Ahmed es-Sikeli (),

baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

a Christian under the name Peter, was a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

and

kaid Qaid ( ', "commander"; pl. ', or '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to those who we ...

of the Diwan of the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

during the reign of

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

. His story was recorded by his Christian contemporaries Romuald Guarna and

Hugo Falcandus Hugo Falcandus was a historian who chronicled the reigns of William I of Sicily and the minority of his son William II in a highly critical work entitled ''The History of the Tyrants of Sicily'' (or ''Liber de Regno Sicilie''). The Latin of the wo ...

from Sicily and the Muslim historian

Ibn Khaldun Ibn Khaldun (27 May 1332 – 17 March 1406, 732–808 Hijri year, AH) was an Arabs, Arab Islamic scholar, historian, philosopher and sociologist. He is widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest social scientists of the Middle Ages, and cons ...

. Peter was born a Muslim in

Djerba Djerba (; , ; ), also transliterated as Jerba or Jarbah, is a Tunisian island and the largest island of North Africa at , in the Gulf of Gabès, off the coast of Tunisia. Administratively, it is part of Medenine Governorate. The island h ...

to a

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

family of the Sadwikish tribe. After his conversion he entered the service of the Sicilian crown and rose to the rank of admiral in the navy. During the reconquest of Roger I's "

Kingdom of Africa The Kingdom of Africa was an extension of the frontier zone of the Kingdom of Sicily in the former Roman province of Africa ('' Ifrīqiya'' in Arabic), corresponding to Tunisia and parts of Algeria and Libya today. The main primary sources for ...

" by the Muslims (1159), Peter led 160 ships in a raiding expedition to the Muslim-held

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

. He later tried to relieve besieged

Mahdia Mahdia ( ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia, Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

in North Africa with the same fleet, but soon after engaging in battle he turned around and retreated towards Sicily. While Arabic sources credit a gale with dispersing the fleet, Hugo Falcandus asserts that Peter was "only in name and dress a Christian, and a

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Rom ...

at heart". Falcandus' assertion can probably be discredited, at least with respect to this point in Peter's life, for the admiral did not fall out of favour at court. In fact, he was promoted to the office of

Great Chamberlain Holders of the office of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland are known from about 1124. It was ranked by King Malcolm as the third great Officer of State, called ''Camerarius Domini Regis'', and had a salary of £200 per annum allotted to him. He ancien ...

. In 1162, Peter replaced the deceased Count Sylvester of Marsico in the triumvirate of officials—including

Matthew of Ajello Matthew of Ajello () was a high-ranking member of the Norman court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century. His brother John was a bishop. Career He first appears as the notary of the Admiral Maio of Bari who drew up the Treaty of Beneven ...

and Richard Palmer—in whom the king had confided the administration of the realm since the assassination of his prime minister,

Maio of Bari Maio of Bari () (died 10 November 1160) was the third of the great admirals of Sicily and the most important man in the Norman kingdom of Sicily during the reign of William I (1154–66). Lord Norwich calls him "one of the most influential st ...

, in 1160. On her husband's death in 1166, the queen dowager

Margaret of Navarre Margaret of Navarre (, , ) (c. 1135 – 12 August 1183) was List of Sicilian royal consorts, Queen of Sicily as the wife of William I of Sicily, William I (1154–1166) and the regent during the minority of her son, William II of Sicily, William ...

assumed the regency for her young son William II. She trusted neither the nobility nor the church and so turned to the palatine officials and the triumvirs, of which she did not trust Matthew of Ajello. She promoted the chief eunuch, Peter, to the highest post in the kingdom, the one formerly held by Maio of Bari, but did not grant him the latter's title "emir of emirs" (''ammiratus ammiratorum''). Peter was despised by the nobility and soon the Queen's cousin,

Gilbert, Count of Gravina Gilbert was a Normans, Norman Count of Gravina from 1159 until 1167. His father Bertrand was the illegitimate son of Rotrou III, Count of Perche. He was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the King of Sicily, queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily somet ...

, was plotting against his life. Unable either to keep control of Sicily or to control Gilbert, Peter initially strengthened his bodyguard and eventually absconded, taking with him a quantity of treasure and severely embarrassing the Queen-regent. Re-assuming his birth name of Ahmed and practising Islam, he crossed to Africa and became a captain of the fleet of the Almohad caliph Yusuf I. According to Ibn Khaldun, who calls him Ahmed ''es-Sikeli'' ("Ahmed the Sicilian"), he fought with valour against Christian foes.

External links

"Il Gaito Pietro"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed Es-Sikeli Medieval admirals 12th-century Berber people 12th-century Sicilian people Eunuchs Converts to Roman Catholicism from Sunni Islam Converts to Sunni Islam from Roman Catholicism People from Djerba Berber Christians Crypto-Islam 12th-century people from Ifriqiya