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Norman Kings of Sicily and the Rise of the Anti-Islamic Critique

Baptized Sultans

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Authors:
  1. Joshua C. Birk

    1. Smith College, Northampton, USA

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  • Provides a thorough and systematic analysis of the Christian approach to Islamic cultures and practices in early modern Europe

  • Critically examines how the perception of an impermeable boundary between Christianity and Islam has been mapped onto a more culturally fluid past

  • Appropriate for historians and religious scholars interested in the relationship between Christianity and Islam

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvi
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  2. Introduction

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 1-32

  3. Saracen Soldiers: Muslim Participation in Norman Military Expeditions

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 33-79

  4. A “Semi-Pagan Tyrant?”

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 81-138

  5. The Case of Philip of Mahdiyya: A Medieval Murder Mystery

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 139-171

  6. Liminality as Centrality: The Sicilian Eunuch Tradition

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 173-205

  7. Community as Collateral

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 207-263

  8. The End of Muslim Sicily

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 265-301

  9. Epilogue

    • Joshua C. Birk
    Pages 303-324

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 325-371
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Smith College, Northampton, USA

    Joshua C. Birk

About the author

Joshua Birk is an Assistant Professor in the History Department at Smith College, USA.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Norman Kings of Sicily and the Rise of the Anti-Islamic Critique

  • Book Subtitle: Baptized Sultans

  • Authors: Joshua C. Birk

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47042-9

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2016

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-47041-2Published: 18 January 2017

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-83646-1Published: 13 July 2018

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-47042-9Published: 11 January 2017

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVI, 371

  • Number of Illustrations: 3 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: History of Italy, History of Medieval Europe, History of Religion, Islam

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