The Islamic Era in the history of Malta is the ponasinorum of Maltese historiography. No other period of Maltese history is so fraught with admitted or hidden psychological complexes, with unconscious fears and hates that imaginary skeletons in the national cupboard should become common property to the delight and scorn of all. Much the same attitude once characterized other parts of the Mediterranean littoral which had lived for centuries under the hegemony of the Arabs during the High Middle Ages.peer-reviewe
