“Bringing the histories of these two dynasties into dialogue forces a new narrative of the dynamics of the central Mediterranean during the eleventh and twelfth centuries, one that eschews easy trajectories of ascent and decline.”
—From Dynasties Intertwined
between the Berber Zirid dynasty of Ifriqiya (North Africa) and the fierce Normans, Viking descendants who invaded and ruled the nearby island of Sicily in the 11th and early 12th centuries CE. Despite holy wars taking place around them, for decades
with the Norman rulers governed not by faith but by policies advancing wealth and power, either through cooperation or conflict. Ultimately, the drought that swept Ifriqiya in the 1140s CE left the Zirids vulnerable, giving Sicilian Normans an opening to dethrone them and conquer Ifriqiyan coastal lands. However, the resulting Norman African kingdom lasted only until 1160-CE Almohad conquests. The author chronicles how Zirids and other Ifriqiyan lords used relationships to remain active political and economic players across the Mediterranean, despite the powerful Norman dynasty across the Strait of Sicily.