Editing Lipari (section)

===From the Middle Ages to present===
[[File:Lipari-Citadelle.jpg|thumb|right|The 1556 fortifications, built atop ancient Greek walls.]]
Lipari was probably an episcopal see from the 3rd century onward, with the first bishop being St. Agatone, who, according to tradition, had found the sacred remains in his cathedral. The presence of the relics has been attested since at least 546.

In the 9th century, Sicily was conquered by the [[Arabs]], and soon [[Saracen]] [[pirate]]s began to raid across the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]], with dramatic effects for Lipari. In 839 the Saracens slaughtered much of the population, the relics of St. Bartholomew were moved to [[Benevento]], and Lipari was eventually almost totally abandoned. The [[Normans]] conquered the Arabs throughout Sicily between 1060 and 1090, and repopulated the island once their rule was secure. The Lipari episcopal seat was reinstated in 1131.

Though still plagued by pirate raids, the island was continually populated from this time onward. Rule of the island was passed from the Normans to the [[Hohenstaufen]] Kings, followed by the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevins]], and then the [[Aragon]]ese, until [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Carlos I]], the Aragonese King, became the [[Spain|Spanish]] King, and was then quickly crowned [[Holy Roman Emperor]] [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V| Charles V]].

====Franco-Ottoman attack====

[[File:Lipari castle on acropolis.jpeg|thumb|View of the 16th century Lipari castle on the old Greek acropolis as seen from Piazza Marina Corta]]
In 1544, [[Hayreddin Barbarossa]], together with the French fleet of [[Captain Polin]] under a [[Franco-Ottoman alliance]], [[Sack of Lipari|ransacked Lipari]] and enslaved the entire population.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eACqCQAAQBAJ&q=Battle+of+A%C3%AFn-el-Turk&pg=PA453|title=Concise History of Islam|last1=Syed|first1=Muzaffar Husain|last2=Akhtar|first2=Syed Saud|last3=Usmani|first3=B. D.|date=2011-09-14|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=9789382573470|language=en}}</ref> [[Jérôme Maurand]] lamented about the depredation to his Christian fellow men during the campaign at Lipari: "To see so many poor Christians, and especially so many little boys and girls [enslaved] caused a very great pity." He also mentioned "the tears, wailings and cries of  these poor Lipariotes, the father regarding his son and the mother her daughter... weeping while leaving their own city in order to be brought into slavery by those dogs who seemed like rapacious wolves amidst timid lambs".<ref name="d249">{{cite web | last=Piccirillo | first=Anthony | title="A Vile, Infamous, Diabolical Treaty": The Franco-Ottoman Alliance of Francis I and the Eclipse of the Christendom Ideal | website=DigitalGeorgetown | date=2012-05-10 | url=https://repository.library.georgetown.edu/handle/10822/555505 | access-date=2024-05-20}}</ref>

A number of the citizens were ransomed in Messina and eventually returned to the islands.

Charles V then had his Spanish subjects repopulate the island and build the massive city walls atop the walls of the ancient Greek [[acropolis]] in 1556.

The walls created a mighty fortress still standing today.  The acropolis, high above the main town, was a safe haven for the populace in the event of a raid. While these walls protected the main town, it was not safe to live on the rest of the island until [[Barbary pirates|Mediterranean piracy]] was largely eradicated, which did not occur until the 19th century.