Sarah Whitten

The enslavement of people between southern Italy, Sicily, and North Africa was deeply intertwined with questions of sovereignty during the ninth century. North African mercenaries, raiders, and slavers established formal rule in Bari and informal settlements outside of Naples, from where they captured thousands of men and women and sold them into slavery in North Africa. As this created a serious political crisis, southern Italian local rulers attempted to stop this practice while continuing other forms of unfreedom. During the session, we will discuss, among others, about the following central argument: southern Italian princes rebuilt their sovereignty on the backs of the enslaved by claiming to be the protectors of those Italians enslaved around the Mediterranean World.