Hello, I'm Mr. Marchin, and I'll be your History teacher for today.

I'm really looking forward to starting our learning journey together, and my role will be to make sure that you can meet today's learning objective.

Welcome to today's lesson, which is part of our unit on "11th Century Islamic Worlds," where we've been thinking about, what were some of the similarities and differences between different areas under Islamic rule in the 11th century.

In today's lesson, we are gonna be working on describing what Islamic Sicily was like in the 11th century, and explaining what made it different from other Islamic worlds.

There are three key words which will help us to navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those are province, Emir, and diverse.

A province is an area of a state which is not the capital city, and may be considered less important.

And Emir is a type of leader in some Muslim countries.

And a place is diverse if it includes many different types of people.

So today's lesson is gonna be split in two three parts, and we'll begin by focusing on locating Sicily.

Sicily is a small island located in the Mediterranean Sea.

From the 9th century until the 11th century, Sicily was a province of the Fatimid Caliphate based in Egypt.

You can see on the screen a map of the Mediterranean, highlighting the location of Sicily, right in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

So let's just check our initial understanding of Sicily and its place in the 11th century world.

I want you to write the missing keyword in the following sentence.

In the 11th century, Sicily was a blank of the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well then to everybody who said the missing word was province.

In the 11th century, Sicily was a province at the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt.

So it was ruled over by those Caliphs, and it was considered less important as a territory to those rulers in Egypt.

So we can see a map on our screen.

The map shows the Mediterranean, and the location of Sicily is clearly circled, showing us that Sicily's located right in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Now this is different from Cordoba, which was located in Western Europe.

Now if we think about some of the regions shown on this map, we can see that North Africa and Egypt are all located within quite close proximity to Sicily, as is Europe to the north of Sicily.

Baghdad, which was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, is located further away to the east, and a little bit beyond the main parts of the Mediterranean world.

So which statement is most accurate, based on what we've just seen? That Sicily is located close to the centre of the Mediterranean Sea? That Sicily is located close to the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea? Or that Sicily is located close to the western edge of the Mediterranean sea? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct statement was A.

Sicily is located close to the centre of the Mediterranean sea.

So now we are in a good position to put all of our knowledge about the location of Sicily in the 11th century into practise.

So I want you to study the statements about Sicily in the table.

And for each statement you need to identify whether it is true or false.

You have four statements that you need to judge that for.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answers.

Okay, really well done for all of your effort on that task.

I asked you to identify whether each of the statements in our table were true or false.

So your answers should have looked like this.

For Sicily was the capital of a caliphate, well, that statement is false.

Sicily was a province of the Fatimid Caliphate, based in Egypt.

Sicily is located in the Mediterranean sea.

So that second statement was true.

Our third statement that said Sicily is located close to Europe, but far from North Africa, is false.

From its location in the middle of the Mediterranean, Sicily is actually located quite close to both Europe and North Africa.

And the final statement said Sicily had important links to Egypt, but that statement was true, because it was a province of the Fatimid Caliphs of Egypt.

Sicily had a really clear political and religious link back to Egypt.

So well done For all of your work on that task, especially you got every single one of those statements correctly identified as true or false.

And that means we are ready to move on to the second part of our lesson for today, where we are gonna be thinking about Muslim rule in Sicily.

The leaders of Sicily were known as Emirs.

Although the Emirs were in charge of the island, they did not have complete control over Sicily.

Sicily was a province of the Fatimid Caliphate, which was ruled from Egypt.

The Emirs of Sicily were loyal to the Fatimid Caliphs in Egypt, and was sometimes replaced by the Caliph if he was unhappy with the Emirs.

The population of Sicily was very diverse.

As well as Muslims, there was a large population of Christians and Jews, who also lived on the island.

In fact, non-Muslims made up nearly half of the population of 11th century Sicily.

The religious diversity of Sicily's population could even be seen in its places of worship.

The biggest mosque in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, had previously been a Christian Church.

Muslim rule in Sicily saw many improvements in agriculture on the island.

New crops were introduced including sugarcane, lemon, and orange trees.

Techniques for managing agricultural land were also improved in Sicily by Muslim farmers, which allowed more food to be grown on the island.

Sicily's central location in the Mediterranean also placed it in a good position for international trade.

The markets in Palermo often sold goods from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.

For instance, Italian traders often purchased goods such as sugar, pepper, Egyptian textiles, and medical herbs from Sicily, as this was quicker than sailing all the way across the Mediterranean to where these goods originally came from.

So we've heard a bit about Muslim rule in Sicily during the 11th century.

But we need to make sure our knowledge is secure.

So let's try a couple of questions.

What were the leaders of Sicily known as? Caliphs, Emirs, or emperors? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

The leaders of Sicily were known as Emirs.

They were not Caliphs, as the Emirs of Sicily were actually loyal to the Caliphs of Egypt, the Fatimid Caliphs, that is.

And let's try another question.

How much of 11th century Sicily's population was non-Muslim? Was it nearly one quarter, nearly one third, or nearly half? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was C.

Nearly one half of the population of 11th century Sicily was non-Muslim.

There were many Christians and Jews who lived on the island, as well as Muslims. Let's try another question.

This time we've got a statement.

Our statement says, "Many foreign traders travelled to Sicily for its markets." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was true.

Many foreign traders did travel to Sicily for its markets.

But we need to be able to justify our answer.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that Sicily's markets had a range of goods which could not be purchased from anywhere else.

The second statement says that Sicily's markets had a range of goods from across the Mediterranean.

Which one of those two statements is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that justification B was correct.

Many foreign traders travelled to Sicily because its markets had a range of goods from across the Mediterranean.

This was because of Sicily's central location, right in the middle of the Mediterranean.

Which meant it was often easier for foreign travellers to go to Sicily and buy goods, rather than travel directly to faraway locations, such as Marrakesh, Cordoba, or Egypt.

In the mid 11th century, disagreements began to emerge between the Muslim rulers of Sicily.

The island was soon split between four different groups, who regularly fought against one another for power.

So of these groups looked to outsiders for help in defeating their opponents.

This outside help came from many different places, including from the Normans, a group of Christian warriors who ruled over northern France and southern Italy.

Although the Normans originally fought alongside some of the Muslims on Sicily, they grew in power, especially after 1063, and took over more of the island for themselves.

In 1072, the Normans conquered Palermo.

By 1091, the whole of Sicily was under Norman control, and the last Emir, Yusuf Ibn Abdallah, was removed from power.

However, Muslim influence remained important, even in Norman Sicily for a further century.

For example, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all continued to be respected on the island.

The Normans continued to use Arabic as a language of government.

And Norman Kings, such as Roger II, continued to support skilled Muslims in their work, including the famous 12th century Mapmaker, Al-Idrisi.

So let's just make sure our extra information that we've learned about Muslim rule in Sicily is secure in our minds.

Who conquered Sicily in the late 11th century? Was it the Abbasids, the Normans, the Seljuk Turks, or the Vikings? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct answer was B.

The Normans conquered Sicily in the late 11th century.

They already ruled over southern Italy, and as fighting Muslims on Sicily invited outside groups over for help, the Normans gradually took over more and more land on the island.

And now we've got a statement on the screen that says, "The Norman Conquest ended Muslim influence in Sicily." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement was false.

But we need to be able to justify our response.

Two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that the Normans adopted Islam as their new religion.

And the second says that the Normans continued to use Arabic as a language of government.

Which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said the correct justification was B.

The Normans continued to use Arabic as a language of government.

And that wasn't the only way, that Muslim influence continued in Sicily.

The Normans also continued to support skilled Muslims in their work, and also respected Islam as a religion, which people on the island could continue to practise.

So now we are in a good position to put our knowledge about Muslim rule in Sicily into practise.

I want you to add the missing words to complete the paragraph correctly.

The words to use are listed underneath the paragraph.

So you've got four gaps, and you need to write in the missing words.

Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the correct answers.

Okay, well done for all your hard work on that task.

So I asked you to add the missing words to complete the paragraph, which meant the passage should have looked like this.

Sicily had a diverse population in the 11th century.

Nearly half of the population were Christian, or Jewish.

Under Muslim rule, Sicily was led by an Emir, who was loyal to the Fatimid Caliph in Egypt.

However, by 1091, Sicily had been completely conquered by the Normans.

Although Sicily's new rulers were Christian, they respected other religions, and allowed Muslim influence to remain on the island.

So really well done for your work on that task, especially if you managed to complete all four gaps correctly.

And now we are ready to move on to the third and final part of our lesson for today, where we are gonna think about comparing Islamic worlds.

There were different Islamic worlds in the 11th century.

To compare Sicily, with Cordoba and Baghdad, two other Islamic worlds from that time, historians can focus on the following areas; politics, population, trade, and also decline.

So we'll work through these areas one by one, to think about how these different worlds compared to one another.

So let's begin our comparisons by thinking about politics.

Baghdad and Cordoba were both the capitals of Caliphates.

Baghdad was a capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, whereas Cordoba was the capital of the Cordobian Caliphate.

The Abbasid Caliphs lived in Baghdad, and the Cordobian Caliphs lived in Cordoba.

Sicily was a province led by an Emir.

In other words, it was not the capital of a Caliphate.

Instead, the Emirs of Sicily were loyal to the Fatimid Caliphs who lived in Egypt.

So considering what we've heard about politics in these different Islamic worlds so far, which statement is most accurate? That Cordoba and Sicily were loyal to the Abbasid Caliphs? That only Cordoba was loyal to the Abbasid Caliphs? Only Sicily was loyal to the Abbasid Caliphs? Or that neither Cordoba nor Sicily was loyal to the Abbasid Caliphs? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that the correct answer was D.

Neither Cordoba nor Sicily was loyal to the Abbasid Caliphs.

The Abbasid Caliphs lived in Baghdad.

Cordoba had its own Caliph, who lived in the city, and Sicily was loyal to the Fatimid Caliphs, who lived in Egypt.

So now let's think about population.

Baghdad, Cordoba, and Sicily all had diverse populations.

In each city, you could have come across not only Muslims, but also Christians and Jews.

Non-Muslims made up a much larger part of Sicily's population than the other cities.

As we've heard earlier in today's lesson, almost half of the population of 11th century Sicily was made up of Christians and Jews.

So thinking about what we've just heard, I want you to change one word to make the following statement correct.

"Non-Muslims made up a smaller part of Sicily's population than they did in Baghdad and Cordoba." Pause the video here, change one word, and press play when you're ready to see how the word should have changed.

Okay, well done for all your work on that task.

So the one word we should have changed, was smaller.

Because actually the statement should have read, "Non-Muslims made up a greater part of Sicily's population than they did in Baghdad and Cordoba." So well done if you got that right.

And now we can think about trade.

Baghdad, Cordoba, and Sicily were all involved in a lot of international trade.

Sicily produced fewer goods than Baghdad and Cordoba.

But Sicily was an important midway location for Mediterranean trade.

Often traders would go to Sicily and buy items that had travelled from other parts of the Mediterranean.

This saved the traders from having to travel as far.

Cordoba was important in the slave trade between Northern Europe and North Africa.

Christian slaves were often sold in Cordoba to to Muslim slave holders who lived in North Africa, or other parts of the Islamic worlds.

So thinking about what we've heard so far, which two places were important midway locations for trade between Europe and North Africa? Baghdad, Cordoba, or Sicily? Remember for this question, you need to pick two of the locations.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answers.

Okay, well done to everybody who said Cordoba and Sicily were both important Midway locations for trade between Europe and North Africa.

Cordoba was especially involved in a slave trade between Northern Europe and North Africa.

And Sicily was a really important midway location for Mediterranean trade, making it easier for travellers to get goods from far away locations.

And finally, let's think about how our different Islamic worlds compare in terms of decline.

Baghdad and Sicily were both invaded during the 11th century.

The Abbasid Caliphs remained in place in Baghdad, but lost real power to the Seljuk Turks.

The Emirs of Sicily were completely overthrown by the Normans, and by the end of the 11th century, Sicily was no longer under Muslim rule.

The Normans were Christians, so the island became a Christian ruled island.

So let's consider what we've just heard about decline.

We've got a statement on the screen that says, "Most Islamic states were conquered by Christians in the 11th century." Is that statement true or false? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that that statement is false.

But we need to be able to justify our answers.

So two justifications have appeared on the screen.

The first says that Baghdad was conquered by Christians, but not Cordoba or Sicily.

And the second justification says that Sicily was conquered by Christians, but not Baghdad or Cordoba.

Which one of those two justifications is correct? Pause the video here and press play when you're ready to see the right answer.

Okay, well done to everybody who said that B was the correct justification.

Sicily was conquered by Christians, more specifically, by the Normans.

But Baghdad and Cordoba were not conquered by Christians.

Baghdad was conquered from the Abbasid Caliphs, but this was by other Muslim groups.

We are now ready to put our knowledge and our understanding of how we can compare Islamic worlds into practise.

We have two statements which we can see.

Andeep says that 11th century Sicily was very different from other Islamic worlds.

Whereas Sofia says, 11th century Sicily shared many similarities with other Islamic worlds.

So thinking about those two statements, both of them can be considered correct.

Therefore, first I want you to provide one example to support Andeep's point of view.

And then I want you to provide one example to support Sofia's point of view.

Pause a video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your responses.

Okay, well done for your effort on that task.

So I asked you to provide an example that could support Andeep's view, "The 11th century Sicily was very different from other Islamic worlds." Your answer may have included, that Sicily was conquered by Christians by 1091.

But Cordoba and Baghdad remained under Muslim control.

For our second question, I asked you to provide one example to support Sofia's view, that 11th century Sicily shared many similarities with other Islamic worlds.

And for that question, your answer may have included that Sicily, Baghdad, and Cordoba were all involved in a lot of international trade.

So well done for your work on those first two questions, especially if your responses look quite similar to the models that we've just seen.

But I wanna get us to do a little bit more thinking about how we can compare Islamic worlds.

We've got our views from Andeep and Sofia.

But whose view do you agree with more, Andeep's or Sofia's? I want you to write one paragraph to explain your answer.

Ensure that your answer refers to at least two 11th century Islamic worlds.

So pause the video here and press play when you're ready to reflect on your response.

Okay, well done for all of your effort on that task.

So I asked who do you agree with more? Andeep or Sofia? Your answer may have included, I agree with Andeep's view more because Sicily had many differences compared with other Islamic worlds in the 11th century.

For example, although most Islamic states had a mix of Muslims, Christians, and Jews living there, Sicily had a more diverse population than Baghdad and Cordoba.

Nearly half of the population in Sicily was non-Muslim.

So really well done if you wrote something that looked like that to back up Andeep's point of view.

Alternatively, you may have agreed more with Sofia, and written something like, "I agree with Sofia's view more because Sicily shared many similarities with other Islamic worlds in the 11th century.

For example, Sicily, Baghdad, and Cordoba were all involved in international trade.

For example, both Cordoba and Sicily were important midway locations for trade between Christians in Europe, and Muslims in North Africa.

So again, if your own response looks something like that model we've just seen together, they're really well done, 'cause that's very impressive.

And that means we've now reached the end of our lesson, so we can summarise our learning for today.

We've seen that Sicily was a province of the Fatimid Caliphate.

That Sicily had a diverse population of Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Sicily was well located as a midway point for trade across the Mediterranean.

Sicily was conquered by the Normans by 1091, and Sicily shared some similarities with Cordoba and Baghdad, but was also different from other Islamic worlds in many ways.

So well done for all of your work and hard effort in today's lesson.

It's been a pleasure working through it with yourselves, and I look forward to seeing you again in future.