[quote=""annis""]Richard- while doing some background browsing to go with my current read (Martin Davies' "The Unicorn Road"), I came across a couple of articles which might be of interest to you:
Sicilian Peoples: The Arabs
Vincenzo Salerno
Muslim Sicily
Gian Luigi Scarfiotti and Paul Lunde
Timeline: Arab Invasion of Sicily and Italy
Islam in Sicily ( Can be downloaded as a PDF doc. as well)
Alwi Alatas[/quote]
Great stuff, thank you! I had read the Alwi Alatas article and am looking for the book he references. I had not seen the Aramco article. Mu problem is that I want to write about the period from 826-830 or so, focusing on specific events of 829-830, and all the timelines and summaries jump from 827 straight to 831 for the most part.
But... if no one knows what happened exactly, I'm free to make it up without fear of contradiction!
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Medieval Sicily
Posted by Richard
*Edit Saudi Aramco World's articles cover a wide range of interesting subjects and are well worth a browse.
Among their articles is one written by Margaret Donsbach, who posts here regularly, on the subject of Ali ibn Ridwan of Cairo.
Yes, that's a real plus for an author, and also for the reader- if you read a story about a period which is not well recorded in history, you're much less likely to be distracted by unintentional errors on the author's part.But... if no one knows what happened exactly, I'm free to make it up without fear of contradiction!
*Edit Saudi Aramco World's articles cover a wide range of interesting subjects and are well worth a browse.
Among their articles is one written by Margaret Donsbach, who posts here regularly, on the subject of Ali ibn Ridwan of Cairo.
Last edited by annis on Mon March 2nd, 2009, 11:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Forgot to mention this intriguing piece which I came across here:
(The Muslim forces invading Sicily in 827 were led by Asad ibn Furat)
"Some Muslim historians have conjectured that Asad ibn Furat is the progenitor of the family of Napoleon Bonaparte: Asad's descendants were known as Banu Furat and Buonofart."
(The Muslim forces invading Sicily in 827 were led by Asad ibn Furat)
"Some Muslim historians have conjectured that Asad ibn Furat is the progenitor of the family of Napoleon Bonaparte: Asad's descendants were known as Banu Furat and Buonofart."
[quote=""annis""]Forgot to mention this intriguing piece which I came across ... Asad's descendants were known as Banu Furat and Buonofart."[/quote]
Buonofart? If I use that, they'll think I made it up! But it is intriguing. I believe Asad died of the plague during the siege of Syracuse.
Buonofart? If I use that, they'll think I made it up! But it is intriguing. I believe Asad died of the plague during the siege of Syracuse.
How did an 800-year-old headless corpse transform Venice from a backwater
into the greatest sea-empire of the early Middle Ages? Find out at,
into the greatest sea-empire of the early Middle Ages? Find out at,
Yes, the article I took it from says Asad died in Syracuse of the plague in 828. His successor, elected by the army, was Muhammad ibn Abi al-Jawari, and he didn't do much better- he died a year later at the siege of Castrogiovanni. The next leader chosen, Zuhayr ibn al-Ghawath, lasted out until 838.
Buonofart does have a rather unfortunate connotation in English, doesn't it?
Buonofart does have a rather unfortunate connotation in English, doesn't it?
[quote=""annis""]
Buonofart does have a rather unfortunate connotation in English, doesn't it? [/quote]
Yes it does- especially since I have a character in the first book called 'Buono'!
I remember hearing that some Bavarian colleagues would not be in the office one day because of Himmelfahrt. Thank goodness for Wikipedia, because I had a completely different idea what the holiday was all about.
Buonofart does have a rather unfortunate connotation in English, doesn't it?
[/quote]Yes it does- especially since I have a character in the first book called 'Buono'!
I remember hearing that some Bavarian colleagues would not be in the office one day because of Himmelfahrt. Thank goodness for Wikipedia, because I had a completely different idea what the holiday was all about.
How did an 800-year-old headless corpse transform Venice from a backwater
into the greatest sea-empire of the early Middle Ages? Find out at,
into the greatest sea-empire of the early Middle Ages? Find out at,
-
Margaret
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- Contact:
Annis keeps turning up more novels set in medieval Sicily. The latest, which she's reviewed at http://www.HistoricalNovels.info/Unicorn-Road.html is Martin Davies's new novel, The Unicorn Road, about an expedition sent to China by Manfred of Sicily in the 13th century. He wanted them to find a unicorn so he could present it to the Pope, who was becoming a dangerous enemy.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info
Manfred of Sicily has a small but significant part in "Unicorn Road", but it led me to further study of the Hohenstaufen dynasty and the tragic story of the heirs of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, all of whom came to sad ends despite being blessed with exceptional good looks, intelligence and talent.
Their history is covered in the piece written in the 19th century. Although rather melodramatic in style, it gives the gist of the story.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?a ... story=fall
(I have mentioned this elsewhere, so apologies to those for whom this is repeat reading.)
Their history is covered in the piece written in the 19th century. Although rather melodramatic in style, it gives the gist of the story.
http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?a ... story=fall
(I have mentioned this elsewhere, so apologies to those for whom this is repeat reading.)
Just discovered that Jack Ludlow has a new series (series title "Conquest") coming out which covers the years leading up to the Norman Conquest of England, written from the POV of Tancred de Hautville and his twelve sons.
The first book, called "Mercenaries", is due out April.
The first book, called "Mercenaries", is due out April.