Greetings all,

Today we reflect on the beginning of the Islamic conquest of Sicily and southern Italy on July 15th in 827 AD:

Greetings all,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Islam_in_southern_Italy

According to some sources it was spurred by Euphemius, a Byzantine commander who feared punishment by Emperor Michael II for the sexual indiscretion of abducting a nun from an abbey and wedding her. After a short-lived conquest of Syracuse, he was proclaimed Emperor but compelled to flee to Africa to the court of Ziyadat Allay. The latter agreed to conquer Sicily on the promise of a yearly tribute. The conquest lasted 75 years.

-Marcus Cassius Julianus

www.byzantiumnovum.org