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The siege of Taormina in 962 was a successful siege by the Fatimid governors of Sicily of the main Byzantine fortress on the island, Taormina.

Siege

The siege was led by the Kalbid cousins Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi and al-Hasan ibn Ammar and lasted for thirty weeks, until the city fell on Christmas Day 962. 1,570 of the inhabitants (approximately one-fifth of the population) went as slaves to the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz; the town was renamed al-Mu'izziyya, and Muslim settlers were brought in.

The siege was led by the two Kalbid cousins al-Hasan ibn Ammar and Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi. In 962, Taormina was besieged and reduced by Ahmad, where the entire population was sold into slavery and the area was colonized by Muslim resettlers. Following the fall of Taormina in 962, the Kalbids moved north to Rometta and Ahmad began its siege the next year.

Aftermath

Followed by the Fatimid victories in the siege of Rometta and the Battle of the Straits in 964–965, the fall of Taormina marked the end of the last Byzantine footholds on Sicily, and the final completion of the Muslim conquest of Sicily.

References

1. Kaldellis 2017, p. 45. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKaldellis2017 (help)
2. Metcalfe 2009, p. 55.
3. Brett 2001, p. 242.

Sources

• Brett, Michael (2001). The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE. The Medieval Mediterranean. Vol. 30. Leiden: BRILL. ISBN 9004117415.
• Metcalfe, Alex (2009). The Muslims of Medieval Italy. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2008-1.

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