In this lecture, Teo Ruiz (2020 Resident) will emphasize the encounter of different civilizations in Sicily and the production of hybrid cultural forms as a result of these cultural encounters. Beginning with a brief account of Sicilian history, the talk will mostly center on the period encompassed by Muslim rule and the coming of the Normans, concluding with the reign of the Hohenstaufen ruler, Frederick II. A brief epilogue will trace the history of the island after 1282 and the present flow of people into the western Mediterranean.

Ruiz is a scholar of the social and popular cultures of late medieval and early modern Spain and the western Mediterranean. He is Distinguished Professor of History and of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Los Angeles. His most recent books are: The Western Mediterranean and the World: 400 CE to the Present (2018), Spanish Society, 1348–1700 (2017), A King Travels: Festive Traditions in Late Medieval and Early Modern Spain (2012), and The Terror of History: On the Uncertainties of Life in Western Civilization (2011).

The lecture will be held in English.

This talk is part of a year-long series of programs and events conceived around the theme of “Encounters,” which celebrates the 125th anniversary of the founding of the American Academy in Rome.