Oriente e Occidente nel Mediterraneo : ripensare Antiochia Medievale (XI-XIII secc.)

The paper is about Antioch, a principality centred on the city of Antioch, founded by European Christians – the Norman Bohemond coming from South Italy, in territory taken from the Muslims in 1098, during the First Crusade. It survived as a European outpost in the East for nearly two centuries. By 1268 Antioch’s territory had been severely diminished, and the city itself surrendered to the attacking army of Baybars I (1260–77), Mamlūk sultan of Egypt and Syria. Antioch, with its multicultural population predominantly Christian, where Greek and Arabic languages were spoken, played a long time overlooked role in Arab-Western cultural transfer. The English mathematician Adelard of Bath traveled from West (Sicily too) to Antioch; Stephan of Pisa (also of Antioch) was an Italian translator from Arabic active in Antioch and Southern Italy; Theodore of Antioch was in the Kingdom of Sicily as Frederick II’s philosopher. Medieval Antioch was economically important too, due to its location at the junction of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean and from Syria to Asia Minor. The state prospered economically despite domestic unrest and Muslim onslaughts. Because trade was vital to Christians and Muslims alike, agreements were reached that enabled trade to continue despite religious differences. Spices, dyes, silk, and porcelain came on caravans from the East and were shipped to European markets. Nearby orchards and olive groves supplied sweet lemons and olive oil for export, and wood from the forests of Lebanon was traded to the Egyptians in return for fine cloth.