ABSTRACT
Chapter Three focuses upon the impact of the creation of the kingdom of Sicily and the Palermo court’s subsequent Arabicisation. It argues that this reflected a deliberate political and economic alignment of the island towards North Africa. On the one hand, this was evidenced in the ongoing cordial relationship between Palermo and Cairo, whilst on the other it also saw increasing military intervention in Ifrīqiyan affairs and ultimately conquest of territory. This approach did not preclude potential involvement in Antioch, but when opportunities evaporated, political pragmatism took over. The chapter explores whether there was any religious motive to North African expansion, and the Sicilian position vis-à-vis the Second Crusade. It also returns to the issue of identity, suggesting that Roger II appropriated elements of Byzantine and Latin identity which reinforced the Christian faith of the kingdom, thereby counterbalancing the Muslim nature of the court.
