Lesson video
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Hello, everyone, how are you today?
I hope you're feeling good.
My name is Ms. Afzal and I'll be a teacher for this lesson.
Feeling very pleased about that and I think we've got such an interesting lesson ahead today.
We will be looking at Sicily.
Do you know Sicily?
Have you visited Sicily?
Would you like to go to Sicily?
I certainly would.
Our lesson is called: Sicily and Other Islamic Worlds in the 11th Century.
So we'll be going back in time and finding out about Sicily hundreds of years ago.
Our lesson comes from the unit of work, 11th-Century Islamic Worlds: How Similar Were Regions of the Islamic World?
So if you are ready to get into this topic, if you have energy, focus and enthusiasm, we'll begin our lesson now.
The outcome for today's lesson is: I can describe what Islamic Sicily was like in the 11th century and explain what made it different from other Islamic worlds.
I hope that sounds interesting to you.
We have some keywords in our lesson and I'd like us to go through them one at a time saying them out loud.
My turn, your turn.
Province.
Emir.
Diverse.
Good to hear those keywords out loud.
And now I'd like you to share with someone nearby, have you heard of any of these keywords?
Do you have any idea what these keywords mean?
Pause here and share with someone.
Thanks for sharing your understanding of these keywords: province, emir and diverse.
Let's find out what these keywords mean.
A province is an area of a state which is not the capital city and may be considered less important.
And emir is a type of leader in some Muslim countries.
A place is diverse if it includes many different types of people.
So these are our keywords: province, emir and diverse.
Let's look out and listen out for them.
Let's think carefully about these keywords, which will be coming up in our lesson today.
Our lesson is called: Sicily and Other Islamic Worlds in the 11th Century.
And it has three learning cycles: locating Sicily, Muslim rule in Sicily, and comparing Islamic worlds.
Let's begin by locating Sicily.
Here you can see a map of the Mediterranean region and there is Sicily.
Sicily is a small island located in the Mediterranean Sea.
From the 9th century until the 11th century, Sicily was a province of the Fatimid Caliphate based in Egypt.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Write the missing keyword.
In the 11th century, Sicily was a, of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt.
Pause here while you complete this sentence by adding in the missing keyword.
Well done if you added in the keyword province.
Here's the sentence in full.
In the 11th century, Sicily was a province of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt.
So here we can see a map of the Mediterranean.
There is Sicily and there's Cordoba in what is modern-day Spain.
We can see North Africa, Egypt and Baghdad.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which statement is most accurate?
Choose from this selection: A, Sicily is located close to the center of the Mediterranean Sea; B, Sicily is located close to the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea; Or C, Sicily is located close to the western edge of the Mediterranean Sea.
Pause here while you decide which statement is most accurate.
Well done if you selected statement A.
Indeed, Sicily is located close to the center of the Mediterranean Sea.
And now it's time for your first task.
I would like you to study the statements about Sicily in the table.
One, identify whether each statement is true or false.
And then two, correct any false statements.
Provide additional detail to support your corrections.
So here are the statements: Sicily was the capital of a caliphate.
Sicily is located in the Mediterranean Sea.
Sicily is located close to Europe, but far from North Africa.
Sicily had important links to Egypt.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements is true, which is false.
And then, correct any false statements and provide additional detail to support your corrections.
Enjoy your task and I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
So how did you get on with that task?
Let's take a look.
So the first statement, Sicily was the capital of a caliphate.
This statement is false.
Next, Sicily is located in the Mediterranean Sea.
That's true.
Sicily is located close to Europe, but far from North Africa.
That's false.
And finally, Sicily had important links to Egypt.
That statement is true.
Now, how did you get on with correcting any false statements and providing additional detail to support your corrections?
Your answers may have included something like this: Sicily was a province of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt, not the capital.
Sicily is located close to the center of the Mediterranean, meaning it is close to both Europe and North Africa.
And while we're here, can you pause and tell somebody what is the meaning of our keyword province?
Can you remember?
Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps you said that a province is an area of state which is not the capital city and which may be considered less important.
Well done for having a go at this task.
And now we're onto our next learning cycle: Muslim rule in Sicily.
We can see a photo of a lemon tree growing in Sicily, and there's a map of the Mediterranean region.
Pause here and share with someone.
Can you remember where Sicily is on this map?
Thanks for sharing.
Let's have a check for understanding.
What were the leaders of Sicily known as?
Choose from the selection: A, caliphs; B, emirs; C, emperors.
Pause here while you decide what were the leaders of Sicily known as.
Well done if you selected answer B, emirs.
This is what the leaders of Sicily were known as.
Let's have another check for understanding.
How much of 11th century Sicily's population was non-Muslim?
Choose from this selection: A, nearly one quarter; B, nearly one third; or C, nearly half.
Pause here while you decide how much of 11th century Sicily's population was non-Muslim.
Well done if you selected answer C, nearly half.
This is how much of 11th Sicily's population was non-Muslim.
Let's have another check for understanding.
True or false?
Many foreign traders traveled to Sicily for its markets.
Pause here while you decide.
Is the statement true or false?
Well done if you selected true.
And now, I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: A, Sicily's markets had a range of goods which could not be purchased from anywhere else; or B, Sicily's markets had a range of goods from across the Mediterranean.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, Sicily's markets had a range of goods from across the Mediterranean and this statement justifies your earlier answer.
This map shows the Norman Conquest of Sicily.
And we can see from the key, the different cities, and the dates that they were captured.
And the symbol of swords shows us where battles took place.
Pause here and share with someone.
In what year were the first Sicilian cities captured by the Normans?
Thanks for sharing.
Perhaps you said in 1061.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Who conquered Sicily in the late 11th century?
Choose from this selection: A, Abbasids; B, Normans; C, Seljuk Turks; D, Vikings.
Pause here while you decide.
Who conquered Sicily in the late 11th century?
Well done if you selected answer B, the Normans, they conquered Sicily in the late 11th century.
Let's have another check for understanding.
True or false?
The Norman Conquest ended Muslim influence in Sicily.
Pause here while you decide.
Is the statement true or false?
Well done if you selected false.
And now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: A, The Normans adopted Islam as their new religion.
B, The Normans continue to use Arabic as a language of government.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, the Normans continued to use Arabic as a language of government.
This statement justifies your earlier answer.
And now it's time for your next task.
I'd like you to study Izzy's view below.
"During the 11th century, Sicily's rulers forced everyone on the island to be Muslims.
" I'd like you to explain why Izzy's view is incorrect.
Pause here while you do this.
It's good to be back with you.
So how did you get on of explaining why is Izzy's views is incorrect?
Your answer may included something like this: Izzy is incorrect because Sicily's rulers respected different religions throughout the 11th century.
Nearly half of Sicily's population was Christian or Jewish when the island was under the rule of Muslim emirs, loyal to the Fatimid caliph in Egypt.
After Christian Normans completed their conquest of the island in 1091, they also respected Sicily's diverse religions and allowed Muslim influence to remain on the island.
Well done if your answer looked something like this.
And now it's time for our final learning cycle: Comparing Islamic worlds.
There were different Islamic worlds in the 11th century.
To compare Sicily with Cordoba and Baghdad, historians can focus on the following areas: politics, population, trade, decline.
Let's begin by looking at politics.
Baghdad and Cordoba were the capitals of caliphates.
Sicily was a province led by an emir.
Pause here and share with someone.
Can you remember what the key word emir means?
Thanks for sharing.
An emir is a type of leader in some Muslim countries.
The emirs of Sicily were loyal to the Fatimid caliphs in Egypt.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which statement is most accurate?
Choose from this selection: A, Cordoba and Sicily were loyal to the Abbasid caliphs; B, Only Cordoba was loyal to the Abbasid caliphs; C, Only Sicily was loyal to the Abbasid caliphs; D, Neither Cordoba nor Sicily were loyal to the Abbasid caliphs.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements is most accurate.
Well done if you selected an answer D.
Neither Cordoba nor Sicily were loyal to the Abbasid caliphs.
We can compare Islamic worlds by looking at population.
Baghdad, Cordoba and Sicily all had diverse populations.
Pause here and share with someone.
What does the keyword diverse mean?
Can you remember it?
Thanks for sharing.
Maybe you said something like this: A place is diverse if it includes many different kinds of people.
Muslims, Christians and Jews lived in all three areas.
Non-Muslims made up a much larger part of Sicily's population.
Almost half of the population were non-Muslims.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Change one word to make the statement correct.
Non-Muslims made up a smaller part of Sicily's population than they did in Baghdad and Cordoba.
Pause here while you change one word to make this statement correct.
Well done if you changed the word smaller to greater.
Let's read through the sentence.
Non-Muslims made up a greater part of Sicily's population than they did in Baghdad and Cordoba.
Well done if you corrected the statement in this way.
We can compare Islamic worlds by looking at trade.
Baghdad, Cordoba and Sicily were all involved in a lot of international trade.
Sicily produced fewer goods than Baghdad and Cordoba.
Sicily was an important midway location for Mediterranean trade.
Cordoba was important in the slave trade between Northern Europe and North Africa.
Let's have a check for understanding.
Which two places were important midway locations for trade between Europe and North Africa?
Choose from this selection: A, Baghdad; B, Cordoba; C, Sicily.
Pause here while you decide.
Which two places were important midway locations for trade between Europe and North Africa?
Well done if you selected Cordoba and Sicily.
These were both important midway locations for trade between Europe and North Africa.
We can compare Islamic worlds by looking at decline.
Baghdad and Sicily were both invaded during the 11th century.
The Abbasid caliphs remained in place in Baghdad, but lost real power to the Seljuk Turks.
The emirs of Sicily were completely overthrown by the Normans.
And we can see here an illustration of Palermo surrendering to the Normans.
Let's have a check for understanding.
True or false?
Most Islamic states were conquered by Christians in the 11th century.
Pause here while you decide.
Is this statement true or false?
Well done if you selected false.
And now I'd like you to justify your answer by choosing from one of these two statements: A, Baghdad was conquered by Christians but not Cordoba or Sicily; Or B, Sicily was conquered by Christians but not Baghdad or Cordoba.
Pause here while you decide which of these statements justifies your earlier answer.
Well done if you selected statement B.
Indeed, Sicily was conquered by Christians but not Baghdad or Cordoba.
And it's time for your final task.
Here are Andeep and Sofia.
Andeep says that, "11th century Sicily was very different from other Islamic worlds.
" Where Sofia says, "11th century Sicily shared many similarities with others Islamic worlds.
" Study the statements above.
Both views are correct.
I'd like you to, one, provide an example to support Andeep's view.
And then two, provide one example to support Sofia's view.
Pause here while you have a go at this first part of your task.
I'll see you when you're finished.
It's good to be back with you.
How did you get on with providing one example to support Andeep's view?
Your answer may have included something like this: Sicily was conquered by Christians by 1091 but Cordoba and Baghdad remained under Muslim control.
And how did you get on with providing one example to support Sofia's view?
Your answer may have included something like this: Sicily, Baghdad and Cordoba were all involved in a lot of international trade.
And now for the next part of your task, whose view do you agree with more: Andeep or Sofia's?
And write one paragraph to explain your answer.
And ensure that your answer refers to at least two 11th century Islamic worlds.
Pause here while you have a go at this part of your task.
It's good to be back with you.
So how did you get on with explaining whose view you agreed with more: Andeep or Sofia's?
If you agreed with Andeep's view, your answer may have looked like this: I agree with Andeep's view more because Sicily had many differences compared with other Islamic worlds in the 11th century.
For example, although most Islamic states had a mix of Muslims, Christians and Jews living there, Sicily had a more diverse population than Baghdad and Cordoba.
Nearly half of the population in Sicily was non-Muslim.
Alternatively, your answer may include something like this if you agreed more with Sofia; I agree with Sofia's view more because Sicily shared many similarities with other Islamic worlds in the 11th century.
For example, Sicily, Baghdad and Cordoba were all involved in international trade.
For example, both Cordoba and Sicily were important midway locations for trade between Christians in Europe and Muslims in North Africa.
Well done for having a go at this task.
In our lesson, Sicily and Other Islamic Worlds in the 11th Century, we've covered the following: Sicily was a province of the Fatimid caliphate.
Sicily had a diverse population of Muslims, Christians and Jews.
Sicily was well located as a midway point for trade across the Mediterranean.
Sicily was conquered by the Normans 1091.
Sicily shared some similarities with Cordoba and Baghdad, but was also different from other Islamic worlds in many ways.
Well done everyone for joining in with this lesson.
I thought it was so interesting to find out more about Sicily and its past and how it's an important part of the Islamic world in the 11th century before being conquered by the Normans later in the century.
I really enjoyed teaching you and I hope you enjoyed this lesson too.
I look forward to seeing you at another lesson soon.
Bye for now.
