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The Tenth Century

Muslims in the Western Mediterranean

The initial spread of Islam lasted for about a hundred years in the West. By the time of Charlemagne they controlled all of northern Africa and most of Spain, but north of the Pyrenees belonged to Charles and the Franks.  The Byzantines still controlled Sicily and southern Italy, plus various other outposts, and the Byzantine navy still controlled the eastern and central Mediterranean.

But in the ninth century there was renewed Muslim activity, mainly led by lesser princes (emirs) who sometimes behanved like rulers and sometimes like pirates. Commanding armies and small fleets of ships, these princes had the run of the Western Mediterranean because there was no Christian power with a fleet. This left the coasts vulnerable to adventurers and left Christian merchant fleets at their mercy as well.

The most significant Muslim conquest came with the invasion of Sicily in 827. It took several years, but the Muslims were able to drive out the Byzantines, and Sicily was Islamic for over two hundred years. They also invaded mainland Italy, driving the Byzantines out from there as well. They even attacked Rome in 843. But the Byzantines mounted a counter-offensive and the Muslims were gradually driven out of the mainland (final battle in 915).

Muslim adventurers were active outside Italy, too. The estuary of the Rhone River was an important conduit of trade and was also a great haven for pirates.  Whole Islamic cities were built, though they did not survive. One emir even set himself up in the Alps, preying on merchants.

All these activities had a significant impact on trade between West and East. Trade with Constantinople and Alexandria dropped steadily and dramatically, further cutting Europe off from outside influences. Trade had declined but had survived all through the earlier Middle Ages, but with Sicily in Muslim hands, and with Muslim control of the western Mediterranean largely in the hands of Muslim pirates and independent princes, trade simply became too risky for most. Contact did not end, but it was reduced to a trickle all through the 9th and 10th centuries.