At a glance
- Era
- Abbasid Fragmentation
- Region
- Maghreb
- Review
- Draft Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it
In time
Summary
In 543 AH the fleets of Roger, king of Sicily (Roger), landed at al-Mahdiyya, and he seized the coastal lands. 2
Ibn Khaldun's account
The fleets came in three hundred ships, commanded by George son of Michael of Antioch, with a thousand horsemen. Roger imposed a poll tax on the people of the coast, and they remained under his rule until Abd al-Mu'min, sheikh of the Muwahhidun, rescued them in 555 AH. 2
Ibn Khaldun also notes that Roger kept the people of the African coasts he held under his authority, and returned those who fled to their places. 2
The account of Shadharat al-Dhahab
In Ibn al-Imad, the famine in Ifriqiya in 543 AH was severe, and the king of Sicily seized the opportunity and advanced with two hundred and fifty ships. The ruler of al-Mahdiyya, al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Zirid, fled from him, and he took the city without a fight. The Franks came to hold the lands between Tripoli of the Maghrib and near Tunis. 3
The two accounts differ on the number of ships.
Connections
- Had participant
- رجار صاحب صقلية· جرجي بن ميخائيل الأنطاكي· al-Hasan ibn Ali, last of the Banu Badis
- Occurred at
- al-Mahdiyya
People and things also explored
The Franks Take Tripoli of the Maghreb in 541· The Tripoli Uprising against the Christians and Their Burning· al-Hasan ibn Ali, last of the Banu Badis· جرجي بن ميخائيل الأنطاكي· رجار صاحب صقلية
Sources
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun , p. 1636
- Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun , p.1636
- Shadharat al-Dhahab — Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali , p.614-615
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Roger of Sicily Seizes Mahdiyya”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/norman-capture-mahdiyya-543/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.