Page View
Wolff, R. L.; Hazard, H. W. (ed.) / Volume II: The later Crusades, 1189-1311
(1969)
I: The Norman Kingdom of Sicily and the Crusades, pp. 2-43
PDF (56.8 KB)
Page 25
Ch.I NORMAN KINGDOM OF SICILY AND THE CRUSADES 25 tachments to conquer other cities along the North African coast. By the end of July, within a month after the landing in Mahdia, all the cities and minor castles along the littoral had been taken, among them the great ports and trade centers of Gabes, Susa, and, despite considerable resistance, Sfax. An attack on Kelibia, probably with Tunis the ultimate objective, was stopped by the determined resistance of the Arabs. It is probable that Tunis, ruled by members of the Arab house of the Banü-Khurasän, voluntarily submitted to the overlordship of the Sicilian king. Ibn-al-Athir describes the territory in Africa now ruled by Roger II as extending from Tripoli to Cape Bon and from the desert to Kairawan. Apparently Roger had not planned to extend his conquests farther west into the territory of the Hammadids, whose position was stronger than that of the Zirids. He could not spare additional men for further conquest or for garrison service. The emperor Manuel was preparing feverishly for the reconquest of Corfu and for an invasion of the Italian mainland. Had it not been for the war between "the prince of Sicily and the king of the Romans in Constantinople," says Ibn-al-Athir, Roger would have conquered "all Africa". Christians in the age of the crusades could not but hail Roger's African conquests as a great Christian victory in the Mediterranean. In a short obituary for Roger a French chronicler praised them as outstanding triumphs over the Saracens, and along with another annalist places Roger's campaign with the crusading events in the east. On the other hand, the two court historians of the Norman dynasty of Sicily, archbishop Romuald Guarna of Salerno and Hugo Falcandus, do not impute religious motives to Roger. Both speak of Roger's desire for territorial aggrandizement, and Romuald emphasizes the king's ambition (cor magnificum) and his lust for power (dominandi animus) which was not satisfied with the rule of Sicily and Apulia.32 Nor do Arab historians interpret as an expression of religious zeal Roger's "cruelty" in exploiting the calamities 32 Roger's obituary is in Sigeberti continuatio Praemonstratensis, ad ann. 1154 (MGH, SS., VI), p. 455; "Princeps utilis et strenuus et actibus clarus Rogerius rex Siciliae post insignes de Saracenis victorias et terras eorum occupatas obit..." His African campaign is associated, in the Context, with the Second Crusade in the same chronicle (p. 454) and in Robert of Torigny's Chronicon (ibid., p. 503). See also Annales Casinenses (MGH, SS., XIX), p. 3 10; Andrea Dandolo, Chronicon, ad ann. 1147-1148 (RISS, XII), p. 243; Romuald Guarna of Salerno, Chronicon (RISS, VII), p. 227; and Hugo Falcandus, Liber de regno Siciliae (FSI, XXII), pp. 5-6. All Latin sources except Robert of Torigny mention the capture of Mahdia, which they call Africa (Aifrica or Africax), but only Romuald Guarna mentions all the important Cities: "Africa" (Mahdia), Susa, Bona, Gabes, Sfax, and Tripoli. Robert of Torigny speaks of the capture of "Tonita" (Tunis), for which there is otherwise only indirect evidence. See Cerone, L'Opera . . . di Ruggiero II in Africa ed in Oriente, pp. 63 ff., and Constable, "Second Crusade," Traditio, IX, 235-237.
Copyright 1969 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. All rights reserved. Use of this material falling outside the purview of "fair use" requires the permission of the University of Wisconsin Press. To buy the paperback book, see: http://www.wisc.edu/wisconsinpress/books/1733.htm