A Companion to Medieval Palermo: The History of a Mediterranean City from 600 to 1500

The Companion to Medieval Palermo offers a panorama of the history of Medieval Palermo from the sixth to the fifteenth century. Often described by contrast with the communal reality of Medieval Italy as submitted to a royal (external) authority, the city is here given back its density and creativity. Important themes such as artistic and literary productions, religious changes or political autonomy are thus explored anew. Some fields recently investigated are the object of particular scrutiny: the history of the Jews, Byzantine or Islamic Palermo are among them. Contributors are Annliese Nef, Vivien Prigent, Alessandra Bagnera, Mirella Cassarino, Rosi Di Liberto, Elena Pezzini, Henri Bresc, Igor Mineo, Laura Sciascia, Gian Luca Borghese, Sulamith Brodbeck, Benoît Grévin, Giuseppe Mandalà, and Fabrizio Titone.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures ... ix Acknowledgements ... xiii Abbreviations ... xv List of Contributors ... xvii The Medieval History of Palermo in a New Light ... 1 Annliese Nef From an Empire to another Empire (VIth–XIth) 1.. Palermo in the Eastern Roman Empire ... 11 Vivien Prigent 2.. Islamic Palermo and the dār al-islām: Politics, Society and the Economy (from the mid-9th to the mid-11th Century) ... 39 Annliese Nef 3.. From a Small Town to a Capital: The Urban Evolution of Islamic Palermo (9th–mid-11th Century) ... 61 Alessandra Bagnera 4.. Palermo Experienced, Palermo Imagined. Arabic and Islamic Culture between the 9th and the 12th Century ... 89 Mirella Cassarino The Hauteville’s experiment (XIth–XIIth) 5.. Norman Palermo: The Capital of a Kingdom or the Dream Scene of an Empire? ... 133 Annliese Nef 6.. Norman Palermo: Architecture between the 11th and 12th Century ... 139 Rosi Di Liberto 7. Palermo in the 12th Century: Transformations in forma urbis ... 195 Elena Pezzini Palermo and the Mediterranean at the end of the Middle Ages 8. Palermo in the 14th–15th Century: Urban Economy and Trade ... 235 Henri Bresc 9. Palermo in the 14th–15th Century: The Urban Society ... 269 E. Igor Mineo Transversal approaches 10. Palermo as a Stage for, and a Mirror of, Political Developments from the 12th to the 15th Century ... 299 Laura Sciascia 11. The City of Foreigners: Palermo and the Mediterranean from the 11th to the 15th Century ... 325 Gian Luca Borghese 12. Religious Palermo: A Panorama between the 12th and the 15th Centuries ... 349 Henri Bresc 13. Monreale from Its Origin to the End of the Middle Ages ... 383 Sulamith Brodbeck 14. Linguistic Cultures and Textual Production in Palermo, from the End of the 11th to the End of the 15th Century ... 413 Benoit Grevin 15. The Jews of Palermo from Late Antiquity to the Expulsion (598–1492–93) ... 437 Giuseppe Mandala Conclusive perspectives 16. Citizens and Freedom in Medieval Sicily ... 489 Fabrizio Titone Indicative Bibliography ... 525 Index ... 529