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In the early Middle Ages, Italy became the target of Muslim expansionist campaigns. The Muslims conquered Sicily, ruling there for more than two centuries, and conducted many raids against the Italian Peninsula. During this period, however, Christians and Muslims were not always at war - trade flourished, and travel to the territories of the 'other' was not uncommon. By examining how Muslims and Christians perceived each other and how they communicated, this book brings the relationship between Muslims and Christians in early medieval Italy into clearer focus, showing that the followers of the Cross and those of the Crescent were in reality not as ignorant of one another as is commonly believed.
List of contents
Introduction; 1. References, definitions, and circulation of news; 2. Religious Otherness; 3. Perceptions; 4. Some "Light" in the "Darkness"; 5. Supernatural Events; 6. Why is the Enemy Attacking Us and Winning?; 7. Rewriting History; 8. The Enemy is Coming; 9. Prisoners; 10. Going to the "Other"; 11. Encounters; Conclusions
About the author
Luigi Andrea Berto is Professor of Medieval History at Western Michigan University, USA. His research focuses on medieval Italy and the Mediterranean, with a special interest in the use of the past and the relationships between Christians and Muslims.
Summary
In the early Middle Ages, Italy became the target of Muslim expansionist campaigns. The Muslims conquered Sicily, ruling there for more than two centuries, and conducted many raids against the Italian Peninsula. During this period, however, Christians and Muslims were not always at war – trade flourished, and travel to the territories of the ‘other’ was not uncommon. By examining how Muslims and Christians perceived each other and how they communicated, this book brings the relationship between Muslims and Christians in early medieval Italy into clearer focus, showing that the followers of the Cross and those of the Crescent were in reality not as ignorant of one another as is commonly believed.
Report
"By examining how Muslims and Christians perceived each other and how they communicated, this book brings the relationship between Muslims and Christians in early medieval Italy into clearer focus. According to the author, it is addressed to a non-specialist audience; issues related to sources, hypotheses, and historiographical debates are not discussed in order to keep the text and the endnotes uncomplicated."
-Marco Di Branco, Speculum
