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Urbs Felix Dotata Populo Trilingui": Some Thoughts About a Twelfth-Century Funerary Memorial from Palermo1

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Urbs Felix Dotata Populo Trilingui "URBS FELIX DOTATA POPULO TRILINGUI": SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT A TWELFTH-CENTURY FUNERARY MEMORIAL FROM PALERMO1 BARBARA ZEITLER "Urbs felix dotata populo trilingui"-thus Peter or Eboli referred to Palermo in his panegyric De Rebus Siculis Carmen which he wrote to legitimise the ac- cession of Henry VI to the throne of Sicily and southern Italy in 1194.2 Like Peter of Eboli's poem, a number of artefacts, mostly dating from the mid- dle of the twelfth century, can be seen to bear witness to the trilingualism and triculturalism that characterised the island, and in particular the city of Palermo, under the Norman de Hauteville dynasty. Foremost among these artefacts is a marble slab (Palermo, La Ziza, Musco dell'arte islamica) which bears a trilingual inscription and is elaborately decorated with multicoloured inlay work (Fig. 1). The epitaph in Latin, Greek and Arabic commemorates the death of a certain Anna, mother of a cleric named Grisandus.' Even though three languages are used for the epitaphs, there are four inscriptions in four different alphabets on the marble slab, the fourth being Arabic writ- ten in Hebrew characters.' Although, as we shall see later, the four epitaphs do not provide identical information, considered jointly, they state that Anna ' 'I'his article was researched and written during the tenure of a J.P. Gctty post-doctoral fellowship.I am most grateful to the Getty Foundation for its support. I would like to thank David Abulafia, Charles Burnett, Antony Eastmond, Lindy Grant, Robert Hall, Jeremy Johns, John Lowden, Ernst Kitzinger, Margarct Mullett, and Joseph Munitiz for their advice and comments. Special thanks go to Michael McGann. 2 Petro Ansolini di Ebolo, De RebusSiculis Carmen, E. Rota, ed., Citta di Castello, 1904: 15. 3 The tombstone and its inscription have been discussed by S. Morso, Descri;¿Íonedi Palermo antico,Palermo, 1827; M. Amari, Le epigrqfiarabiche della Sicilia,vol. 2: Iscrizioni sepolcrali, Palermo, 1879: 80-96, nos. 17-18, revised 2nd ed. by F. Gabrieli, 1971: 201-12; B. Lagumina, "Nota sulla iscrizione quadrilingue esistentc ncl museo nazionale di Palermo," ArchivioStorico Siciliano,n.s., 15 (1890): 108-10;J. Johns, "Malik Ifriqiya: The Norman Kingdom of Africa and the Fatimids," LibyanStudies 18 (1987): 89-101, esp. 90-1; W. Kronig, "Der viersprachige Grabstein von 1148 in Palermo," Zeitschriflfur Kunsjqeschichte52 (1989): 550-58; H. Houben, "Die Tolcricrung Andersglaubigerim normannisch-staufischenSJditalien," in O. Engels and P. Schreiner, eds., Begeg,nungdes Westensmit deni Osten.A7ongre,8akten des 4. Symposionsdes Medid- vistenverbandesin Yoln aus Anlafldes 1000. Tode.?ahresder KàiserinTheophanu, Sigmaringen, 1993: 75-87, esp. 80 and 87; "Gli ebrei nell'Italia meridionale tra la meta dell'Xl' l'inizio del XIII secolo," Itineraridi ricercastorica 6 (1993):9-28; J. Johns, "The Greek Church and the Conversion of Muslims in Norman Sicily?," in ByzantinischeForschungen, 21 (1995): 133-57. 4 Amari, Epigrafiarabiche, 1971: 202-207. 115 Figure 1 passed away in the year 1148 and was first buried in the cathedral of Palermo.' In 1149, her remains were transferred to a chapel which her son Grisandus, who is described as a cleric in the service of the king, had built to house her remains. Although the king is not identified in the epitaph, the fact that Anna died in the year 1148, indicates that Grisandus must have been in the employ of King Roger (1 1 30-54). ' Anna's first burial site was not the cathedral surviving today. Anna was buried in the late sixth- to early seventh-centurybuilding, which, after the Arab conquest of the island, had been converted into a mosque and was reconsecrated as a Christian church after the establishment of Norman ruler over Sicily. This building was pulled down and replaced by a grand build- ing constructed under the archbishop of Palermo, Gualterio Offamilo (1169-1190),probably between 1172 and 1185. See A. Zanca, La C;attedraledi Palermo(1170-1946), Accademia di Scicnze Lettere ed Arti di Palermo, suppl. agli atti n. 3, Palermo, 1952; repr. Palermo, 1989; G. Bcllafiore, The Catlcedralof Palermo,Palermo, 1976, 61 G;G. di Stefano, Monumentidella Sicilian normanna,2nd ed., W. Kr6nig, ed., Palermo, 1978: 74-82. See also G. Mcli, "Palermo: La Cattedralc Ritrovata," ArteMedievale, 2. seric, (1990): 151-73. 6 In early accounts of the Judaeo-Arabic epitaph, the letters "GU" were thought to appear after the words "cleric," or more strictly speaking "priest of the king" and were considered to identify the king as King William (1154-68).This reference to King William in a tombstone dated 1148/49 would have been most awkward. According to Lagumina, ArchivioStorico Siciliano 15 (1890): 108-10, however, this is a misreading of the Hebrew lcttcrs. .
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