Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xfwgj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-06T17:14:18.214Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

10 - Disaster in the Delta? Sicilian Support for the Crusades and the Siege of Alexandria, 1174

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2020

Get access

Summary

Following the considerable contributions of certain south-Italian Normans to the success of the First Crusade (see chapter 8 in this volume), and the establishment of the Latin principalities in the Levant thereafter, individuals from this region seem to have played a fairly limited role in the history of the crusades and the Latin East. Whether this was, as John France has observed when viewing the First Crusade from a Norman point of view, the “last gasp of that great expansionist drive”, or, as Graham Loud has concluded from a different perspective, that “the crusade had no part in the Sicilian tradition”, it is hard to deny that the Kingdom of Sicily played a remarkably small part in the affairs of the Latin principalities through most of the twelfth century. What is commonly regarded as the moment of exception to this apparent apathy took place in 1174 when a Sicilian fleet attacked Alexandria (chapter 7 in this volume). Cast by historians as part of a broader crusading campaign, which was meant to coordinate with the forces of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and a Shiite uprising in Cairo, this purported effort to capture Alexandria failed when the Sicilians found themselves unsupported. It seems, however, that there may be another way to interpret this episode, one which conforms more to the Sicilians’ modus operandi. Most of the details regarding this campaign, and the context of its planning, are found in Muslim sources, the majority of which can be traced back to the propagandistic concerns of Saladin, who was still defining his position as ruler of Egypt at this time. Saladin had an interest in seeing what might otherwise be characterised as a fairly traditional raid presented as a more serious attack, one undertaken in coordination with others who sought to remove him from power in Egypt. This allowed him to legitimise his position and portray himself as a champion of Sunni Islam.

When looking at the participants of the First Crusade and its successes, it is hard to overlook the contributions of Bohemond of Taranto, as well as those of his nephew, Tancred. In the decades following the crusade, men of similar southern-Italian Norman ancestry would fill out the baronage of the principality that Bohemond and Tancred established around Antioch; direct support from the rulers of southern Italy, however, was limited.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×