Object study—The Tombstone of Anne: A case study on multilingualism in twelfth‑century Sicily

Abstract

Abstract: In 1149 a Christian cleric by the name of Grisandus erected a small funerary headstone in honour of his mother at the Church of St Michael in Palermo, the capital of Norman Sicily. Often known as the Tombstone of Anne, the funerary headstone offers unexpected insight into the competing religious and cultural ideologies of twelfth-century Sicily. The four inscriptions are not, as some scholars have assumed, exact translations of the same text. In particular, the differences between the Arabic and Latin texts hint at some of the tensions underscoring Sicily’s multicultural aspirations by proclaiming Christian superiority, affirming King Roger II’s authority as a defender of the Pope of Rome and in the case of the Arabic texts, encouraging readers to convert to Christianity. Roger II’s authority as king derived from the Pope of Rome, creating a complex political environment between cultural tolerance and Christian superiority. As is argued in this article, the Tombstone was a political tool, encouraging the dominance of Christianity in Sicily and the legitimacy of King Roger II’s kingdom.