The Muslims of western Sicily, 1 January 1200

The Muslims of Sicily, once the island's majority, had by 1200 shrunk to the west: Palermo's suburbs, the towns of the Val di Mazara (Ibn Jubayr in 1184-1185 still found Muslim towns at Alcamo and Trapani, mosques and qadis at Palermo), and above all the villages of the great Monreale estate, where William II had given the archbishop the castles of Iato, Corleone and Calatrasi with their villages and an almost wholly Muslim peasantry (at least 2,000 families of villeins, by the Federiciana's reading of the 1182-1183 lists).

After William II's death in 1189 persecution drove them into the mountains and the archbishop lost control of his estate; some came back after Tancred's settlement with Richard I (1190-1191), but after Constance's death (November 1198) they revived the revolt, and in the autumn of 1199 they made common cause with Markward of Annweiler, which gave the pope his charge that Markward had allied himself with the Saracens. Innocent III in turn tried to rouse them against Markward. They govern themselves in the mountain country between Monte Iato, the Belice and Entella; the archbishop, a member of the regency council, still holds Corleone (the Muslims take it only in 1208) and is struggling for Iato and Calatrasi.

Who rules

Name: Not pinned: no source read names a Muslim leader for 1199-1200
Title: The leaders of the Muslim communities of the mountains (their Arabic titles in 1200 not pinned)
Since: Withdrawn into the mountains since the troubles that followed William II's death (November 1189)
Confidence: low

The Federiciana (Monreale) says that after William II's death (1189) the persecutions drove the Muslims of the Monreale estate into the mountains and the archbishop lost control, that some villeins came back after Tancred's agreement with Richard I, that after Constance's death (1198) the Muslims revived the revolt, that Archbishop Caro struggled to hold his lands until about 1201, and that Markward, allied with the Saracens, was beaten with them near the monastery in July 1200. en.wikipedia (Markward) and the papal charge of an alliance with the Saracens agree; the Federiciana (Markward) says the pope tried to rouse the Saracens against him. No leader is named for 1199-1200 in the sources read. Muhammad ibn Abbad belongs to the revolt of the 1220s and must not be back-projected.

Overlord

In law the king of Sicily, and for much of the ground the archbishop of Monreale, to whom William II gave the great estate of Iato, Corleone and Calatrasi with its Muslim villeins; in fact they govern themselves in their mountain strongholds.

What the realm holds

The villages and hill country of the Monreale estate between Monte Iato, Camporeale and the Belice, in revolt since Constance's death
Iato (Giato): the walled hill town on Monte Iato, chief place of the mountains; whether its castle is in rebel or archiepiscopal hands that morning is not pinned (in 1203 rebel monks seize it from the archbishop; in the 1220s it is the rebels' capital)
Entella (Rocca d'Entella): a fortified hill town with a palace-tower built between the late twelfth and mid-thirteenth century (it.wikipedia), a rebel stronghold in the 1220s; held in 1200 not pinned
Calatrasi (Qal'at al-Tarazi) near Roccamena: an archiepiscopal castle, contested as Iato
Not held: Corleone, which the archbishop keeps until the Muslims occupy it in 1208 (Federiciana)
Further south-east, Platani, Celso and Guastanella: named in the later revolts; held by rebels in 1199-1200 not pinned

How it was acquired

Self-government won by flight and revolt after 1189-1190, in mountains where Norman lordship had always been light.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Markward of Annweiler (since autumn 1199). Enemies: the regency; Archbishop Caro of Monreale, their lord in law, who sits on the regency council; the Lombard settlers of the interior, who led the massacres of 1161. Courted by the pope, who tried to turn them against Markward (and again in 1206).

The realm that morning

That morning the mountain Muslims govern themselves in the hill country of the Monreale estate and are in arms as Markward's allies. Their leaders' names are not pinned. The castles of Iato and Calatrasi may still be the archbishop's; Corleone certainly is. The extent of their ground is drawn roughly from the estate and the later revolts.

Wealth

Grain, flocks and the produce of irrigated gardens; tribute and plunder when at war. They pay the king and Monreale nothing while in revolt.

Military

Fortified hill towns on steep mountains (Iato and Entella were taken by Frederick II only after long sieges in the 1220s-1240s); foot soldiers and archers. No numbers given in the sources read.

Threats

Defeat with Markward at Monreale (21 July 1200)
The regency's revenge and the reassertion of Monreale's lordship
Abandonment by Markward when he comes to terms with the chancellor

Communities elsewhere

Muslims also remain under Christian lords in Palermo (fewer since 1161 and 1190), in Monreale's villages, at Mazara, Marsala, Trapani and Alcamo, round Agrigento, on Malta and Gozo (a Muslim majority, by later evidence), and on Pantelleria. The king's household still has Muslim servants and craftsmen (the palace workshops); it.wikipedia says an unnamed Muslim teacher was among the boy king's tutors until 1201.

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.

Spring to summer 1200They fight beside Markward in the war round Palermo and Monreale, which devastates the Monreale estates, and share his bloody defeat near the monastery in July 1200 (21 July).Depends on: Their alliance with Markward holding. Stopped by: A papal or royal offer that detaches them (the pope has already tried).
After 1200They remain unsubdued in the mountains; the great revolt under Muhammad ibn Abbad comes in the 1220s and ends in deportation to Lucera (1220s-1246). Not to be back-projected.Depends on: Royal weakness. Stopped by: A strong king.

Places of note

Iato (Giato): Walled hill town on Monte Iato
Entella: Hill fortress on the Rocca d'Entella
Calatrasi: Hill fortress (Qal'at al-Tarazi)
Corleone: Muslim town of the Monreale estate

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The revolt, its revival after Constance's death and the alliance with Markward are documented (Federiciana, Monreale and Markward; en.wikipedia). The leaders, the organisation and the exact ground held in January 1200 are not.

On the map: Drawn from the Monreale estate and the later revolts, not from a document of 1199-1200; the edges are guesses along the mountains.

Primary sources for this realm

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

Sources and studies

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.