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12 - Is there a ‘Norman’ Historiography of the Conquest of Southern Italy?
- Edited by Dan Armstrong, Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, Toronto, Áron Kecskés, University of St Andrews, Scotland, Charles C. Rozier, University of East Anglia, Leonie V. Hicks, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent
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- Book:
- Borders and the Norman World
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 22 February 2024
- Print publication:
- 05 December 2023, pp 301-330
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Summary
The Historiographical Productions Of the ‘Norman’ conquests constitute a remarkable collection of literary works composed in Latin between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, of which Dudo of Saint-Quentin's De moribus et actis Normannorum ducum is often considered foundational. Each of the texts that make up this production have both literary and historical links, for example, the context of their composition, the intentions of the authors and their patrons, and their literary genre. Since these texts are often lumped together under the heading of ‘Norman historiography’, the question of their homogeneity arises, especially when one wants to compare works written in the Duchy of Normandy or the Kingdom of England with those composed in southern Italy. Therefore, in this chapter, we will consider to what degree we can speak of ‘Norman’ historiography in these texts that tell the story of the conquest and formation of ‘Norman states’. In other words, is it possible to label a work as ‘Norman’ even if it was not written in the Duchy of Normandy? Should we establish a clear historiographical separation – or border – between those works composed in Northern Europe and southern Italy? Or, is it more appropriate to see these works as connected? And if so, what are the significant overlaps between these literary worlds? What are the criteria that makes a work ‘Norman’? In answering these questions, we shall shed light on the possible cross-border circulation of texts and ideas between the ‘Norman states’ – the Duchy of Normandy, the Kingdom of England, and the Principality of Capua and the Duchy of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily – considering their implications for Norman identity and the writing of history in the Norman World.
The chroniclers themselves invite us to draw comparisons between the conquests carried out by the Normans: among them, Amatus of Montecassino is the most prominent, who, at the very beginning of his work, reports how the Normans dispersed from the farthest reaches of France to various parts of the world, not ‘placing themselves in the service of others; rather, like the ancient warriors, they desired to have all people under their rule and dominion’.
Le récit de Geoffroi Malaterra ou la légitimation de Roger, Grand Comte de Sicile
- Edited by David Bates, University of East Anglia
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- Book:
- Anglo-Norman Studies 34
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 05 April 2013
- Print publication:
- 19 July 2012, pp 169-192
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Summary
This article considers the way in which Geoffrey Malaterra legitimizes the careers of the Hauteville family and, above all, of Roger the Great Count and his conquest of the island of Sicily. In analysing Geoffrey's relationship with Roger, which is seen as having been a close one, the author suggests that contrary to the received view that Geoffrey was a Norman, he might in fact have originally been from the region of Châteaudun or the county of Perche, and therefore was probably a protégé of Hildebert of Lavardin or Ivo of Chartres. Emphasizing that Geoffrey wrote on Roger's orders and that he was aiming to address a wide audience, the article identifies a range of qualities that Geoffrey believed made Roger and his family deserving of divine approval, focusing in particular on their heroic qualities, their innate drive to dominate, their fortitude and their eloquence. Building further on an examination of Geoffrey's use of primarily oral sources and the complex way in which he used classical and scriptural writings, the article shows how Geoffrey portrays Roger developing from his early worldly background into an agent of God's will worthy of the conferment of legatine power by Pope Urban II in 1098, the conclusion of the De rebus gestis.
Le De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi ducis fratris ejus de Geoffroi Malaterra fut achevé entre 1098, année du privilège, dit de la ‘Légation apostolique’, accordé à Roger de Hauteville par le pape Urbain II, et la mort de Roger, dit le Grand Comte, en 1101.