Muslim expulsion from Sicily

Reading about Republican proposals to ban Muslims from immigrating to America recalls the various efforts in the Middle Ages to do the same thing in other lands. For over 400 years in the Early Middle Ages, Muslims controlled the Middle East, Jerusalem and Constantinople, destroying Christian shrines and temples and murdering pilgrims. Conflict reigned between the religious groups for centuries. In the 1090's the Seljuk Turks overran Arab Constantinople and in 1098, the Fatimid dynasty of Egypt conquered the Turks. By 1099, Pope Urban II was calling for the first Crusade to return the Holy Land to Christian control, and to unite the eastern and western branches of the church. In a series of 7 major Crusades over the next 200 years, Europeans streamed into the Holy Land to kill the "infidels", and in the process, be absolved of their sins and have a chance to acquire wealth and position. Crusaders breached the walls of Jerusalem on July 15, 1099, killing the residents indiscriminately. Contemporary sources said the streets of the city ran with "blood up to the ankles".

Against the background of the Great Schism, the Pope sanctioned the Norman conquest of the Muslim Emirate of Sicily in 1066. For about 100 years thereafter, contrary to other kingdoms, Muslims were accepted on the island. Mulsims served in government posts and the army. However, vilification of Muslims gradually took hold in Sicily as well as in other parts of Europe, and their royal protection ended with the death of William the Good in 1189. Frederick II then enacted many repressive measures against the Muslims to please the Pope. Eventually there was a failed Muslim rebellion on the island, leading to formal expulsion in 1224 of 15-20,000 Muslims to Lucera, a town on the southern end of the mainland. There the Muslim population could be isolated and controlled, but also taxed. King Charles (the Angevin ruler in our mysteries) finally decimated the colony of Muslims in 1300 before his final defeat by Peter of Aragon.Those Muslims that weren't killed in his pogrom were exiled. Estimates are that about 10,000 of them were sold into slavery.

...And the beat goes on...

Muslim rule of Sicily

From the 827 arrival of Euphemius in Sicily, the Muslim Aghlabid dynasty controlled the island, appointing governors and major officials. They set up various "gema" or city councils to manage public works and maintain social order. They encourages small holdings and improved irrigation systems. They also established a tax system. Non-Muslims living in a Muslim country are called "dhimmi". Dhimmi paid a special tax called the "jizya" for protection from foreign/internal aggression, but if one converted to Islam, the tax was waved. Everyone on the island paid a land tax called "kharaj". Mulsim and non-Muslim populations coexisted rather peacefully and maintained their own religions. It was during this time that the island became a major location of interaction between Muslim and non-Mulsim populations, and that allowed the transmission of considerable Arab learning to Europeans. In 909 the Fatimid dynasty assumed control over Sicily. They put down several revolts and uprisings. In 965 the Caliph appointed Hassan al Kalbi as emir of Sicily, giving it a de facto independent status. Within 100 years, Sicily had 3 separate emirs, but the arrival of the Normans under Robert de Guiscard in 1060 effectively ender Muslim rule. When Robert arrived, the native Sicilians joined his revolt. The conquest of Sicily by the Normans wasn't completed until 1091, ushering in a period of Muslim repression because of policies of the Roman church and perhaps, a little revenge. These measures led to organized resistance among the Muslims and Norman reprisals. The Normans also took over major buidlings and mosques, converting them to their own uses. As we depicted in Malice Stalks the Leopard, the commercial trade between Ifriqiya and Sicily was significant, but increasing fanaticism about religion on both sides led to an expulsion of all Muslims in 1242 to Lucera.