Mahdia

place in Mahdia Governorate, Tunisia

14 dated entries naming Mahdia, drawn from 13 separate years between 700 CE and 1550 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

JSON Wikipedia article Wikidata Q466054

7th century

700The African slave trade through the Sahara is so extensive that the town of Zawila (Tunisia) is established.source

10th century

921The Fatimid Caliphate creates a new capital in Ifriqiya, al-Mahdiya on the Tunisian coast.source
935Summer – Fatimid caliph al-Qa'im dispatches a naval expedition under Ya'qub ibn Ishaq al-Tamimi to raid the coast of Provence and Liguria, sacking Genoa on 16 August and attacking Pisa. Ya'qub also raids Corsica and Sardinia before returning to Mahdia with some 8,000 prisoners.source

11th century

1057The Banu Hilal razes Kairouan (in modern Tunisia). The Zirid dynasty has to re-settle to Mahdia (approximate date).source
1087Mahdia campaign: The navies of Genoa and Pisa take the capital of the Zirids, and occupy Mahdia for a year. Subsequently, both republics obtain trading privileges.source

12th century

1117Conflict between the de facto independent Muslim republics of Gabès and Mahdia (modern Tunisia) in Ifriqiya. Madhia is supported by the Zirid Dynasty while Gabes receives the aid of Roger II, count of Sicily.source
1123August 9 – Battle of Al-Dimas: An Italo-Norman campaign in North Africa ends with their troops being massacred by Zirid forces near Mahdia (modern Tunisia).source
1135The Hammadid Emirate (modern Algeria) launches an assault against the city of Mahdia (modern Tunisia).source
1142Abd al-Mu'min, ruler of the Almohad Caliphate, is unable to feed his population during a famine. He recognize the de facto protectorate of Roger II to support the commercial center of Mahdia.source
1148Taking advantage of internal strife and a famine episode, George of Antioch takes Mahdia (June 22), Susa (July 1) and Sfax (July 12) in Tunisia, in the name of Roger II.source
1160The Almohads conquer Mahdia (modern Tunisia) from the Normans after an important naval success near the city, against Christian reinforcements coming from Sicily.source

14th century

1390July 1 – The Barbary Crusade begins as the Kingdom of France and the Republic of Genoa attempt to stop the raids of the Barbary pirates by invading the North African region of Ifriqiya and laying siege to Mahdia in what is now Tunisia. Louis II, Duke of Bourbon and Giacomo Fregoso of Genoa bring 6,000 knights and soldiers on 60 ships against 40,000 Muslim defenders led by the Caliph Abu al-Abbas Ahmad II of the Hafsid Sultanate and the Sultan Abu Tashufin II of Tlemcen.source

16th century

1550June 28 – Capture of Mahdia (1550): The Spanish Armada arrives in North Africa to begin the process of capturing the fortress of Mahdia (now in Tunisia) from control of the Ottoman Empire.source
1550September 10 – Spanish troops, commanded by Genoa's General Andrea Doria, capture the Tunisian fortress of Mahdia from the Ottoman Empire after fighting that began on June 28.source