en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Sicily
3 corrections found
successfully captured Syracuse
The 740 expedition did not capture Syracuse outright. Reference works describe it as a siege that forced Syracuse to pay tribute before the Arabs withdrew.
Full reasoning
This overstates the outcome of the 740 campaign. Treccani’s Sicily entry says that the 740 attack was the first assault with conquest in mind, but that Ḥabīb ibn Abī ʿUbaidah besieged Syracuse and compelled it to pay tribute; he did not permanently take the city. A second Treccani entry on Tunis says the governor’s lieutenant in 740 "assediò e obbligò a tributo Siracusa" (besieged Syracuse and forced it to tribute). Syracuse is instead treated in standard references as having been conquered by the Muslims in 878. So "successfully captured Syracuse" is inaccurate for 740.
2 sources
- Sicilia - Enciclopedia - Treccani
"Il primo assalto con mire di conquista sembra essere quello del 740, quando Ḥabīb ibn Abī ‛Ubaidah, stretta d'assedio la capitale Siracusa, la obbligò al pagamento d'un tributo..."
- Tunisi - Enciclopedia - Treccani
"... nel 740 ingrandì l'arsenale e mandò un suo luogotenente a fare una scorreria contro la Sicilia, assediò e obbligò a tributo Siracusa."
conquered Sicily in 1060
Robert Guiscard did not conquer Sicily in 1060. The Norman conquest began in 1061 and was only completed decades later, in 1091.
Full reasoning
This date compresses a long campaign into a single incorrect year. Encyclopedia.com’s entry on Roger I states that "Between 1061 and 1091 he took Sicily from the Arabs." Britannica likewise says Roger and Robert began the conquest in 1061 with the capture of Messina and completed it in 1091. So 1060 was not the year Sicily was conquered; at most it predates the Norman conquest by about a year.
2 sources
- Roger I | Encyclopedia.com
"Between 1061 and 1091 he took Sicily from the Arabs."
- Roger I | Britannica
"They began the conquest of Sicily ... in 1061 with the capture of Messina, and they completed it in 1091."
following the conquest of Palermo in 886
Palermo was conquered by the Aghlabids in 831, not 886. The year in this sentence is incorrect.
Full reasoning
The sentence gives the wrong year for the Muslim conquest of Palermo. Treccani’s Palermo entry says that in 831 the Arabs took Palermo and made it the capital of Muslim Sicily. Treccani’s Aghlabid entry likewise says the Muslims "occuparono Palermo (831)." So the phrase "conquest of Palermo in 886" is contradicted by standard reference works.
2 sources
- Palermo - Enciclopedia - Treccani
"nell'831 gli Arabi, che di Palermo (Balarm) fecero la capitale dell'emirato musulmano di Sicilia"
- Aghlabiti - Enciclopedia - Treccani
"ripresero l'offensiva e occuparono Palermo (831)."