Norman Conquest of Malta

Array

At the end of the tenth century the centre of the Mediterranean was a battlefield for the three great powers of the time: the Byzantines, the Muslims and the Normans. The Normans first arrived in Italy in 1014AD and 1091 the Normans under Roger Hauteville took over all Sicily from the Arabs after thirty years of warfare. From there Count Roger sailed to Malta.

The Arabs in Malta quickly surrendered to the Normans and the terms of surrender included that all Christian slaves be freed. All horses and weapons were to be handed to the Normans and freedom of worship was allowed for all, with Christians and Muslims being treated equally. The Norman Court in Palermo was known for its tolerance of cultural diversity, as proven by the fact that Maltese Arab culture peaked in the 12th century, after Roger the Norman had occupied the country, when Muslim natives of Malta were among the leading writers and artists in the court of King Roger II. Still, non-Christians were required to pay a tax.

Following the full annexation of the Maltese Islands by Roger II in 1127, twelfth century Malta and Gozo were gradually drawn into the new political, economic and social systems of Latin Christian rule. Malta proved its worth, as it would many times over, as a naval stepping stone contributing to the Norman conquest of Djerba in 1135, and the North African territories in the 1140s. However the legend that Malta’s national flag originates from Count Roger’s coat of arms is a recent myth – still so strong that Masses are said on the 4th of November for the repose of the Count’s soul.

From the mid-twelfth century onwards, the Latin Christian church started establishing itself in Sicily and Malta. Still, a 1240 report [1] records more than eight hundred Muslim families still lived in the Maltese islands aroundy 1240 and Bishops to Malta usually remained in Sicily. Until 1156 the Archbishop of Palermo was in charge of the Maltese diocese but in 1168 the bishop of Malta, John, is mentioned by name. However, the Majmuna tombstone dated 1174 shows that the religions existed side by side for at least a century after Count Roger’s son King Roger took over Malta fully in 1127 so Malta’s Arab-speaking Christian population essentially hung between two worlds.

A Latin-Arabic document issued in November 1198 by the Empress Constance to “the whole people of the entire island of Malta and of the entire island of Gozo, our loyal Christian and Saracen subjects alike (Latin) / to all the Christians and the Muslims of Malta and Gozo – may God guide them! (Arabic)” gives much new information about late 12th century Sicily and Malta. The document throws new light on the Maltese archipelago under Norman rule, confirming that already under Roger II, in the words of Giliberto Abbate, “the men of these islands [lived] according to different customs and laws than [did] the men of our kingdom of Sicily”.

Christian missionaries worked among the Muslim serfs in the Maltese countryside along with Greek hermits. [2] At this time many churches and chapels were rebuilt, some of the Byzantine and early Christian sites around the islands served as underground churches and Muslim places of worship were turned into Christian churches. The isolation of Malta and Pantalleria explains their cultural differences to Sicily in late medieval times when most people in the Maltese islands and Pantelleria continued to speak Arabic, whilst Sicilian was normally used for written communication in the Norman reign.

Strangely, Arab culture on the islands peaked in the 12th century, after Roger the Norman had occupied the country when Muslim natives of Malta were among the leading writers and artists in the court of King Roger II.
By the end of the 12th Century the Norman reign in Southern Italy, Sicily and Malta had crumbled for several reasons including attacks by naval forces from Pisa and Genoa, but left an indelible mark on Maltese history, claiming Malta from the Arab world and planting it firmly in Western Europe.

REFERENCES
1. Giliberto Abate, an administrator of the islands under Frederick II,
2. Mario Buhagiar (2004)