Questo libro descrive una storia di rilevanti conseguenze: frequenti invasioni che causarono il crollo e la ristrutturazione di frontiere secolari tra il continente africano e quello europeo; l'ascesa di Stati, leggi e sistemi di governo inediti; lo scambio di credenze religiose tra Islâm e Cristianità; la trasformazione di arti, cultura, scienza e sapere; mutamenti capitali nelle forze motrici sociali ed economiche del Mediterraneo centrale. Ma in particolare questo è uno studio su individui e potere.

Questo libro descrive una storia di rilevanti conseguenze: frequenti invasioni che causarono il crollo e la ristrutturazione di frontiere secolari tra il continente africano e quello europeo; l'ascesa di stati, leggi e sistemi di governo inediti; lo scambio di credenze religiose tra Islâm e Cristianità; la trasformazione di arti, cultura, scienza e sapere; mutamenti capitali nelle forze motrici sociali ed economiche del Mediterraneo centrale. Ma in particolare questo è uno studio su individui e potere.

The social and linguistic history of medieval Sicily is both intriguing and complex. Before the Muslim invasion of 827, the islanders spoke dialects of either Greek or Latin or both. On the arrival of the Normans around 1060 Arabic was the dominant language, but by 1250 Sicily was an almost exclusively Christian island, with Romance dialects in evidence everywhere. Of particular importance to the development of Sicily was the formative period of Norman rule (1061 1194), when most of the key transitions from an Arabic-speaking Muslim island to a 'Latin'-speaking Christian one were made. This work sets out the evidence for those changes and provides an authoritative approach that re-defines the conventional thinking on the subject.

This significant new work focuses on the formation and disintegration of Arab-Muslim rule and society in Sicily and south Italy between 800 and 1300 which led to the creation of an enduring Muslim-Christian frontier during the age of the Crusades. It examines the long and short-term impact of Islamic authority and culture on these regions and how they later fell into the hands of European rulers, explaining how the Norman conquest of Sicily came to import radically different dynamics to the central Mediterranean. The change of ruling elites left a majority Muslim population under Christian rule, but the Sicilian kings also adopted and adapted political ideologies from south Mediterranean regimes while absorbing cultural influences from the diverse peoples over whom they ruled. This work provides an engaging, expert and wide-ranging introduction to the subject and offers fresh and clear insights into the politico-religious, socio-economic and cultural evolution of Europe and the Islamic world.