Editing Persecution of Muslims (section)

===Southern Italy===
{{Further|History of Islam in southern Italy|Emirate of Sicily|Muslim settlement of Lucera|Muslim conquest of Sicily}}

The island of [[Sicily]] was conquered by the [[Aghlabids]] in the 10th century after over a century of conflict, with the [[Byzantine Empire]] losing its final stronghold in 965.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf |publisher=Archaeology.Stanford.edu |title=Brief history of Sicily |date=7 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609094555/http://archaeology.stanford.edu/MountPolizzo/handbookPDF/MPHandbook5.pdf |archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref> The [[Italo-Norman|Normans]] conquered the last Arab Muslim stronghold by 1091.<ref>{{cite book |publisher=ABC-CLIO |title=Faiths Across Time: 5,000 Years of Religious History [4 Volumes]: 5,000 Years of Religious History |page=713 |date=15 January 2014}}</ref> Subsequently, just as Muslims had previously imposed the [[jizya]] tax on the non-Muslims of Sicily, the new rulers continued the practice and imposed the same tax now on the Muslims (locally spelled ''gisia''). Another tax on levied them for a time was the ''augustale''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Shlomo |last=Simonsohn |title=Between Scylla and Charybdis: The Jews in Sicily |publisher=Brill |page=163}}</ref> Muslim rebellion broke out during the reign of [[Tancred, King of Sicily|Tancred]] as [[King of Sicily]]. Lombard pogroms against Muslims started in the 1160s. Muslim and Christian communities in Sicily became increasingly geographically separated. The island's Muslim communities were mainly isolated beyond an internal frontier which divided the south-western half of the island from the Christian north-east. Sicilian Muslims were dependent on royal protection. When [[William II of Sicily|King William the Good]] died in 1189, this royal protection was lifted, and the door was opened for widespread attacks against the island's Muslims. Tolerance towards  Muslims ended with increasing Hohenstaufen control. Many oppressive measures, passed by [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], were introduced in order to please the Popes  to stop  Islam from being practised in [[Christendom]]: the result was in a rebellion of Sicily's Muslims. This triggered organized and systematic reprisals which marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily. The rebellion abated, but direct papal pressure induced Frederick to mass transfer all his Muslim subjects deep into the Italian hinterland.<ref>{{cite book |first1=David |last1=Luscombe |first2=Jonathan |last2=Riley-Smith |title=The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 4, c. 1024 – c. 1198 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=470}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Philip |last1=Grierson |first2=Lucia |last2=Travaini |title=Medieval European Coinage: Volume 14, South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia: With a Catalogue of the Coins in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=184}}</ref><ref name=autogenerated2>A.Lowe: The Barrier and the bridge; p. 92.</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Pierre |last=Aubé |title=Roger Ii De Sicile – Un Normand En Méditerranée |publisher=Payot |year=2001}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=May 2023}} In 1224, [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]] expelled all Muslims from the island transferring many to Lucera (''Lugêrah'', as it was known in Arabic) over the next two decades. In this controlled environment they could not challenge royal authority and they benefited the crown in taxes and military service. Their numbers eventually reached between 15,000 and 20,000, leading Lucera to be called ''Lucaera Saracenorum'' because it represented the last stronghold of Islamic presence in Italy. During peacetime, Muslims in Lucera were predominantly farmers. They grew [[durum]] wheat, [[barley]], [[legume]]s, grapes, and other fruits. Muslims also kept bees for [[honey]].<ref>Taylor, p. 99</ref> The [[Muslim settlement of Lucera]] was destroyed by [[Charles II of Naples]] with backing from the papacy. The Muslims were either massacred, forcibly converted, enslaved, or exiled. Their abandoned mosques were demolished, and churches were usually built in their place. The [[Lucera Cathedral]] was built on the site of a mosque which was destroyed. The mosque was the last one still functioning in [[medieval Italy]] by that time.<ref>{{cite book |author=Julie Anne Taylor |title=Muslims in Medieval Italy: The Colony at Lucera |publisher=Lexington Books |page=208}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Nicolle |title=European Medieval Tactics (2): New Infantry, New Weapons 1260–1500 |publisher=Bloomsbury |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Norman |last=Dariel |title=The Arabs and the Medieval Europe |publisher=UCD Library |page=156}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Alex |last=Metcalfe |title=Muslims of Medieval Italy |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=294}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=May 2023}} Some were exiled, with many finding asylum in [[Albania]] across the [[Adriatic Sea]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Ataullah Bogdan Kopanski |url=https://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/quran/albanian/Albchapt.htm |title=Islamization of Shqeptaret: The Clash of Religions in Medieval Albania |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091125004644/http://www.iiu.edu.my/deed/quran/albanian/Albchapt.htm |archive-date=25 November 2009}}</ref><ref>Taylor, p. 187</ref> Islam was no longer a major presence in the island by the 14th century.

The Aghlabids also conquered the island of [[Malta]] at the same time during their invasion of Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Idris El Harier |first2=Ravane |last2=Mbaye |title=The Spread of Islam Throughout the World |publisher=UNESCO |page=441}}</ref> Per the [[Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar|Al-Himyari]] the island was reduced to an uninhabited ruin due to the conquest. The place was later converted into a settlement by Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blouet |first1=Brian W. |title=The Story of Malta |date=2007 |publisher=Allied Publications |page=41}}</ref> The Normans conquered it at the same time as Sicily.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dennis Angelo Castillo |title=The Maltese Cross: A Strategic History of Malta |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=30}}</ref> The Normans however did not interfere in the matters of Muslims of the island and gave them a tributary status.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mario |last=Buhagiar |title=The late Medieval art and architecture of the Maltese islands |publisher=University of Michigan |page=41}}</ref> Their conquest however led to the [[Christianization]] and [[Latinization (historical)|Latinization]] of the island.<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=Joe |editor-last=Zammit-Ciantar |title=Symposia Melitensia 4 |publisher=University of Malta |page=150}}</ref> An annual fine on the Christian community for killing of a Muslim was also repealed in the 12th century, signifying the degradation of the protection given to the Muslims.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alex |last=Metcalfe |title=Muslims of Medieval Italy |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=285}}</ref> Most of the Maltese Muslims were deported by 1271.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dante and Islam |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=238 |first=Jan M. |last=Ziolkowski}}</ref> All Maltese Muslims had converted to Christianity by the end of the 15th century and had to find ways to disguise their previous identities by Latinizing or adopting new surnames.<ref>{{cite book |title=Malta, Mediterranean Bridge |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=24 |first=Stefan |last=Goodwin}}</ref>