Sicilian Saracen Foot Auxilliary, 1266

[Habib]

I wanna be a Muslim Arab "Saracen" footman fighting under Manfred of Sicily in the Battle of Benevento (1266 AD). I'm trying to pull a bit from memory, wikipedia, and partially damaged and poorly written notes from when I read Osprey's book on Medieval Italian Military. Unfortnately I currently don't have access to that book
I recall there was a time in Southern Italy where there was a lot of tolerance between Italians, Greeks, Jews, and Muslims. I hope those are the two time frames that add up. Either way, that's what I would like to be. I'm looking for both SCA legal armour AND garb as well...along with any other bones you want to throw at me on the subject.

Perhaps y'all can help me here. I was surprised to see the tolerance of the southern Italians/Sicilians under Frankish leadership with the different cultures. For me, the differences there proved to be the most intriguing part of the period. I was looking into an Arab persona to work with (hence the username) and so with this area/time period it seems to be the most interesting.
With regards to the Hard and Soft kit, were the Saracens obviously different than the Italians or was it more of an amalgamation of cultures? Would someone have good references on hand to point me in the right direction? Any good images, plates, effigies, essays, or really anything to help me piece together my garb, armour, and weapon/shield choices?

[Baron Alcyoneus]

It isn't my area, so I don't have a lot to contribute, but there were Arab/Moorish colonies in Southern Italy and Sicily. But you probably already know that, so I haven't contributed very much.

[Russ Mitchell]

From what I've read (it's out of my specialty), it was generally tolerance rather than love, and when the Normans used Muslim troops, it was generally as archers. The muslim communities were separate communities from the christian ones, rather than integrated modern-style. One imagines that, commerce being what it is, and southern Italian familiarity with the Arab world being what it was, that there were numerous spots with perfectly good relations back and forth. (We really need to say Arab here rather than Muslim; it's a shorthand *everybody's* guilty of, myself included, but not a very illuminating one).

I read once, in a french article I don't have on hand, that the southern Italian berroviere (light cavalrymen) may have been partially influenced by Arab traditions, and that boiled leather armor was common amongst them. So assuming you're a) SCA and not LH b) not a combat archer, I'd set myself up with a relatively light kit using lots of leather. If you wanted an exciting project, you could do a leather round shield with lots of decoration on it.

[jester]

Not sure we should say "arab" rather than "muslim", Russ. "Muslim" tends to be a more accurate term as there was a great deal of emigration within the Muslim sphere of power. In 13th-14th Century Spain, for example, we can find Indians, Mongols, Saracens, North Africans, East and West Africans, Arabs, Persians, and perhaps some Chinese. But it's my understanding the Islamic settlements in Italy/Sicily were all gone by around 1240AD. Except for Lucera. If you're a Muslim in Italy after 1240 then you probably live in Lucera unless you're in Venice or Genoa.

And 'tolerance' is a relative term. If you mean 'permitting them to live there until we can throw them out' then you're close. If you mean 'recognizing them as different but equal and living in relative peace' then you're off the mark.

Based on the experiences documented elsewhere, and the iconography I can find, differences in appearance and dress were not only common, they were the law (this was the case in Lucera). It was vitally important that Christians, Jews, and Muslims be able to instantly tell each other apart in order to avoid breaking one of the many laws that governed interactions between these religions. Amalgamation was considered a very, very bad thing. That said, the evidence is clear that fashions migrated. I am of the opinion that it mostly went from East (Muslim, Jewish) to West (Christian). Probably because Christianity has fewer sumptuary laws built into it.

The good news is this makes it relatively easy for you to expand your search area. There is remarkable continuity in clothing styles and you can easily support a position that clothing is largely unchanged in the broad details between the 7th Century and the 18th Century. The form of the turban, for example, changes from place to place and time to time (and is an important indicator) but there is always the turban. The kameez (basic shirt), on the other hand, can be shown to use the same design in 13th Century Spain as in 19th Century India (all within the Muslim sphere of influence). The same applies to the chalwar (pants), burqas (several designs), and shoes.

I suggest you pick an area of origin for your persona: North Africa (al-Maghrib), Spain (al-Andalus), Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East (Egpyt, Syria, Iraq), Turkey, the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, India (Pakistan and North India). Then research the clothing styles for those areas wherever you can find images/documentation. That's your baseline. Narrow your search by looking at artwork from your chosen time and area. The Mandragore image database of the French National Library (BNF) is a great source. Note: If you choose to be a local convert to Islam (which you would find in Italy and Spain) you should still pick an origin area to emulate.

Suggested Resources:
-Mandragore (online image database, look for images of muslims, moors, and saracens in your time period and geographic area)
-Muslims in Medieval Italy, the colony at Lucera (book, amazon has it)

[Ernst]

Like others, this is not my area of expertise.

Book of Stars
Abd al-Rahman ibn Umar al-Ṣūfī
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana Ms. Ross. 1033
1224 AD, Ceuta, North Africa (The Spanish Gibralter on the Morocco side of the Strait)





In Arms & Armour of the Crusading Era V.2 David Nicolle shows a Tunisian helmet, img. 369, with uncertain 10th-12th century dating. Both this helmet with it's rounded skull and neckguard and the Book of Stars helmet seem to have similarities with helmets shown in a French History of Outremer, British Library Yates Thompson Ms.12, 1232-1261.

http://manuscriptminiatures.com/histoir ... n-12/1296/
http://manuscriptminiatures.com/histoir ... n-12/1299/

Several 12th century oliphants from Sicily exist, and a few show warriors with turban, hip-length mail shirt with half sleeves, and small, round, hemispehrical shields. I don't know if it can be argued that this fashion persists into the mid-13th century. Sicilian Muslim art seems more inspired by Fatimid Egypt than al-Andalus per Nicolle. Still, we have a number of illustartions in the Cantigas de Santa Maria which might offer some insight, though they post-date your depiction by a couple of decades.
http://warfare.totalh.net/Cantiga/Canti ... _Maria.htm

[Habib]

I thought I had read somewhere that some of the noblemen actually had Arab advisors, private tutors, and staff members (not sure of the medieval phrasing for this). I mean, I know it wasn't really San Francisco in the 1960's but something significantly less chaotic than the crusades.

[jester]

I thought I had read somewhere that some of the noblemen actually had Arab advisors, private tutors, and staff members (not sure of the medieval phrasing for this). I mean, I know it wasn't really San Francisco in the 1960's but something significantly less chaotic than the crusades.

In Spain, definitely. We have pictures and accounts of the Kings of Castille (in particular) and Aragon with their principal advisers and many of them are Jews or, more commonly, Muslims. In Spain there were entire regions which were Muslim and owed fealty to the Christian monarchs. In Italy? I don't know. After ~1040AD Lucera appears to be the only place left. There are several articles on Muslims and Jews in Genoa and Venice post-Lucera but I don't have access to them. What abstracts I can find seem to indicate they were diplomats/traders (and outside the Italian political/social structure) or slaves.

[jester]

Oh, by the way, "slave" is a term with many shades of meaning in the Middle Ages. Technically, all Muslim residents of a land (and all Jews) were the property of the Crown. This made them something between slaves and serfs. However, the ownership of the 'slaves' could be transferred and the 'slaves' could become the personal chattels of someone else. In Spain, for instance, the 'slaves' frequently purchased exemption from some of the more vexing sumptuary laws. But others who violated these laws could be sold into slavery. I would bet that it was the same way in Italy up until the sack of Lucera (when the population that couldn't escape to Albania was sold into slavery).