Ibn ‘Abbād, also known as Benavert, was the last

Emir of Sicily The island of SicilyIn Arabic, the island was known as (). was under Islamic rule from the late ninth to the late eleventh centuries. It became a prosperous and influential commercial power in the Mediterranean, with its capital of Palermo ser ...

. He was the Emir of

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and, from 1072 to 1086, led the last

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

resistance against the

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...

, who were conquering Sicily. In 1075 he defeated

Jordan of Hauteville Jordan of Hauteville (–1092) was the eldest son and bastard of Roger I of Sicily. A fighter, he took part, from an early age, in the conquests of his father in Sicily. Jordan is named as son of Count Roger's first marriage in ''Europäische Stamm ...

, the son of Grand Count Roger I, at

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, and he reconquered the city in 1081. In 1085 he led some expeditions to Reggio, in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

. On 25 May 1086, while Roger I was besieging Syracuse, he fell into the sea while jumping from one boat to the other, and died because of his heavy armor. In 1091, His wife and his son fled to the city of

Noto Noto (; ) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and its church were decl ...

, which, along with

Butera Butera ( Sicilian: ''Vutera'') is an Italian town and commune in the province of Caltanissetta, in the southern part of the island of Sicily. It is bounded by the communes of Gela, Licata, Mazzarino, Ravanusa and Riesi. It is located from ...

also fell. One of his descendants, Muhammad ibn ‘Abbād , rebelled to Frederick of Sicily at the start of the 13th century, dying during the rebellion.

References

1086 deaths 11th-century Arab people Emirs of Sicily Year of birth unknown Slave owners {{Sicily-stub