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Saracens

25 dated entries naming Saracens, drawn from 25 separate years between 804 CE and 1442 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.

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9th century

  • 804Battle of Krasos: Emperor Nikephoros I refuses to pay the tribute imposed by Caliph Harun al-Rashid of the Abbasid Caliphate. A Muslim-Arab expeditionary force invades Asia Minor. During a surprise attack, Nikephoros suffers a major defeat against the Saracens at Krasos in Phrygia. According to Arabian sources, the Byzantines lose 40,700 men and 4,000 pack animals, while Nikephoros himself is almost killed, but saved by the bravery of his officers.source
  • 828Kydonia, on the northwest coast of Crete, is destroyed by Saracen pirates (approximate date).source
  • 841Constantine Kontomytes, Byzantine general (strategos) of the Thracesian Theme, inflicts a severe defeat on the Cretan Saracens. He leads a Byzantine expeditionary force, to raid the monastic community near Mount Latros (modern Turkey).source
  • 843Summer – A Byzantine expedition, led by Theoktistos, conquers Crete from the Saracens. After initial success, he is forced to abandon his army, due to political intrigues in Constantinople. The troops are left behind and slaughtered by the Arabs.source
  • 847The Saracens, under the Berber leader Kalfun, capture the Byzantine city of Bari (Southern Italy). He becomes the first ruler of the Emirate of Bari, and expands his influence on the Italian mainland with raids.source
  • 848The Saracens conquer Ragusa (Sicily), after its Byzantine garrison is forced by severe famine to surrender. The city and its castle are razed to the ground.source
  • 872May 18 – After his successful campaign against the Saracens, Louis II is crowned as Roman Emperor ("Emperor of the Franks") for the second time and converts the Muwalladun, and the Arab elite.source
  • 900Spring – Atenulf I, Lombard prince of Capua, conquers the Duchy of Benevento. He deposes Duke Radelchis II and unites the two southern Lombard duchies in Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy). The Byzantines offer a strategic alliance to Atenulf who directs a campaign against the Saracens. They establish themselves on the banks of the Garigliano River. From here, Arab warbands launch frequent raids in Campania.source

10th century

  • 904July 29 – Sack of Thessalonica: A Muslim fleet, led by the Greek renegade Leo of Tripoli, appears outside Thessalonica and begins its attack after a short and silent inspection of the fortification of the city. After attacks from the sea for two days, the Saracens are able to storm the city walls, overcome the Thessalonians' resistance and capture the city. The sacking continues for a full week, before the raiders depart for their base in the Levant. Having freed 4,000 Muslim prisoners and captured 60 ships, gaining a large loot, they carry off 22,000 men and women as slaves.source
  • 908Duke Atenulf I (the Great) of Benevento attacks the Saracens at the Garigliano River, with the assistance of Naples and Amalfi. Crossing the river, Atenulf defeats an Arab army and reaches the walls of their fortified camp. However, the sudden withdrawal of the Neapolitans renders the siege useless.source
  • 914Summer – Saracens from Garigliano establish advanced strongholds in Lazio at Trevi (in the Sabine Hills, near Palestrina) and Sutri. From here, they encroach on the papal cities of Orte, Narni and Nepi with impunity.source
  • 915Summer – Battle of Garigliano: The Christian League, personally led by Pope John X, lays siege to Garigliano (a fortified Arab camp in the area of Minturno), which is blockaded from the sea by the Byzantine navy. After three months of siege, plagued by hunger, the Saracens decide to break out of Garigliano and find their way back to Sicily by any means possible. Christian hunting parties fall on the fleeing Arabs, and all are captured and executed.source
  • 949A Byzantine expeditionary force under Constantine Gongyles attempts to re-conquer the Emirate of Crete from the Saracens. The expedition ends in a disastrous failure; the Byzantine camp is destroyed in a surprise attack. Gongyles himself barely escapes on his flagship.source
  • 964October 24–25 – Siege of Rometta: Nikephoros II sends an expedition to Sicily. The Byzantine army (40,000 men) is sent to break the Muslim siege at Rometta, and to regain Sicily for the Byzantine Empire. For two days a battle takes place in the area between the beach and the besieged citadel of Rometta. The Saracens (under Al-Hasan ibn Ammar) manage to defeat the Byzantine relief force.source
  • 981Fall – Otto II departs with an expeditionary force from Rome, and invades Apulia (Southern Italy) to punish the Saracens. He demands a fleet from Pisa, and imposes a trade embargo against Venice.source
  • 982July 13 (or 14) – Battle of Stilo: Abu'l-Qasim is cornered by the imperial German forces led by Otto II at Cape Colonna (south of Crotone). After a violent clash, the German heavy cavalry destroys the Muslim centre, killing al-Qasim in the initial fighting. The Saracens hold together and draw Otto into a trap, encircling and defeating his forces (killing around 4,000 men).source

11th century

  • 1002July – Battle of Calatañazor: Christian armies led by Alfonso V of León, Sancho III of Pamplona and Sancho García of Castile, defeat the invading Saracens under Al-Mansur, the de facto ruler of Al-Andalus.source
  • 1004Fall – Venetian-Byzantine forces defeat the Saracens at Bari. The citadel is on the brink of capitulation after a 3 day siege. Giovanni, a son of Doge Pietro Orseolo II, is married to the Byzantine princess Maria Argyra.source
  • 1005Spring – The Republic of Pisa conducts a military offensive against the Saracen strongholds in Southern Italy. The Pisan fleet sacks the city of Reggio Calabria. Pisa becomes one of the four commercial Maritime Republics (the other three are Genoa, Venice and Amalfi), which fight each other for control of the Mediterranean Sea.source
  • 1006Summer – An Arab Saracen fleet appears before Pisa, but departs again. The Pisans take their fleet to sea and chase the Arabs down to Southern Italy where, in the Battle of Reggio Calabria, the Pisan fleet defeats the Arabs.source
  • 1024Roger I of Tosny, a Norman nobleman, leaves the battlefield of the Ebro Valley after terrorising the Saracens and capturing several towns and castles during the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain).source
  • 1060Summer – Norman forces under Duke Robert Guiscard invade Apulia, and capture the cities of Taranto and Brindisi (under control of the Byzantine Empire). Guiscard prepares a Sicilian expedition against the Saracens and returns to Calabria (Southern Italy), where his brother Roger Bosso waits with siege engines.source
  • 1061Summer – Norman forces led by Duke Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger I invade Sicily. They land unseen during the night and surprise the Saracen army. Guiscard conquers Messina and marches into central Sicily.source
  • 1063Summer – The Pisan fleet assaults and sacks Palermo (controlled by the Saracens) – this in support of the Norman forces of Roger I.source

15th century

  • 1442December 19 – Pope Eugene IV issues the papal bull Illius qui se pro divini granting full remission of sins to any Christian who had participated in the Crusades by Prince Henry the Navigator against the Saracens.source

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