Religious studies professor Brian A. Catlos will present a public lecture on "A Secret Soldier of the Devil? Identity and Tensions in the Mediterranean Court of Roger II of Sicily" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 1, in the Recital Hall at Coastal Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public; a reception and book signing will follow at 5 p.m. in the courtyard of the Thomas W. and Robin W. Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts.

In 1154, in a public square in Palermo, Roger II, the Norman King of Sicily and King of Africa, put to a very public death his trusted chamberlain and victorious admiral, Philip of Mahdia. But who was Philip of Mahdia? And why did he have to die? Catlos unravels the tale of Philip -- a former slave, a eunuch and a crypto-Muslim -- to illuminate the complex interplay of ethnic and religious identity and politics in the Mediterranean in the Age of the Crusades. The story exposes a historical reality that cannot be contained either in the simplistic framework of the "clash of civilizations" or the nostalgic view of medieval convivencia.

Catlos, professor of religious studies at the University of Colorado Boulder, specializes in the study of relations between Christians and Muslims in the medieval Mediterranean. His "Muslims of Medieval Latin Christendom: ca. 1050-1614" was awarded the 2014 Albert Hourani Book Prize for best book in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. His most recent books are "Infidel Kings and Unholy Warriors: Faith, Power, and Violence in the Age of Crusade and Jihad" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2014) and "The Victors and the Vanquished, Christians and Muslims of Catalonia and Aragon, 1050-1300" (Cambridge University Press, 2014).

Catlos earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies at the University of Toronto, followed by three years of post-doctoral work at the Concejo de Investigaciones Superiores in Barcelona and the Institute for Medieval History of Boston University. He studied Christian-Muslim-Jewish interaction in medieval Spain, the Mediterranean and the Islamic world, focusing on social, political and economic relations, and is very active in the scholarly community both in North America and Europe. He also writes travel books and was featured in the PBS documentary "Cities of Light."

The Recital Hall is room 152 in the Edwards College, which is located at 133 Chanticleer Drive W. Parking is available behind Edwards or in the adjacent lot at Brittain Hall.

For more information, contact Eliza Glaze, the Lawrence B. and Jane P. Clark Chair of CCU's Department of History, at 843-234-3462.