ABSTRACT
Divine punishment for the Christians’ sins is the most common explanation in the Italian texts to justify the attacks and victories of the Muslims. Saints’ relics were very precious for the Christians. They represented a tangible access to God and his saints and constituted a relevant component of the identity of both ecclesiastical and secular communities in the areas where they were preserved. The transfer of the relics sometimes occurred after the Muslims’ destructions in order to prevent the loss of the saints’ remains. The Muslims neither destroyed nor stole relics of the saints. On the contrary, some Christians profited from Muslim raids for taking away those precious remains. The Sicilian–Calabrian monks’ biographies emphasize that, besides creating problems for their security, the Muslims’ incursions rendered it impossible for the saints to lead their secluded lives. The threat of Muslim attacks did not result in the construction of many new fortified centers.
