Iato and Entella

Who he is

Title

The Muslim communities of the mountains and their leaders

Since

1189-1190

Confidence

low

No leader is named for 1199-1200 in the sources read. Iato and Entella were the rebels' chief strongholds in the revolt of the 1220s, and both were destroyed and their people deported to Lucera in 1246 (it.wikipedia). The Federiciana (Monreale) dates the revived revolt to after Constance's death and the Muslim seizure of Corleone to 1208.

Overlord

In law the archbishop of Monreale (William II's grant of Iato, Corleone and Calatrasi with their villeins) and the king; in fact none.

What it holds

• Iato (Giato): hill town and its plain (castle contested)
• Entella: rock fortress with its palace-tower (not pinned)
• Calatrasi: castle (contested)

How it was acquired

By revolt and withdrawal after 1189-1190.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Markward. Enemies: the regency, the archbishop of Monreale.

How things stand that morning

The countryside is in Muslim hands and in arms with Markward; the castles of Iato and Calatrasi may still be held for the archbishop (rebel monks seize them from him in 1203); Entella's holder is not pinned.

Wealth

Grain, flocks, gardens; plunder.

Military

Steep walled hill towns and fortresses.

Threats

• Defeat with Markward (July 1200)
• Monreale's reassertion of lordship

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 21 July 1200Their fighters share Markward's defeat near Monreale.Depends on: Their alliance with him. Stopped by: A separate peace with the regency.

Places of note

• Iato: Chief hill town of the mountains
• Entella: Rock fortress
• Calatrasi: Fortress

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The places are sure Muslim strongholds of the period 1189-1246; their state on 1 January 1200 is inferred from the alliance with Markward.

On the map: Drawn from the strongholds of the later revolts; the 1200 extent is uncertain.

Primary sources for Sicilian Muslims

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
• Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
• The Travels of Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Jubayr (Abu'l-Husayn Muhammad ibn Ahmad) (1185, from a diary kept 1183 to 1185). The best eyewitness of the Mediterranean world fifteen years before 1200, by a secretary of the Almohad governor of Granada: the Almohad port of Ceuta and its Genoese ships, Alexandria and Cairo under Saladin with their customs houses, the pilgrim traffic from the Maghreb, Mecca under its emir and Medina, Baghdad under the caliph al-Nasir, Damascus and Mosul, the Frankish ports of Acre and Tyre with Muslims living under Frankish rule, and Sicily under William II with its Muslim subjects and Arabic-speaking court. Read online
• Book in honour of the Emperor, or On Sicilian affairs, Peter of Eboli (1195 to 1197). An illustrated verse account of Henry VI's conquest of Sicily, preserved in a single manuscript made at the imperial court. Read online