page_title: European enclaves in North Africa before 1830
section_title: Italian and Sicilian possessions
hierarchical_section_title: European enclaves in North Africa before 1830 / Italian and Sicilian possessions
caption_attribution_description: English: Tarbarka_17th_century
context_page_description: The European enclaves in North Africa were towns, fortifications and trading posts on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of western North Africa, obtained by various European powers in the period before they had the military capacity to occupy the interior. The earliest of these were established in the 11th century CE by the Italian Maritime republics; Spain and Portugal were the main European powers involved; both France and, briefly, England also had a presence. Most of these enclaves had been evacuated by the late 18th century, and today only the Spanish possessions of Ceuta, Melilla, and the Plazas de soberanía remain.
context_section_description: Around the year 1000, small colonies of merchants began to appear in North Africa from the Republic of Amalfi and the Republic of Pisa. In 1133, Pisa negotiated a commercial treaty with the Almoravids, as did Genoa some five years later. As Almoravid power weakened, the Maritime Republics grew bolder and Pisa attempted to seize the Balearic Islands in 1114 In 1134, just one year after signing a commercial treaty with Bejaia, Genoa attacked the city before sending a combined fleet with Pisa to seize Annaba in 1136. The Pisans themselves raided Tabarka in 1140. These Italian initiatives were particularly focused on gaining control of the lucrative coral trade. There are records of the coastal area of Marsacares (today El Kala) being under the jurisdiction, at various times, of Pisa and later, Genoa.
  The arrival of the Normans in Italy led to the Christian reconquest of Sicily (1091). Roger II of Sicily expanded his domains by taking Djerba in 1135. There followed the seizure of a number of Tunisian coastal cities, leading to the formation of a short-lived entity that is sometimes known as the Norman Kingdom of Africa.
  After the evacuation of Mahdia in 1160, the Normans ceased to control any places on the North African coast.  In 1284 the new Aragonese ruler of Sicily, Frederick III, invaded Djerba once again and held it until 1333. It was retaken for Sicily by Manfredi Chiaramonte, who became lord of the island, and also seized the Kerkennah Islands. The Sicilian garrison abandoned the island in 1392, the year after Chiaramonte died.
  After this, the only Italian possessions in North Africa belonged to Genoa, which held Jijel (Algeria) as well as Tabarka (Tunisia), retaining the latter from 1540–1742.
caption: The Genoese island of Tabarka in the 18th century.
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