Where Three Worlds Met: Sicily in the Early Medieval Mediterranean

by Sarah C. Davis-Secord

Overview

In Where Three Worlds Met, Sarah Davis-Secord investigates Sicily's place within the religious, diplomatic, military, commercial, and intellectual networks of the Mediterranean by tracing the patterns of travel, trade, and communication among Christians (Latin and Greek), Muslims, and Jews. By looking at the island across this long expanse of time and during the periods of transition from one dominant culture to another, Davis-Secord uncovers the patterns that defined and redefined the broader Muslim-Christian encounter in the Middle Ages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501752162
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	09/15/2020
Pages:	318
Sales rank:	542,048
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.88(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Sarah Davis-Secord is Associate Professor of History at the University of New Mexico.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrationsix
Acknowledgmentsxi
Abbreviationsxiii
Timelinexv
Introduction 1
1.Sicily between Constantinopleand Rome 29
2.Sicily between Byzantium andthe Islamic World 72
3.Sicily in the Dr al-Islm111
4.Sicily from the Dr al-Islm to Latin Christendom174
5.Sicily at the Center of the Mediterranean213
6.Conclusion 242
Bibliography249
Index285

What People are Saying About This

Clifford R. Backman

Where Three Worlds Met is an ambitious and intelligent portrait of Sicily's place in Mediterranean life, a topic well worth undertaking. Located at the center of the Mediterranean, the island was not surprisingly the center of the various commercial, diplomatic, and cultural networks that spread throughout the basin.

Editorial Reviews

Where Three Worlds Met is important for helping to understand medieval Sicily. It covers a sweeping chronological scope, not just synthesizing a broad range of scholarship, but also crafting a new lens through which we can view the island.

The Medieval Review

Davis-Secord explores—imaginatively and successfully—the travel and communication networks produced and experienced by its Byzantine, Muslim, and Norman conquerors.

Choice

Davis-Secord's book represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of medieval Sicily. The synthesis of such a vast body of source material and its situation within the most recent advances in the historiography of the region is quite an achievement indeed.

Early Medieval Europe

Sarah Davis-Secord illuminates both the intrinsic importance of Sicily and also the roles it played in larger transformations of the Mediterranean Basin.

AramcoWorld

Davis-Secord's work makes a signigicant contribution to the way we ought to frame our questions about the medieval Mediterranean and Sicily, in particular.

The NYMAS Review

""Where Three Worlds Met" is an apt title for a book that emphasises the role of Sicily as a place of cultural exchange, an island conquered by several groups over its long and fascinating history. Davis-Secord develops this colourful story though a chronological re-telling of important events and trends in the multi-cultural societies that grew there."

Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association - John Dalton

"Where Three Worlds Met" is an apt title for a book that emphasises the role of Sicily as a place of cultural exchange, an island conquered by several groups over its long and fascinating history. Davis-Secord develops this colourful story though a chronological re-telling of important events and trends in the multi-cultural societies that grew there.

-- "Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association"

Where Three Worlds Met is important for helping to understand medieval Sicily. It covers a sweeping chronological scope, not just synthesizing a broad range of scholarship, but also crafting a new lens through which we can view the island.

-- "The Medieval Review"

A very interesting book.... Few scholars today would have dared to undertake such an ambitious project, and students in particular will learn a great deal from this thoughtful and stimulating work.

-- "American Historical Review"

Davis-Secord explores--imaginatively and successfully--the travel and communication networks produced and experienced by its Byzantine, Muslim, and Norman conquerors.

-- "Choice"

Davis-Secord's book represents a valuable contribution to our understanding of medieval Sicily. The synthesis of such a vast body of source material and its situation within the most recent advances in the historiography of the region is quite an achievement indeed.

-- "Early Medieval Europe"

Davis-Secord's work makes a significant contribution to the way we ought to frame our questions about the medieval Mediterranean and Sicily, in particular.

-- "Reading Religion"

Davis-Secord's work makes a signigicant contribution to the way we ought to frame our questions about the medieval Mediterranean and Sicily, in particular.

-- "The NYMAS Review"

Sarah Davis-Secord illuminates both the intrinsic importance of Sicily and also the roles it played in larger transformations of the Mediterranean Basin.

-- "AramcoWorld"

From the Publisher

A very interesting book.... Few scholars today would have dared to undertake such an ambitious project, and students in particular will learn a great deal from this thoughtful and stimulating work.

American Historical Review

"Where Three Worlds Met" is an apt title for a book that emphasises the role of Sicily as a place of cultural exchange, an island conquered by several groups over its long and fascinating history. Davis-Secord develops this colourful story though a chronological re-telling of important events and trends in the multi-cultural societies that grew there.

Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association

Davis-Secord's work makes a significant contribution to the way we ought to frame our questions about the medieval Mediterranean and Sicily, in particular.

Reading Religion

"Where Three Worlds Met is an ambitious and intelligent portrait of Sicily's place in Mediterranean life, a topic well worth undertaking. Located at the center of the Mediterranean, the island was not surprisingly the center of the various commercial, diplomatic, and cultural networks that spread throughout the basin."

Clifford R. Backman

"Eschewing generalizations regarding medieval Sicily’s importance based on its geographical centrality in the Mediterranean, Davis-Secord (history, Univ. of New Mexico) presents a scholarly, nuanced view of the island during the period between the 6th and late 12th centuries. She accomplishes this not through a standard narrative history, but by exploring—imaginatively and successfully—the travel and communication networks produced and experienced by its Byzantine, Muslim, and Norman conquerors."

Choice - R. T. Ingoglia