The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily

by Gordon S. Brown

The Normans originally came to Italy and Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries looking for adventure or a livelihood, but once there, found opportunity for fame and fortune. The story of the Norman conquest in Italy and Sicily is indeed one of knights and adventurers, great battles and lowly pillage, opportunism and statesmanship, and crusade and coexistence. This rich and often dramatic study focuses on the eight sons of Tancred of Hauteville, especially Robert Guiscard, who has been called "the most dazzling military ruler between Julius Caesar and Napoleon," and his youngest brother Roger, who conquered Sicily. It discusses how they expanded their lands throughout southern Italy, and then took Sicily from its Muslim rulers. The brothers, often in conflict with each other, challenged both the Papacy and the Byzantine Empire, became the main supporters of the reformed Papacy, and founded a rich, sophisticated kingdom that lasted until the nineteenth century.

Genres: History, Italy, Medieval, Nonfiction

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you study the history of the Middle Ages, it doesn't take long to realize the Normans were involved in a lot more than England and northern France. However, while I'd become aware of the Norman state in southern Italy, a lot of my reading didn't get into the origins of this state beyond 'Normans showed up and gradually took over'. Gordon Brown's book matches exactly with its title, and was thus exactly what I've been wanting.

After an in medias res introduction around the Battle of Civitate (I'm a little tired of these), and then a short overview of the founding of Normandy before starting in 1107 with Norman pilgrims to southern Italy being invited to help in Lombard revolt against Byzantine power. The revolt didn't go anywhere, but neither did some of the Normans who saw good opportunities for mercenary employment. Brown gives a pretty detailed look at the beginnings of Norman involvement, including the origins of the two families that rose to prominence (Hautville and Dregnot), which was one of my primary interests.

From there, the book pretty much covers through the death of Robert Guiscard in 1085, though a few more chapters deal with final consolidation of the Kingdom of Sicily, Apulia, and Calabria, and the Principate of Capua. In between, he covers the problems and successes of the Normans as they go from mercenaries to a power that neither the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor or the Byzantine Emperor can entirely contain in a very readable format. He doesn't get bogged down in minutiae, but doesn't gloss over anything either; overall the writing is not 'exciting', but very well done, and this is an excellent lighter history book.

The kindle edition is a bit oddly produced, as the text is forced into full width mode (I read on a Surface Pro 2, so the wide screen usually uses two columns), and the chapters flow into one another without any break other than the chapter headers themselves. Initial large capitals are retained by using scanned images instead of using markup to naturally produce them. All this strangeness seems to overload the format/app a bit, and it commonly had to stop and think when flipping back and forth a page. Other than these oddities though, it is well done, and the text is in very good shape, though there was an increased incidence of words broken up by hyphens late in the book.

[Cathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing intro to the Normans for those interested in the history of Italy. Every Italian-American from southern Italy should read it! The author paints vivid pictures of the characters and places of the medieval Mezzogiorno for the layperson.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

When someone says Norman Conquest, you generally think 1066 Battle of Hastings in England. But, get this there was another more gradual conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily by a surfeit of sons of Tancred of Hauteville from Normandy. The son Robert became an Italian nobleman (Duke of Apulia). The Norman's main city was Aversa outside Naples and also Melfi It was ruled by Robert's brother William Ironarm. William was succeeded by his brother Drogo and other brother Humphrey around 1044. Normans raided the countryside and took over valleys and towns. They fought allied with the Lombards against the Byzantines in the area. One of the Greek Byzantine leaders was George Maniakes (maniac?) who led an invasion force to Muslim Sicily of which William and Drogo were a part. Very twisted history with the opportunistic Normans changing sides all the time. Eventually, Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger conquered all of southern Italy and Sicily and formed the beginning of a major European power and country. Robert was an important supporter of Pope Gregory establishing the Latin church as the main religion of southern Italy. This is a history book. There is no character development. However, Robert and his wife Sichelgaita and his brother Roger all sound like very charismatic characters that rival Game of Thrones characters. The book shows the development of Dukedom's in the Middle Ages and all the war lords and rival factions vying for control of Southern Italy and Sicily.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have often wondered how in the world Scandinavians managed to establish dynasties in Italy in the Middle Ages. The Normans are the ones who first took Sicily from Dar al-Islam, yet under Roger II The Wise, took Sicily into one of its most cosmopolitan golden ages.

This book was hard to put down. The author stayed on point throughout the book, although sometimes the barrage of royal names was a little much. He adeptly traced the evolution of a band of Scandinavian mercenaries into one of the most powerful political and trade powers of the central Mediterranean.

This, they accomplished with novels methods of warfare: taking land, and then building castles in strategic locations with a permanent garrison. For a warrior class forming the very capable nucleus of standing armies, this was easy. Everyone else just campaigned seasonally, then went back home, often having to take the same parcels of land year after year.

The Normans, surprisingly, did not gain much from family members. Instead, they often fought each other and schemed constantly. Yet, they did not kill each other nor upset the feudal system of subordinate counts and barons until late in their history. This rise above feudalism and centralization is what the author credits the success of what eventually became, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

[Keeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a readable and lucid overview of eleventh and twelfth century southern Italian and Sicilian history written by a non-specialist. With one exception involving the death of Robert Guiscard, the author does a great job of tying together a profusion of events happening simultaneously across the regions of focus (as well as in Byzantium and northern Europe) into chronological and thematic consistency, while also offering interesting biographical details about the many important players from the Hautevilles, other Norman families, and their allies and rivals in the Church and the two great empires of the time. The proofreading is sloppy at times (amusing to read of the Norman knights becoming "actors...on a lager stage") and I have a certain discomfort reading any book on this period by someone who cannot read Latin, but for a lay person, high school or early college student the bibliography, intellectual approach and use of primary sources are highly satisfactory.

[Matthew Dambro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to the Norman conquest of Southern Italy in the Eleventh Century. Brown is not an academic historian but a diplomat with experience in Italian affairs. The volume is clearly written and annotated appropriately. It is an amazing story of one family of Viking (Norman) freebooters, the Hautevilles, carving out an empire in what is now called the Mezzogiorno. The locale is close to my heart. My father's family lives in that region; Pescichi on the Gargano peninsula. It is less than 50 miles from the church commemorating the patron saint of the Hautevilles. Gordon's work is an excellent place to begin a serious study of the Norman phenomenon of the Middle Ages.

[Redsteve · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you ever wondered where the rich, powerful and (comparatively) tolerant Norman Kingdom of Sicily came from, this is the book for you. This book follows the Normans in Italy, from the mercenaries who sided with Italian rebels against the Byzantine Empire, though wars for and against the Pope (and the Holy Roman Emperor - as well as amongst themselves), through the conquest of Muslim Sicily, the invasion of Illyria and eventually the First Crusade and the Pope's recognition of the Kingdom of Sicily.

[Snh.]

The Norman invasion is not something I have ever considered looking into before reading this book. However, after reading I have found myself much more interested in Italian history. This book provides a thoroughly researched perspective on the Norman conquest of Italy and shows how modern Sicilian and Italian culture came to be as they are. It is a dramatic story focused on a family’s conquest of Italy and Sicily and their challenge of the famous Byzantine empire and the catholic church.

[Jason Farmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book on the establishment of Norman rule in Southern Italy and Sicily, focusing mainly on Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger.

[Melisende · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear history of the Normans in southern Italy and Sicily, a history dominated by the Hautevilles. Nice addition to anyone's library.

[Deborah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative but dry.