Muslim‐Christian Relations in Medieval Southern Italy

Abstract: This article examines the nature of relations between Muslims and Christians in southern Italy during the thirteenth century. In response to uprisings in Sicily, the emperor Frederick II transferred an estimated 20,000 Muslims to the city of Lucera in Apulia. Outside the Iberian Peninsula, Lucera came to have the largest Muslim population of any city in western Europe. Although the formation of the colony led to competition for resources between its inhabitants and the local Christian population, the members of the two religious communities often traded and collaborated. Social mobility was possible for the Lucerine Muslims, particularly through military service. Like Christians and Jews living in the dar al‐Islam, the Muslims of Lucera had a protected status, and they paid a tax called the jizya. They remained free to practice their religion. The heavy taxes paid by the Muslim colony at Lucera during its almost eighty‐year existence made it a valuable asset to the Hohenstaufen and Angevin crowns. Nevertheless, the settlement was dismantled in 1300 on the order of the Angevin king, Charles II, who gave a religious justification. The colony's history provides insight into the complex relations between Muslims and Christians in medieval Mediterranean Europe.     

Book reviews

SYSTEM 37 VIGGEN: ARMS, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE DOMESTICATION OF GLORY. Ingemar Dörfer. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1973. 258 pp. N.Kr.90 ($US18.00).

SIR JOHN MONASH. A. J. Smithers. Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1973. 0–207–12587–2. 303 pp. $7.95.

RADICAL POLITICAL ECONOMY: COLLECTED ESSAYS. E. L. Wheelwright. ANZ Books, Sydney, 1974. 0–85552–018–3. 414 pp. $5.95 paper.

JAPAN'S FOREIGN POLICY. F. C. Langdon, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, 1973. 321 pp. $US9.00 hardcover.

THE PATHET LAO: LEADERSHIP AND ORGANISATION. Joseph J. Zasloff. Lexington Books, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1973. 174 pp. $US10.00.

PERVASIVE POLITICS: A STUDY OF THE INDIAN DISTRICT. Donald F. Miller Melbourne Politics Monographs, Department of Political Science, University of Melbourne, 1972. 226 pp. $2.80, $1.80 (students), paper (postage: local 85c, overseas $1.05).

CHINA IN BURMA'S FOREIGN POLICY. Ralph Pettman. Australian National University Press, Contemporary China Papers No. 7, Canberra, 1973. 56 pp. $2.50 paper.

ZAMBIA. SECURITY AND CONFLICT. Jan Pettman. Julian Friedmann Publishers Ltd., Lewes, Sussex, 1974. 284 pp. £4.25.

THE DIPLOMACY OF CONSTRAINT: CANADA, THE KOREAN WAR AND THE UNITED STATES. Denis Stairs. University of Toronto Press, Toronto, 1974. 371 pp. $C15.00 hard cover.

ALL TOGETHER NOW: THE ORGANIZATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE IN CANADA, 1964–1972. Vernon J. Kronenberg. Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Toronto, 1973. 124 pp. $C2.50 paper.

WAR MACHINERY AND HIGH POLICY: DEFENCE ADMINISTRATION IN PEACETIME BRITAIN 1902–1914. Nicholas d'Ombrain. Oxford Historical Monographs, Oxford University Press, London, 1973. 302 pp. $13.15.

BRITAIN'S LEGACY OVERSEAS. Geoffrey Bolton. Oxford University Press, 1973. 168 pp. $2.10, paper.

GREAT POWER POLITICS AND NORWEGIAN FOREIGN POLICY: A STUDY OF NORWAY'S FOREIGN RELATIONS NOVEMBER 1940‐FEBRUARY 1948. Nils Morten Udgaard. Universitetsforlaget, Oslo, 1973.

EUROPE 1945 TO 1970. Charlotte Waterlow and Archibald Evans. Methuen, London, 1973. 423–87840–9. 316 pp. $11.60.