusius, was in fact killed in the fighting and the Sardinian organised resistance broke down.[78] However, over the course of those very years some joint expeditions from the Italian maritime republics ofPisa andGenoa managed to repulse the invaders and thus preserved Sardinia as a part ofChristendom: these Pisan–Genoese expeditions to Sardinia were approved and supported by thePapacy, making them precursors of theCrusades, which began eighty years later.[79] In 1022, some new invasion attempts were made by the Saracens, but a joint alliance betweenPisa,Genoa and theSardinian Judicates was able to prevent them from effectively doing so in 1052. Although the Arab attacks failed to achieve the island's conquest, they caused nonetheless a significant weakening of Sardinia's actual independence, leading to a struggle of the Italian powers for political influence over the island's independent states, with the sole exception ofArborea.
Only in Sicily can be found some Islamic and Arabic influence and legacy, mainly in the western half of the island. In the other regions of southern Italy there it is nothing, like in theMessina province in northeastern Sicily.
Indeed,Arabic art and science continued to be influential in urban Sicily during the two centuries[80] following the Christian reconquest.Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor andKing of Sicily in the early 13th century, is said to have been able to speak Arabic (as well as Latin, Sicilian, German, French, and Greek) and had several Muslim ministers.
The heritage of the Arabic language can still be found in numerous terms adapted from it and still used in theSicilian dialect. Another legacy of Muslim rule is the survival of some Siciliantoponyms of Arabic origin, for example "Calata-" or "Calta-" from Arabicqalʿat (قلعة) "fortress or citadel". Indeed, the city ofCaltanisetta gets its name from the Saracen nameقلعة النساءQal‘at al-Nisā’ ('Fort of the Women').[81]
Monnereau et al. (2024) analyzed burials at the site ofSegesta to investigate the interactions betweenMuslim andChristian communities during the Middle Ages in Sicily. The biomolecular and Isotopic results suggest the Christians remained genetically distinct from the Muslim community at Segesta while following a substantially similar diet. Based on these results, the authours suggest that the two communities at Segesta could have followed endogamy rules.[82]
In the year 827, Mazara was occupied by the Arabs, who made the city an important commercial harbour. That period was probably the most prosperous in the history of Mazara.
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