Tra il Mediterraneo e il fonte battesimale. Musulmani a Napoli nel XVI secolo

Abstract

The essay focuses on the Muslims in Naples during the sixteenth century, when the capital is experiencing a deep urban transformation, which is linked to the massive immigration and the conflict against the Turk. The warfare between the House of Austria and the Porte affects the lives of the Muslims, which belong to three categories: slaves, free-men or refugees. Depending of their condition Muslims occupy the urban spaces. The Muslims of Naples respond to social, political and religious pressures with individual solutions like the redemption, getaway or conversion to Catholicism. The reputation of the city, the war to the sultan and the big number of Muslims force the Hispanic authorities of the kingdom to a closer contact with the alien.