from Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...uest_of_Muslim_Sicily_.281061.E2.80.931091.29
The Norman
Robert Guiscard, son of Tancred,
invaded Sicily in 1060. The island was split between three Arab
emirs, and the sizeable Christian population rose up against the ruling Muslims. One year later Messina fell, and in 1072, Palermo was taken by the Normans.
[15] The loss of the cities, each with a splendid harbor, dealt a severe blow to Muslim power on the island. Eventually all of Sicily was taken. In 1091,
Noto in the southern tip of Sicily and the island of
Malta, the last Arab stongholds, fell to the Christians. By the
11th century Muslim power in the Mediterranean had begun to wane.
[16]
The Norman
Kingdom of Sicily under
Roger II was characterised by its multi-ethnic nature and religious tolerance.
[17] Normans, Jews, Muslim Arabs (Berbers and "Persians" enclosed), Byzantine Greeks, Longobards and "native" Sicilians lived in harmony.
[18][19] Rather than exterminate the Muslims of Sicily, the Roger II's grandson Emperor
Frederick II of Hohenstaufen (1215—1250) allowed them to settle on the mainland and build mosques.[
citation needed][
dubious – discuss] Not least, he enlisted them in his — Christian — army and even into his personal bodyguards.
[20][21]
Many repressive measures, passed by
Frederick II, were introduced in order to please the Popes who could not tolerate
Islam being practiced in the heart of
Christendom,
[22] which resulted in a rebellion of Sicily's Muslims.
[23] This in turn triggered organized resistance and systematic reprisals
[24] and marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily. The Muslim problem characterized
Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily under
Henry VI and his son Frederick II. The annihilation of Islam in Sicily was completed by the late 1240s, when the final deportations to
Lucera took place.
[25]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Islam_in_southern_Italy#cite_note-24
