Why go
This period gives context to Malta’s medieval identity and its links with southern Italy. Explore Mdina with the knowledge that it was an ancient capital in a strategic island kingdom. Leave the red-and-white flag story as a legend: it is not reliable history.
The full story
The Normans captured Malta in 1091 during their conquest of Sicily, bringing the islands into the new Kingdom of Sicily. The Catholic Church was reinstated as the state religion under the See of Palermo, and Norman influence appeared in the island’s architecture and institutions. Malta’s strategic position also kept it vulnerable, so the island often functioned as a fortified outpost rather than a prosperous trading centre. Later rulers continued to reshape this Sicilian connection. Malta became a county and marquisate, then passed through Hohenstaufen and Angevin rule. The period brought stronger western religious and cultural influence, alongside hard constraints on trade and population. Mdina is the best place to carry this story into a visit: its enclosed, elevated streets make sense as the centre of an island repeatedly valued for defence. The popular tale that Roger I gave Malta its flag from his own banner is a myth, not evidence.