Researchers learn about what they ate in medieval Sicily from cooking pots
Organic residues on ceramic pottery are a valuable resource for understanding medieval cuisines of Islamic-ruled Sicily, according to a study published today in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.
Negotiation and tolerance or brutal show of force? The Normans in Southern Italy
What was the strategy of the Norman expansion in Apulia, Calabria and Sicily and what were the factors that shaped it?
Arabic-speakers in Norman Sicily
On the arrival of the Normans around 1060, Arabic was the dominant language but by 1250 prestigious Romance vernaculars could be heard almost everywhere.
Polish archaeologists discover medieval graves in Sicily
Polish archaeologists discovered 800 year-old burials during excavations near the medieval church of San Michele del Golfo near Palermo in Sicily. According to the scientists, the graves could belong to the Normans, descendants of the Vikings.
The Evil That Kings Do: Kingship, Tyranny and William I in Hugo Falcandus
A study of the presentation of William I of Sicily in the work of the pseudo – Hugo Falcandus, with particular attention to the author’s views on the entirety of the Hauteville dynasty and kingship in Sicily through the lens of his reign.
The Twelfth-century documents of St. George’s of Tròccoli (Sicily)
This study publishes for the first time six authentic and original documents from mid-twelfth-century Norman Sicily. Three are bilingual, written in Greek and Arabic, and three are Arabic.
Latin Patrons, Greek Fathers: St Bartholomew of Simeri and Byzantine Monastic Reform in Norman Italy, 11th-12th Centuries
St Bartholomew of Simeri (ca. 1050-1130), a Greek monastic founder and reformer from Calabria, saw the effective end of Byzantine imperial power in southern Italy in 1071, the conquest of Muslim Palermo by Robert Guiscard the following year, and the rise of the Norman kingdom of Roger II at the end of his life.
First historical evidence of a significant Mt. Etna eruption in 1224
The 1224 Mt. Etna eruption is a significant event both in terms of the mass of erupted materials and because it involved the lower eastern slope of the volcano, reaching down to the sea.
Herb-workers and Heretics: Beguines, Bakhtin and the Basques
During the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the word beguine was used by women to identify themselves as members of a wide-spread and influential women’s movement. The same term was used by their detractors and overt opponents, with the highly charged negative meaning of “heretic.” The etymology of the term “beguine” and ultimate origins of the movement have never been satisfactorily explained.
Food in medieval Sicily
And in truth this food, of which they are fond and which they eat raw, ruins their senses. There is not one man among them, of whatsoever condition, who does not eat onions every day, and does not serve them morning and evening in his house.
The Norman Invasion of Sicily, 1061-1072: Numbers and Military Tactics
No comprehensive study of the military aspects of the Norman conquest of Sicily has been written, and this paper intends to cover this specific gap. It deals with the first two stages of the Sicilian conquest, the per
Aspects of the English royal succession, 1066-1199: the death of the king
The death of any ruler in the twelfth century, even if it were expected, caused a considerable amount of shock and disquiet amongst those who were left behind.
The Fatimid and Kalbite Governors in Sicily : 909-1044
This is the second part of my investigation on the Muslim governors (or rulers) in Sicily.
The mystery of Churchuro: conspiracy or incompetence in twelfth-century Sicily?
Immediately after his successful conquest of Muslim Sicily (1060-92), Roger de Hauteville set about dividing the spoils amongst the small band of Norman, French and Italian knights who were his closest followers.
Saracen Archers in Southern Italy
The Normans, soon after the conquest of Sicily was complete, began using Sicilian Saracen mounted and foot archers as auxiliary troops: in 1076 they were included in the Guiscard army at the seizure of Salerno
Satellite, Sentinel, Stepping Stone: Medieval Malta in Sicily’s Orbit
This essay reconstructs Malta’s ties to Sicily mainly in terms of the surviving primary documents from the period
Bridging Europe and Africa: Norman Sicily’s Other Kingdom
The Norman conquest of Sicily detached the island from its North African framework, and a century of Latin Christian rule effectively transformed its society. But the island was not completely disconnected from the southern Mediterranean, as long term trade contacts, political links and military ambitions intervened to cast relations between the two sides.