The Saracens passed through here...the image of the Arabs in Sicilian history

The ancient Arab presence in Spain is full of presence in Arab and European studies, but these studies, especially the common ones, rarely touched on the Arab presence in Italy.

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I knew that Sicily was passed by the Arab winds, but I was surprised that these winds passed through more than one city and town in Italy farther than Sicily.. but with another name, a name that we do not know about ourselves.

This is what I found in the Italian town of Amalfi.. Here are the facts.

And the ancient Arab influences in the architecture of the "Amalfi" cathedral and some of its tourist attractions are not the only thing that reminds of the Arabs.. the inhabitants of the other side of this common sea (...or an expression that does not come to me, now, the name of its origin: the common house).

Indeed, the city is proud, and it enumerates its glories, that it managed to defeat the Saracens (Arabs) twice, once in 920 AD when they were preparing to invade Rome, and once in 1544. And the last defeat became its memory a religious feast, which with the passage of days became an annual carnival.

These "Saracians" and the defeat inflicted on them by "Amalfi" are mentioned in the tourist brochures that you find in hotels or at gift and souvenir shops. If you ask someone who speaks English in these shops about the large number of facilities bearing the name "Saint Andrea", you will know that he is the protector of the city and its guardian angel. And that he was the one who saved Amalfi from the grip of the Saracens in their last invasion of it.

O those Saracens who trot, unthoughtfully, into the nerve of the city, lurking like a disturbing memory in its background!

Who are these Saracens who were defeated by Amalfi, the "Queen" of the Mediterranean, with the efforts of her saint, Andrea?

There are many facilities called “Saint Andrea”, but the most famous of them (other than the cathedral dedicated to him also) is the spring that mediates the “Piazza del Duomo”, which in turn mediates the commercial district of the town .. and everyone who passes through the square is tempted by the water, especially in the hot summer noon, which It flows from the breasts of a marble statue of a girl or from the skin of an old man.. While Saint Andrea, the patron saint of the seaside town, is depicted with his head's luminous halo towards the sea whose winds once carried the ships of the invading Saracens.

Piazza Bellini in Palermo, Sicily, includes two medieval churches (Getty Images)

And the Saracens, so far obscure (to me at least), are in the city's air and water!

O those Saracens who trot, unthoughtfully, into the nerve of the city, lurking like a disturbing memory in its background!

Who are these Saracens who were defeated by Amalfi, the "Queen" of the Mediterranean, with the efforts of her saint, Andrea?

They are the Arab Muslims!

I did not find in the Arab sources that date the invasions of Italy a mention of the attack on "Amalfi" nor in the era of which country it took place.

Although this happened, most likely, during the era of the Fatimid state.

It seems that the first important base of the Arabs in Italy was in "Palermo", which the Arab informants call "Param", and it was from this city that most of the subsequent invasions were launched until they reached Rome and Venice.

And let us remember that the presence of these Saracens (Arabs) in Italy began much earlier.

Arab sources date back the first Arab presence in Sicily to the year 728 AD, but that did not secure a stable presence until after several successive invasions during the eras of the "Aghlabids" and "Fatimids".

It seems that the first important base of the Arabs in Italy was in "Palermo", which the Arab informants call "Param", and it was from this city that most of the subsequent invasions were launched until they reached Rome and Venice.

Perhaps it was only fate that prevented the Saracens from occupying Rome, the capital of the fading Roman Empire, and the heart of the world that never stopped beating.

One of the historical accounts says that the Arabs were able to land their legions in the port of the city, but they were unable to penetrate its fortified walls, so they contented themselves with "plundering" the treasures of the cathedrals of St. Peter, the Vatican, and St. Paul, which lie outside the walls.

It is said that they also tampered with the tombs of the popes, but that did not lose their temper. After 3 years, one of the stormy nights carried their fleet to the port of "Osita" belonging to Rome, but the Italian fleet, in "alliance" with a fierce sea storm, managed to defeat the Arab fleet..and ended with that. The last Arab attempt to occupy Rome.

Southern rulers

It seems that the great Renaissance painter Raphael was inspired by that battle in drawing one of his paintings.

The Saracens, however, were hovering around.

They ruled Italy's southern regions for about 200 years.

And "Amalfi" was not far from them, as they were in "Calabria" which the Arabs called "Caloria", as well as in "Nabeul" (Naples) and in "Bari".

Now, Amalfi was, in one way or another, in the hands of the Saracens.

This is a cycle of time.

In another cycle, Amalfi was able to take revenge on the Saracens in their second holiest spot: Jerusalem.

When I heard the name of these people, I thought that it was related to one of the invading European peoples such as the Normans or the Vikings, although the rhythm of the name, especially its first syllable (Sara), sounds oriental, and I did not know its meaning until I returned to London and searched for it in more than one dictionary and encyclopedia to find that it is one of the names that It was called by the Europeans to the Arabs

The Amalfi merchants established a military order called the "Knights of St. John's Hospital" around the year 1048, and formed with the "Temple Knights" the two most powerful military orders known to Palestine during the Crusades. Their influence soon extended to include most of the Levant.

Money was flowing in from the "faithful" European merchants to drive the "Sarascenes" away from "Jerusalem".

Jerusalem witnessed horrors after its fall at the hands of the Crusaders.

The refugees who fled from the city had arrived in Baghdad to urge the Abbasid caliph to liberate Jerusalem, but he was too weak to move a finger, so the eyes and hearts were fixed on another emir who ruled Mosul called Imad al-Din Zangi, whose movement formed the beginning of the counterattack to expel the Crusaders from the Levant and all the way to to Jerusalem.

Imad al-Din Ghaila was killed before he reached his goal, and was succeeded by his son, Prince Nur al-Din, who was apparently no less brave than him and had no desire to continue the path.

But Jerusalem will wait for a prince whose star has not yet shone, called Salah al-Din, who was one of the leaders of Nur al-Din Zangi, and he will be the one who will write to him to reopen Jerusalem, after time turns another cycle, and those who came to liberate the "tomb of Christ" return from behind sea ​​to their country.

Mount Etna in Catania, Sicily (Getty Images)

It is said that most of the "Knights of the Hospital" were natives of Amalfi, like all other crusaders, who returned to their countries of origin after the fall of the "Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem" (1099-1143).

But they were no longer as poor as monks should be.

They were able, during their stay in Palestine and the Levant, to establish monasteries and fiefdoms, and to build towns in their first countries.

It is not inconceivable that the revival witnessed by this marine town is due to their "jihad" in the East.

When I heard the name of these people from a seller in a gift shop, I thought that it was related to one of the invading European peoples, such as the Normans or the Vikings, although the rhythm of the name, especially its first syllable (Sara), sounds oriental, and I did not know its meaning until I returned to London and searched for it in more than one dictionary and encyclopedia. To find that it is one of the names that Europeans used to give to Arabs, or Muslims, from the late days of the Roman Empire up to the Middle Ages.

The name has nothing to do with Sarah, as I imagined at first. If that were the case, it would have meant and singled out our Jewish “cousins” more than us, since we are the children of her “wife.” But the name, apparently, has a reference to the “East,” as one of the English dictionaries suggests. As for how?

Here are the repeated births and the different manifestations of this swearing-resonant name:

In Collins' English dictionary, the following meanings can be traced to it: It means a member of the nomadic Arab tribes, especially Syrian, that used to invade the borders of the Roman Empire in that country, and the name in the Crusades came to mean any Arab or Muslim.

The lexicon attributes the origin of the word to the Old French “Saracian”, which came from the late Latin “Saracinos”, which in turn took it from the late Greek “Sarakinos”, which the lexicon likely came from the Arabic word “Sharq”.

Morning view of the city of Amalfi on the Mediterranean coast in Italy (Shutterstock)

Meanings and connotations

However, another English dictionary that gives broader meanings and connotations to this word confirmed my sense of its insulting and satirical nature. To what was stated in the previous dictionary, "The New Charter", the new Oxford acronym, links this word to other words such as: Heathen or Pagan, which mean, in general, the person who does not He knows the monotheistic religions, the infidel, or the uncivilized.. The word "Saracen" can mean the barbarian as well!

As if the invasion, even if it occurred in the 16th century, remained confined to their name as "Sarasians" while their name as "Arabs" was unique to the cultural influences!

Better, however, than being Saracens all the time!

But the Saracens, when they invaded Amalfi twice, were not nomads who raided the outskirts of the Roman Empire and raised the panic of the garrisons or isolated gatherings in the borders. Rather, they became, after the "Khaldonian" cycle of time, the owners of an empire that defeated the two great empires at that time: the Roman and the Persian. And replaced them.

She took from them what she took and chose another path for herself.

It is strange that the tourist brochures about "Amalfi" mention Arabs and Muslims with two different names.

When you talk about the "Amalfi" sea thorn and the power of its fleet in the Middle Ages and its permanent tendency to freedom and independence that often made it the center of its region, the name "Sarasians" and their defeat appears twice in two separate periods, but when it talks about foreign influences in its urban features, the name of the Arabs appears!

As if the invasion, even if it occurred in the 16th century, remained confined to their name as "Sarasians" while their name as "Arabs" was unique to the cultural influences!

Better, however, than being Saracens all the time!