23/05/2024 15:15 - 17:30

HALL: LA PIRA - ROOM 3

Proponent: Cargnelutti F.

Chair: Pitocchi C.

Speaker: Cargnelutti F., Favaretto G., Granara W., Rhyzova K.

Because of its strategic location in the center of the Mediterranean sea, Sicily was affected by the major political shifts that took place in Islamic West between the 10th and 12th centuries. This also impacted the religious landscape of the island that was characterized by the presence of different communities. The panel focuses on this religious context and aims at providing an analysis of the relations and perceptions of the religious Other within and without the geographical borders of the island. This will be done by considering two perspectives: that of the successive dynasties that ruled the island throughout this period and that of the religious communities that had to deal with this changing balance of power. The panel proposes a series of case studies. Firstly, the taxation system of the religious Other during the rule of the Kalbid dynasty (948-1053). Secondly, the Kalbid dynasty's attempt to rule over a Sunni-majority population by extensively re-organising the precedent judicial and administrative apparatus. Thirdly, the conception of the religious other and diversity in the work of Ibn ?afar al-?iqilli (1104-1170/2), who lived in Sicily during the Norman period.