This is the first work to offer a specific account of the social, religious and linguistic shift from a largely Arabic-speaking Muslim island in 1060 to a largely 'Latin'-speaking Christian one by around 1250.
Alex Metcalfe holds degrees in Literae Humaniores from Exeter College, Oxford and Arabic from the University of Leeds. After extensive travel in Europe and the Middle East and employment as a foreign exchange trader, soldier and teacher, he completed a doctorate at Leeds that serves as the basis of this present work.
Acknowledgements Abbreviation Transliteration Schemes Map of Twelfth-Century Sicily Introduction 1. Sicily before 1100 2. The Muslim Community: Language, Religion and Status 3. 'Normans', 'Lombards', 'Greeks', 'Arabs', 'Berbers' and Jews 4. At the Margins of the Arabic-Speaking Communities 5. Communication Around the Royal Palaces and Arabic as a Language of the Ruling Elite 6. Defining the Land: The Monreale Register of Boundaries from 1182 7. BDe Saracenico in Latinum Transferri: The Mechanics of the Translation Process 8. Arabic-Greek Bilingualism: An Introduction to the Evidence 9. From Arab-Muslim to Latin-Christian: A Model for Change? Appendix A: Index of the Monreale Estates Appendix B: Salvatore Cusa's I diplomi greci ed arabi Appendix C: The Varying Treatment of Professional Names Bibliography Index