Multicultural and Cross-Cultural Aspects of the Normans in Southern Italy, Sicily & North Africa

The Situation of North Africa

For the last couple centuries, the regions of North Africa from Egypt to Morocco have been dominated by a series of Muslim rulers. Each ruling tribe or caliphate practiced their own Islamic faith, where nations like Fatimid Egypt practices Shiism and the Almoravids practicing Sunnism. However, smacked in the middle of two dominant Muslim powers was the region of Ifriqiya (translated to "Africa"), which consisted of the modern-day countries of Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria. Ifriqiya was dominated by Sunni Berbers who lived under the rule of the Zirid Dynasty, who had existed since 972 CE. The once great dynasty expanded across Ifriqiya and the Maghreb (modern-day Morocco) and into regions like southern Spain and Sicily. However, by the time the Normans began to set their eyes on the region, the Caliphate was a shell of its former self, clinging ever so carefully as it sputtered in decline thanks to constant in-fighting between neighboring tribes.

The Normans and Zirids had shared a series of raids and treaties with each other, being both enemies and friends diplomatically and different times. When Genoan and Pisan forces captured the coastal Zirid city of Mahdia (part of modern-day Tunisia) in 1087 CE, they offered the city to the Normans, who surprisingly turned down the offer. This is because the Normans had agreed to a peace treaty between the two powers and recognized their peace with their Muslim neighbors over the opportunity to expand Christianity during a time of crusader zeal. However, this peace wouldn't last forever. A series of famines and civil unrest gave the opportunity for the Normans to conquer the region. What started with the capture of Tripoli (part of modern-day Libya) in 1146 CE resulted in the total control of the remaining Zirid domain and the creation of the Norman Kingdom of Africa in 1148 CE.

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