Siculo-Norman Tripoli

From 1146 to 1160 (about 14 years or so?), the Norman Kingdom of Sicily maintained control over an ephemeral frontier zone on the coastline of north Africa. Lead by the first crowned King of Sicily, Roger II Hauteville, the Normans conquered the port cities of the Zirid Emirate, a Berber dynasty that had seceded from the Fatimid Caliphate after its conversion to Sunni Islam. The ease with which, for instance, Tripoli (the capital of modern Libya) was taken is attributed to a local famine which had pushed the city to the brink of civil war. The besieged Muslim inhabitants were said to have taken shelter in churches, though they were treated "humanely", as reported by Muslim chroniclers.

The vacuum of power generated by the famine had been replaced by Norman dominion, extending roughly from the borders of Tunisia to Tripoli. This was enforced by military garrisons and the local Muslim aristocracy. Priority was given to exacting tribute from the citizens, the protection of Christians and the strengthening of economic ties between north Africa and southern Italy. Tunis remained unconquered due to Roger II's ensuing war with the Eastern Roman Empire, and his successor, William I, was plagued by rebellions in the north African territories. The local Muslim governors essentially offered dominion of the coast to the Almohad Caliphate in Morocco, who promptly gave the Christian and Jewish inhabitants of several cities the "option" of conversion or death.