Byzantine Reconquista (10th–11th Centuries) and the Attacks on Christians in the Lands of Islam (Egypt, Syria and Iraq)

Abstract

The paper discusses a wave of attacks on Christians in the lands of Islam that accompanied Byzantine victories on the battlefield in 10th–11th centuries, including pogroms and attacks in the capital of Egypt, Antioch, Alexandria, and Daqūqā’, which were clearly linked with the fear or anger towards Byzantines, as well as events in Damascus, Al-Ramla, Caesarea, Ascalon and Tinnis, in case of which the link with Byzantium is not mentioned by the sources. It is argued that these events paved the way for the persecutions of Al-Ḥākim.