Venice, strategically positioned at the head of…

Venice, strategically positioned at the head of the Adriatic, has developed into a city state (an Italian thalassocracy or Repubblica Marinara, the other three being Genoa, Pisa, and Amalfi).

The city has become a flourishing trade center between Western Europe and the rest of the world, especially the Roman Empire of Constantinople and the Islamic world.

At the beginning of the twelfth century, the foundations of Venice's naval and commercial power begin to be laid.

The age of the feudal princes has passed in northern Italy, to be replaced by the dominance of the city-states, maritime republics and communes.

Florence, which now becomes governed by an autonomous commune, begins to evolve as a commercial power.

The County of Sicily begins its transition to the Kingdom of Sicily when the crusading King Sigurd of Norway favors Norman ruler Roger Guiscard with a crown.

Palermo is the capital of Norman Sicily under the Hautevilles.

Descended from the Vikings, they have come to appreciate and admire the rich and layered culture in which they now find themselves.

Many Normans in Sicily adopt some of the attributes of Muslim rulers in dress, language, literature, and even in the presence of palace eunuchs and according to some accounts, a harem.

Like the multiethnic Caliphate of Córdoba of the previous age, the court of Roger II becomes the most luminous center of culture in the Mediterranean, both from Europe and the Middle East.

This attracts scholars, scientists, poets, artists and artisans of all kinds.

Norman Sicily is still with heavy Arab influence: laws are issued in the language of the community to whom they are addressed: the governance is by the rule of law; there is justice.

Muslims, Jews, Greeks of the East Roman Empire, Lombards, and Normans work together to form a society that fosters extraordinary architecture.