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ENGLISH: The Norman conquest of Sicily detached the island from its North African framework, and a century of Latin Christian rule e"ectively transformed its society. But the island was not completely disconnected from the southern Mediterranean, as long term trade contacts, political links and military ambitions intervened to cast relations between the two sides. A Norman thalassocracy in the mid-12th century created a short-lived political bridge between Europe and Africa. In the age of the crusades, regional forces across the central Mediterranean could not be contained within the model of direct Christian rule experimented in the Latin east. !e present chapter studies the transition from informal control to the establishment of direct rule, which led to the formation of a 'Norman Ifrīqiya'. The short-lived Norman overlordship across Ifrīqiya was mainly recorded in the pages of medieval Muslim historians, conditioning the methodology used by its modern historians. !e study of Norman Ifrīqiya became possible thanks to a remarkable Muslim historiographic e"ort to explain Christian intervention in the a"airs of Ifrīqiya, underlining the historian's powerful role as arbiter. It is the Muslim historian who becomes the main narrator of Sicily's 'other Kingdom'. / MALTI: It-tmexxija Normanna ta'Sqallija begħdet l-ikbar gżira Mediterranja mid-dinja tal-Magreb, waqt li matul is-seklu tnax is-soċjetà tagħha nbidlet mill-qiegħ. Biss il-ħakma Normanna ma qatgħetx il-kummerċ, il-kuntatti politiċi u anke l-ambizzjonijiet militari tal-gżira fil-Magreb. It-talassokrazija Normanna f'nofs is-seklu tnax bniet għal xi żmien pont politiku bejn l-Ewropa u l-Afrika. Fl-era tal-kruċjati, il-mudell Palestinjan ta' tmexxija diretta nisranija f'art Musulmana, ma rnexxiex fiċ-ċentru tal-Mediterran. Dan l-artiklu jistħarreġ il-bidla minn kontroll informali għal tmexxija diretta, li wasslet għall-ħolqien ta' l-Ifrīqijja Normanna. It-tagħrif dwar in-Normanni fl-Ifrīqijja ġej prinċipalment minn kittieba Musulmani, fatt li jikkondizzjona l-metodoloġija ta'l-istoriċi moderni. L-istudju ta'l- Ifrīqijja Normanna jista' jsir bis-saħħa ta' l-istorjografija Musulmana, li tat is-setgħa lill-istoriku jagħżel kif jirrakkonta l-intervent nisrani f-Ifrīqijja. L-istoriku Musulman jieħu postu bħala n-narratur ewlieni ta' din is-'saltna l-oħra' ta' Sqallija.