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Rethinking Norman Italy
  • Studies in honour of Graham A. Loud
  • Edited by Joanna H. Drell, Paul Oldfield
  • Published by:
    Manchester University Press
    Published online:
    05 February 2026
  • This collection honours and reflects the pioneering scholarship of Graham A. Loud in the field of Norman Italy (southern Italy and Sicily c. 1000–c. 1200). An international group of scholars, edited by Joanna H. Drell and Paul Oldfield, addresses a diverse range of subjects, reassessing and recasting the paradigm by which Norman Italy has been conventionally understood. Norman Italy’s uniqueness has long rested on its geographic location on Latin Europe’s periphery, a circumstance that intermixed Latin Christians with Byzantine Greeks and Muslims and fostered a vibrant multiculturalism. While elements of this characterisation remain valid, continuing scholarly exploration is sparking a rising awareness of cross-pollination between Norman Italy and the wider medieval world in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The collection’s studies underscore that Norman Italy was not just a parochial Norman or Mediterranean entity but also an integral player in the medieval mainstream. This volume consequently endeavours to move the field’s emphasis beyond the frontier and to articulate both Norman Italy’s contribution to broader historical currents and the impact in turn of these currents upon Norman Italy, an instance of reciprocal influence perhaps surpassing the sum of its parts. This focus leads the volume’s scholars to explore many broader realms within which Norman Italy was integrated, including the secular and monastic church, aristocratic networks, the papacy, crusading, urbanisation, Byzantium and Islam.

  • 1 - Introduction: Rethinking Norman Italy

  • Edited by Joanna H. Drell, Paul Oldfield
  • Book:
    Rethinking Norman Italy
    Published by:
    Manchester University Press
    Published online:
    05 February 2026, pp 1-12

  • Summary

    The introduction begins by acknowledging the ground-breaking work of Graham Loud in establishing Norman Italy (c. 1000–c. 1200) as a field of study. This pluralistic society where Christian, Muslim, Jew, Greek, Latin, Lombard and Norman commingled remained under-researched until the late twentieth century, but is now a fixture at academic meetings and in classrooms, journals and other publications around the world.Moving on to the content of the volume itself, the introduction underlines the wide-ranging, holistic approach taken to examining Norman Italy’s role in some of the medieval period’s most important transitions. Emphasising socio-cultural, religious and political histories, the contributions build on a rising awareness of cross-pollination between Norman Italy and the wider medieval world, moving the field’s emphasis beyond the frontier and articulating both the region’s contribution to broader historical currents and the impact of these currents upon the region, an instance of reciprocal influence perhaps surpassing the sum of its parts.The introduction concludes by identifying the four major strands that provide the structure of the book – ‘Historiographies’, ‘Identities and communities’, ‘Religion and the Church’ and ‘Conquering Norman Italy and beyond’ – and outlining the specific contribution of each chapter within this scheme.

Crusading and Pilgrimage in the Norman World
  • With contributions by Andrew Abram , William M. Aird , Emily Albu , Joanna Drell , Leonie V. Hicks , Natasha R. Hodgson , Alan Murray , David S Spear and Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal
  • Edited by Kathryn Hurlock, Paul Oldfield
  • Published by:
    Boydell & Brewer
    Published online:
    25 May 2021
    Print publication:
    16 July 2015
  • The reputation of the Normans is rooted in warfare, faith and mobility. They were simultaneously famed as warriors, noted for their religious devotion, and celebrated as fearless travellers. In the Middle Ages few activities offered a better conduit to combine warfare, religiosity, and movement than crusading and pilgrimage. However, while scholarship is abundant on many facets of the Norman world, it is a surprise that the Norman relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, so central in many ways to Norman identity, has hitherto not received extensive treatment.
    The collection here seeks to fill this gap. It aims to identify what was unique or different about the Normans and their relationship with crusading and pilgrimage, as well as how and why crusade and pilgrimage were important to the Normans. Particular focus is given to Norman participation in the First Crusade, to Norman interaction in later crusading initiatives, to the significance of pilgrimage in diverse parts of the Norman world, and finally to the ways in which crusading and pilgrimage were recorded in Norman narrative. Ultimately, this volume aims to assess, in some cases to confirm, and in others to revise the established paradigm of the Normans as crusaders par excellence and as opportunists who used religion to serve other agendas.

    Dr Kathryn Hurlock is Senior Lecturer in Medieval History at Manchester Metropolitan University; Dr Paul Oldfield is Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Manchester.

    Contributors: Andrew Abram, William M. Aird, Emily Albu, Joanna Drell, Leonie Hicks, Natasha Hodgson, Kathryn Hurlock, Alan V. Murray, Paul Oldfield, David S. Spear, Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal.

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