Norman Kings of Sicily and the Rise of the Anti-Islamic Critique : Baptized Sultans

This book is an investigative study of Christian and Islamic relations in the kingdom of Sicily during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It has three objectives. First, it establishes how and why the Norman rulers of Sicily, all of whom were Christians, incorporated Muslim soldiers, farmers, scholars, and bureaucrats into the formation of their own royal identities and came to depend on their Muslim subjects to project and enforce their political power. Second, it examines how the Islamic influence within the Sicilian court drew little scrutiny, and even less criticism, from intellectuals in the wider world of Latin Christendom during the time period. Finally, it contextualizes and explains the eventual emergence of Christian popular violence against Muslims in Sicily in the latter half of the twelfth century and the evolution of a wider discourse of anti-Islamic sentiment throughout Western Europe. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction....Pages 1-32 Saracen Soldiers: Muslim Participation in Norman Military Expeditions....Pages 33-79 A “Semi-Pagan Tyrant?”....Pages 81-138 The Case of Philip of Mahdiyya: A Medieval Murder Mystery....Pages 139-171 Liminality as Centrality: The Sicilian Eunuch Tradition....Pages 173-205 Community as Collateral....Pages 207-263 The End of Muslim Sicily....Pages 265-301 Epilogue....Pages 303-324 Back Matter....Pages 325-371 Joshua C. Birk. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.