ABSTRACT
In 1087 a sea-borne force comprising mainly Pisans and Genoese, but augmented by men from Rome and Amalfi, attacked and plundered the Moslem town of Mahdia and its suburb ZawJla. Mahdia (al-Mahdiya) is situated on the North African coast, between Sousse and Sfax, in what is today Tunisia. The principal account of the Mahdia campaign is the Latin rhythm usually known as the Carmen in victoriam Pisanorum. Pertz long ago drew attention to its value for historians of the eleventh century1 ; and Erdmann regarded the expedition as a forerunner of the First Crusade. In his judgment it was ‘ganz als Kreuzzug ausgeführt’ .2 The Carmen has been several times printed, but in editions which are inadequate and difficult to obtain. The purpose of this study is to present the most accurate text possible, together with comment on it and a discussion of the historical circumstances of the victory that the Carmen celebrates. Since the events of 1087 left their mark upon the memory of the western Moslem world, they will be considered from the Moslem as well as from the Christian angle.3
