Reframing the Fall of the Zirid Dynasty, 1112–35 CE
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Keywords
Middle Ages, medieval, Ifriqiya, Sicily, Zirids, Normans, Crusades
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.5325/mediterraneanstu.26.1.0001
Abstract
Ever since H. R. Idris categorized the last forty years of the Zirid emirate (972–1148) as one of “agony,” the characterization has stuck. According to his narrative, the fall of the Zirid dynasty was as inevitable as the ascent of the Normans in Sicily, who exploited the Zirids for years before seizing their capital of Mahdia in 1148. This article challenges this anachronistic view of the Zirid dynasty by showing the relative strength of the Zirids throughout the 1110s and 1120s, as they made strategic alliances with other Muslim powers in the Mediterranean and won multiple victories against the Normans.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Mediterranean Studies, v. 26, issue 1, p. 1-25
Scholar Commons Citation
King, Matt, "Reframing the Fall of the Zirid Dynasty, 1112–35 CE" (2018). History Faculty Publications. 210.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/hty_facpub/210
