Re: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is descendant of Prophet Mohammed
huh?
how many mistakes can one commite in one short sentence!
actually not so wrong,
By the ninth century, Moors (Arabs) from North Africa were raiding Sicily. In 827, they attacked in force at the western end of the island and another conquest had begun. By 903, all of Sicily was in Saracen hands, controlled principally by three emirs, and Islam was the official religion. The Saracens were an Arab people, originally nomadic, related to the the Moors. They tolerated Christianity and Judaism in Sicily, without encouraging either. In Sicily, the Saracens were rulers rather than colonizers, masters rather than governors. Because Islamic law could be harsh to non-believers, many Sicilian Orthodox converted, though precise numbers are not known. However, it must be said Arabic society and culture were advanced; under the Saracens the city of Panormus became Palermo and its splendor was said to rival that of Baghdad. For the first time in Sicily's history, the lemon and the orange were cultivated, complex irrigation systems were developed, and sophisticated mathematics introduced.
In 1061, a Norman lord named Roger de Hauteville crossed the Strait of Messina with his brothers and several hundred knights from Normandy, Lombardy and Southern Italy, defeating the Saracen garrison and establishing a foothold under cover of darkness. Unlike their Viking forebears, the Normans were unaccustomed to naval combat. Therefore, the conquest of Messina against Arab foes would serve as the blueprint for the battle at Hastings against the Saxons a few years later, and several knights actually fought at both battles. *This was Roger's second attempt to land at Messina and, though it was successful, Palermo was still far away. It was captured only in 1071 following another epic battle. Sicily was again part of Europe.
Styled "Count of Sicily" by his knights, Roger brought the feudal system to his new dominion. His rule also brought **with it religious freedom, multicultural artistic expression and national sovereignty. There was no serfdom and very little slavery. **There were mosques, synagogues and plenty of *churches](javascript:openWin('church.htm');), English bishops and Saracen imams. The Sicilians who didn't speak Sicilian or Arabic dialects spoke Norman French, and court decrees were issued in several languages, including Latin, Greek and Arabic. Count Roger's son, Roger II, was crowned King of Sicily in 1130 and ruled a dominion that included most of Italy south of Rome, with Palermo as its capital. It was the wealthiest realm of Europe, whose monarch wore Byzantine robes in the manner of an Eastern Emperor and kept a private harem in the style of an Arab emir. A mosaic in the Martorana Church depicts Roger clad as a Byzantine monarch wearing a robe of golden fleurs-de-lis on a blue field, the earliest known representation of what eventually became the heraldic symbol of the French kings. His descendant, King William II of Sicily, wed Joan, daughter of Henry II of England.
History is amazing it it not? Love it, just love it.
Want to know more , just type in the name Roger de Hauteville. Try the library. This was an amazing victory . Really a great time of historical battles.