History of Sicily who left England in 1086, and Jarl Erling Skakke, who won his nickname "("Skakke", meaning bent head)" after a battle against Arabs in Sicily. On the other hand, many Anglo-Danish rebels fleeing William the Conqueror, joined the Byzantines in their struggle against the Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, in Southern Italy. "See also: " Palermo continued on as the capital under the Hauteville. Roger's son, Roger II of Sicily, was ultimately able to raise the status of the island, along with his holds of Malta and Southern Italy to a kingdom in 1130. During this period, the Kingdom of Sicily
Emirate of Sicily of the multi-ethnic County and subsequent Kingdom of Sicily, until those who had not already converted were expelled in the 1240s. Until the late 12th century, and probably as late as the 1220s, Muslims formed a substantial portion of the island's population. Their influence remains in some elements of the Sicilian language, as well as surnames and locations. In 535, Emperor Justinian I returned Sicily to the Roman Empire, now ruled from Constantinople exclusively. As the power of what is now known as the Byzantine Empire waned in the West, Sicily was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate during the reign