The Mahdia campaign of 1087 was a raid on the

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

n town of

Mahdia Mahdia ( ar, المهدية ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 62,189 inhabitants, south of 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 ...

by armed ships from the northern Italian

maritime republics The maritime republics ( it, repubbliche marinare), also called merchant republics ( it, repubbliche mercantili), were Thalassocracy, thalassocratic city-states of the Mediterranean Basin during the Middle Ages. Being a significant presence in I ...

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

and

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

. Mahdia had been the capital of

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna ( ar, المغرب الأدنى), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia and eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (today's western Libya). It included all of what had previously ...

under the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...

, chosen due to its proximity to the sea which allowed them to conduct naval raids and expeditions such as the raid on Genoa in 935. After the Fatimid conquest of Egypt, the region was under the control of the

Zirids The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from ...

who remained part of the Fatimid Caliphate until 1048 when the Zirids renounced Shia Islam. In response, the Fatimids send the Arab tribes to Ifriqiya to subdue the revolt. As a result of the ongoing fighting and anarchy, the previously flourishing agriculture decreased and the coastal towns became more important as both centers for maritime trade as well as bases for piracy against Christian shipping. The raid had been prompted by the actions of the

Zirid The Zirid dynasty ( ar, الزيريون, translit=az-zīriyyūn), Banu Ziri ( ar, بنو زيري, translit=banū zīrī), or the Zirid state ( ar, الدولة الزيرية, translit=ad-dawla az-zīriyya) was a Sanhaja Berber dynasty from m ...

ruler Tamim ibn Muizz (reigned 1062–1108) as a pirate in waters off the Italian Peninsula, along with his involvement in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

fighting the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the C ...

. In this context, Tamin had ravaged the Calabrian coast in 1074, taking many slaves in the process, and capturing temporarily

Mazara Mazara del Vallo (; ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, southwestern Sicily, Italy. It lies mainly on the left bank at the mouth of the Mazaro river. It is an agricultural and fishing centre and its port gives shelter to the ...

in Sicily in 1075 before negotiating a truce with

Roger Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

that ended Tamin's support for the emirs of Sicily. These campaigns and raids by other Arab pirates threatened the growing economics interests of the Italian maritime republics and thus provided motivation for attacking the Zirid stronghold. This had led the Pisans to engage in military action before Mahdia, such as in briefly seizing of Bone in 1034 and military aiding the Norman conquest of Sicily in 1063. The attack was led by Hugh of Pisa, with military aid from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and the

Genoese navy The Genoese navy was the naval contingent of the Republic of Genoa's military. From the 11th century onward the Genoese navy protected the interests of the republic and projected its power throughout the Mediterranean and Black Seas. It played a ...

; the nobleman Pantaleone from

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...

was also possibly involved, and the whole endeavour had the backing of

Matilda of Tuscany Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as ...

. Most likely no cavalry was used as neither Latin nor Arab sources mention horses or cavalry, pointing out that capabilities to transport horses on long distance journeys was at this time beyond the capabilities of the Italian republics. The united forces succeeded in capturing the city, burning Mahdia's fleet as well as extracting from Tamin an indenmity which was shared between Pisa and Genoa. As they could not hold the city, it was possibly offered to Roger of Sicily, who refused due to the treaty he had made with Tamin earlier. Grant, Alasdair C. "Pisan Perspectives: The ''Carmen in victoriam'' and Holy War, c.1000–1150". ''The English Historical Review'', 131:552 (October 2016), 983–1009. A big part of the indemnity was spent on the cathedral at Pisa and to build a new church dedicated to St. Sixtus. Among the captured goods may have been the Pisa Griffin, the largest medieval Islamic metal sculpture known. Tamin seems to have been also forced to not attack the Christians again and release his captives. The city was Crusade historian

Carl Erdmann Carl Erdmann (17 November 1898 – 5 March 1945) was a German historian who specialized in medieval political and intellectual history. He is noted in particular for his study of the origins of the idea of crusading in medieval Latin Christendom ...

considers the raid a direct precursor to the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ...

("''ganz als Kreuzzug ausgeführt''") which occurred eight years later, as it was conducted under the banner of

St. Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

against a Muslim ruler who was demonised in the accounts of it, and a form of

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

was granted to the campaigners by

Pope Victor III Pope Victor III ( 1026 – 16 September 1087), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 May 1086 to his death. He was the successor of Pope Gregory VII, yet his pontificate is far less notable than his time as ...

. On the other hand, Alasdair Grant makes the point that references to the papacy are scanty and ambiguous. However the case, it may well be argued that the destruction of the naval forces of Mahdia contributed to the success of the First Crusade by allowing the supplying of

Outremer The Crusader States, also known as Outremer, were four Catholic realms in the Middle East that lasted from 1098 to 1291. These feudal polities were created by the Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade through conquest and political in ...

by sea.Fuller, J.F.C., ''A Military History of the Western World, Volume I'', Da Capo Press, 1987, p. 408 The main source of information for the campaigns is the ''

Carmen in victoriam Pisanorum The ''Carmen in victoriam Pisanorum'' ("Song on the occasion of the victory of the Pisans") is a poem celebrating the victory of the Italian maritime republics in the Mahdia campaign of 1087. It was probably written by a Pisan cleric within months ...

'', written within months of it by a Pisan religious cleric who may have been an eyewitness. Other sources include Bernardo Maragone's ''Annales Pisani'' and Geoffrey Malaterra's ''De Rebus Gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae Comities et Roberti Guiscardi Ducis frateris eius''.

References

{{reflist Battles involving the Republic of Genoa Battles involving Pisa Military history of Tunisia Conflicts in 1087 1087 Battles involving the Zirid dynasty

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

11th century in Ifriqiya