Cultural syncretism and ethnic identity: The Norman 'conquest' of Southern Italy and Sicily

Journal of Medieval History

Volumn 25, Issue 3, 1999, Pages 187-202

  Drell, Joanna H ^a  

^a Assistant Professor in the University Libraries   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COLONIALISM; CULTURAL IDENTITY; ETHNICITY; HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY;

ITALY;

EID: 0032812186     PISSN: 03044181     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0304-4181(99)00002-0     Document Type: Article

References (134)

1. It was Burckhardt who influenced a generation of scholars with his discussion of Frederick II as 'the first ruler of the modern type who sat upon a throne' (Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (New York, 1929, repr. 1958), 24.)
2. A discussion of this theme and how it relates to the Norman kingdom preceding Frederick's is found in A. Marongiu, 'Model State in the Middle Ages: The Norman and Swabian Kingdom of Sicily', Comparative Studies in Society and History. An International Quarterly, 6 (1963), 307-320. See also Joseph Stayer's response to Marongiu, immediately following, 321-324.
3. The classic work of Southern Italian history remains F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile. 2 vols. (Paris, 1907).
4. For a briefer account, see Chalandon, 'The Conquest of South Italy and Sicily by the Normans' and 'The Norman Kingdom of Sicily', in: The Cambridge Medieval History, V: Contest of Empire and Papacy (Cambridge, 1926), 167-207.
5. For the pre-Norman period: J. Gay, L'Italie Méridionale et l'Empire Byzantin (Paris, 1904, repr. New York, 1960).
6. Other fundamental works include John Julius Norwich, The Normans in the South 1016-1194 (London, 1970) - this would be an extremely useful book save for the fact that Lord Norwich did not include citations;
7. Claude Cahen, Le Régime Féodal de l'Italie Normande (Paris, 1940);
8. Evelyn Jamison, 'Additional Work on the Catalogus Baronum', Bullettino dell'Istituto storico italiano per il Media Evo, 83 (1971), 1-63,
9. 'The Sicilian Norman Kingdom in the mind of Anglo-Norman contemporaries', Proceedings of the British Academy, 24 (1938), 237-285,
10. 'The Administration of the County of Mouse in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries', English Historical Review, 44 (1929), 529-539
11. English Historical Review, 45 (1930), 1-34.
12. 'The Norman Administration of Apulia and Capua, more especially under Roger II and William I', Papers of the British School at Rome, 6 (1913), 211-481.
13. [2nd ed. 1987, as a separate monograph, edited by D.R. Clementi and T. Kolzer]; Antonio Marongiu, 'A Model State in the Middle Ages. The Norman-Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily', Comparative Studies in Society and History, 4 (1963/4), 307-321;
14. Vera von Falkenhausen, 'I ceti dirigenti prenormanni al tempo délla costituzione degli stati normanni nell'Italia meridionale e in Sicilia', in: Forme di potere e struttura sociale in Italia nel Medioevo, ed. Gabriella Rossetti (Bologna, 1977), 321-377;
15. G.A. Loud, 'How "Norman" was the Norman Conquest of Southern Italy?', Nottingham Medieval Studies, 25 (1981), 23
16. Loud, Church and Society in the Norman Principality of Capua 1058-1197 (Oxford, 1985);
17. Mario Del Treppo and Alfonso Leone, Amalfi Medievale (Naples, 1977).
18. More recently: D. Matthew, The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge, England, 1992).
19. (Unfortunately, Dr. Matthew chose to omit citations); H. Takayama, The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (New York, 1993) (For a concise survey of theories of Southern Italian administrative organization proposed by various authors, see Takayama, 11-24.);
20. P. Skinner, Family Power in Southern Italy: The Duchy of Gaeta and its Neighbours, 850-1139 (Cambridge, England, 1995);
21. also Skinner, 'Women, wills and wealth in medieval southern Italy', Early Medieval Europe, 1 (1993), 133-152;
22. H. Taviani-Carozzi, La Principauté Lombarde de Salerne (IXe-XIe s.) étude sur le pouvoir (Rome, 1992);
23. Jean-Marie Martin, La Pouille du VIe au XIIe siècle (Rome, 1993);
24. Wolfgang Jahn, Untersuchungen zur normannischen Herrschaft in Süditalien (1040-1100) (Frankfurt, 1989).
25. For comparisons of the two conquests, see: Charles Homer Haskins, The Normans in European History, F. Chalandon, 'The Conquest of South Italy and Sicily by the Normans';
26. D.C. Douglas, The Norman Fate 1100-1154 (Berkeley, 1976)
27. The Norman Achievement. (Berkeley, 1969);
28. Antonio Marongiu, 'A Model State in the Middle Ages. The Norman-Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily', 307-321;
29. Takayama, The Administration.
30. The subject of marriage alliances has been examined to some degree in the following works: Ludwig Buisson, 'Le più antiche forme dell'organizzazione politica normanna', in: I Normanni in Italia, ed. P. Delogu (Naples, 1984).
31. [trans. from Buisson's 'Formen normannischen Staats-bidung 9, bis ii. Jahrhundert' in Studien zum mittelalterlichen Lehnswesen (Vorträge und Forschungen 5), (Konstanz 1960)], 156-184.
32. See also: Vincenzo D'Alessandro, 'Il nobile', in: Condizione umana e ruoli sociali nel Mezzogiorno normannosvevo, Atti 9 (Atti delle none giornate normanno-sveve, Bari, 17-20 ottobre 1989), ed. Giosuè Musca (Bari, 1991), 405-421;
33. Pietro De Leo, 'Solidarietà e Rivalità nel clan del Guiscardo (La testimonianza delle cronache coeve)', in: Roberto il Guiscardo tra Europa, Oriente e Mezzogiorno (Atti del Convegno internazionale di studio promosso dall'Università degli Studi della Basilicata in occasione del IX centenario della morte di Roberto il Guiscardo, Potenza-Melfi-Venosa, 19-23 ottobre 1985), ed. Cosimo Damiano Fonseca (Galatina, 1990), 147-151;
34. Vera von Falkenhausen, 'I ceti dirigenti prenormanni al tempo della costituzione degli stati normanni nell'Italia meridionale e in Sicilia', (Bologna, 1977), 326ff;
35. G.A. Loud, 'How "Norman"', Nottingham Medieval Studies, 25 (1981), 23;
36. F. Chalandon, Histoire; Errico Cuozzo, 'Quei Maledetti Normanni' Cavalieri e organizzazione militare nel mezzogiorno normanno (Naples, 1989).
37. The most recent examination of Campanian intermarriage can be found in Loud's 'Continuity and Change in Norman Italy: The Campania during the eleventh and twelfth centuries', Journal of Medieval History, 22 (1996), 325-332. Loud convincingly argues that marriage not only provided a means for the Norman invaders to acquire property in Campania but it also allowed for the 'survival' of Lombard kin groups, 325.
38. G.A. Loud addresses some similar themes about the endurance (or lack thereof) of Normanitas in 'Betrachtungen über die normannische Eroberung Süditaliens', Forschungen zur Reichs-, Papst- und Landesgeschichte (Stuttgart, 1998).
39. Charles Homer Haskins, The Normans in European History, 224-225.
40. Haskins, 246-247.
41. G.A. Loud 'Continuity and Change', 329.
42. Here Loud suggests that Norman/Lombard distinctions were 'relatively unimportant' by 1134 and the last example of such distinctions that he cites dates to 1167. Loud goes on to suggest that intermarriage is responsible for the 'dilution' of such Norman/Lombard distinctions, 329. Some of these issues were raised in Loud's earlier articles: 'How "Norman" was the Norman Conquest of Southern Italy?', and 'The "Gens Normannorum" - Myth or Reality?', Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies, 4 (1981), 104-116. He treats the subject of Norman/Lombard identity and intermarriage much more thoroughly, especially in regards to the Cava documentation, in his 1996 work.
43. Loud, 'How Norman', 24.
44. Loud, 'How Norman', 24.
45. Errico Cuozzo, 'A propos de la coexistence entre Normands et Lombards dans le Royaume de Sicile (La révolte féodale de 1160-1162)', in: Peuples du Moyen Âge, Problèmes d'identification (Aix-en-Provence, 1996), 45-56.
46. J.M. Martin, 'L'Italie méridionale', in: L'Anthroponymie: Document de L'Historié Sociale des Mondes Méditerranéens Médiévaux, ed. M. Bourin (Rome, 1996), 29-39.
47. The integrated Norman and Lombard composition of noble retinues forms part of the discussion of the Appendix to Chapter 1 of my 1996 Brown University doctoral dissertation: Marriage, Kinship and Power: Family Structure in the Principality of Salerno under Norman Rule, 1077-1154.
48. See also Cuozzo, 'A propos', and his ' "Milites" e "Testes" nella contea normanna di Principato', Bullettino dell'Istituto storico italiano per il Medio Evo, 88 (1979), 121-163;
49. Takayama, The Administration;
50. G.A. Loud, 'Continuity and Change'.
51. For a general overview on the subject, see Robert Bartlett, The Making of Europe, Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950-1350 (Princeton, 1993).
52. Also, Medieval Frontier Societies, ed. Robert Bartlett and Angus MacKay (Oxford, 1989),
53. in particular: Geoffrey Barrow, 'Frontier and Settlement: Which Influenced Which? England and Scotland, 1100-1300' (3-21);
54. Robert Bartlett, 'Colonial Aristocracies of the High Middle Ages' (23-47);
55. Robert Burns, 'The Significance of the Frontier in the Middle Ages' (307-330);
56. Manuel Jimenez, 'Frontier and Settlement in the Kingdom of Castile (1085-1350)' (49-74).
57. Also, Patrick Geary, 'Ethnic identity as a situational construct in the early middle ages', Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 113 (1983), 15-26,
58. Aristocracy in Provence The Rhône Basin at the Dawn of the Carolingian Age (Philadelphia, 1985).
59. On the subject of English identity: J.C. Holt, 'Family Nomenclature and the Norman Conquest', originally the Stenton Lecture at the University of Reading, 1981, now collected in an anthology of Holt's articles, Colonial England, 1066-1215 (London, 1997), 179-196;
60. th ser., 6 (1996), 25-51;
61. R.R. Davies, 'Presidential Address: The Peoples of Britain and Ireland, 1100-1400, Identities', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 6 ser., 4 (1994), 1-21.
62. Bartlett, 'Colonial Aristocracies', 24-25; this subject has yet to be explored for Southern Italy.
63. For a further discussion of the use of similar charter sources, see Barbara Rosenwein, To Be the Neighbor of St. Peter: The Social Meaning of Cluny's Property, 909-1049 (Ithaca and New York, 1989).
64. A volume of articles has recently been published following a 1994 conference on medieval Mediterranean naming practices: L 'Anthroponymie: Document de L'Historie Sociale des Mondes Méditerranéens Médiévaux (Actes du colloque international organisé par l'École française de Rome avec le concours du GDR 955 du C.N.R.S. 'Genèse médiévale de l'anthroponymie moderne') (Rome, 1996); for Southern Italy see articles by E. Cuozzo and J.M. Martin
65. J.C. Holt, 'Family Nomenclature', 183. Holt concludes this article by remarking, 'Names are not aseptic, cinerary remains. They are rich fruit, left by our ancestors. If subjected to the right pressures they will yield much rich juice to the historian', 196.
66. James Fentress and Chris Wickham, Social Memory (Oxford, 1992);
67. Karl Leyser, 'The German Aristocracy from the Ninth to the Early Twelfth Century: A Historical and Cultural Sketch', Past and Present, 41 (1968), 33-34;
68. Geary, Phantoms, especially 177;
69. Duby, 'The Structure of Kinship and Nobility', Chivalrous Society (Berkeley, 1977), especially 134, 146.
70. Mary Carruthers, The Book of Memory (Cambridge, England, 1990).
71. David Herlihy, Medieval Households (Cambridge, MA, 1985), 46-47;
72. Taviani, La Principauté;
73. Skinner, Family Power, 127.
74. Del Treppo, Amalfi Medievale, 96.
75. Del Treppo, Amalfi Medievale, 111,118.
76. Del Treppo noted that Amalfitani outside of Amalfi would still rigorously include their genealogies in transactions. However I have found no example of this from the Campanian charters that is out of the ordinary. It would be useful to examine the Codice Diplomatico Amalfitano, ed. R. Filangieri di Candida (Naples, 1917). Skinner also examines naming practices for the Duchy of Gaeta, Amalfi and Naples and suggests that Gaetans, in particular, manipulated the past for genealogical purposes.
77. Skinner, Family Power, 126ff.
78. For the pre-ducal period, see Taviani, 732-733 for the practice of naming counts in a lineage but also on more general Lombard naming practices.
79. The Manuscript Collection of the Archive of the Holy Trinity, Abbazia di S. Trinitá, Cava dei Tirreni: Cava XVII, 117 (1104). The Archive is divided into the Armarii Magni (identified with capital letters, followed by arabic numerals) and the Arcae (identified with Roman numerals, followed by arable numerals). In this paper I will use the simple form adopted by most scholars of the archive.
80. Cava F,36 (1125).
81. Cava XVI,86 (1098).
82. Cava XX,116 (1118).
83. Cava XX,14 (1115); XX,52 (1116); XXIII,21 (1132); XXIII,24 (1133); XXIV,50 (1138).
84. Consistently the charters of Guaimar I of Giffone, 'son of dominus duke Guido son of Prince Guaimar III', [Cava D,9 (1096); D,13 (1097); C,29 (1091); F,28 (1124).] Gregory of Capaccio, 'son of Pandulfus son of Prince Guaimar', [Cava C,33 (1092); C,34 (1092); XIX,17 (1111); XX,116 (1118)] Guaimar II of Giffone, 'son of Guaimar son of dominus duke Guido', [Cava E, 10 (1110); E,13 (1110)] Guaimar of Capaccio, 'son of Pandulfus son of Guaimar (III) son of Prince John', [Cava XVI,86 (1098)] and Jordan lord of Corneto, 'son of dominus Pandulfus son of Prince Guaimar(III)' [Cava G,24 (1137)] catalogued the lengthy and distinguished ancestry of their Lombard forbears in their names.
85. Cava F,29 (1124).
86. Cava F,21 (1122).
87. Loud, 'Continuity and Change', 331.
88. Catalogus Baronum: Commentario, ed. E. Cuozzo (Rome, 1984), 187-188 (#701).
89. Cava F, 29 (1124)
90. In the Principality of Salerno the Lombard ruling family was thoroughly incorporated into the Norman-led ruling structure with most of the Lombards retaining their tenurial rights. Cf. Loud, 'Continuity and Change', 324-333.
91. See Drell, 1996 dissertation, Appendix 3 for a complete list of the charters which contain the names of persons linked with a count in their ancestry.
92. Cava, XX,49 (1116).
93. Cava, XXIV,75 (1139).
94. Cava, XXX,116 (1162)
95. Cava, XXXVII,28 (1180).
96. See Drell, 1996 dissertation, Appendix 2.
97. See Drell, 1996 dissertation, chapter 1, 39-47.
98. Some examples include (these are not all the examples from the Cava charters I have examined) XVIII,1 (1106); XVIII,69 (1109); XIX,119(1114); XIX,85 (1113); XXII,85 (1129); XXIII,93 (1135); XXV,38 (1143).
99. J.M. Martin's 'L'Italie méridionale' is the most recent work that explores this issue.
100. Loud, 'How "Norman"': 'beyond this date (1100) nomenclature may not be a safe guide to race...These habits of nomenclature testify to the influence of the conquerors on the social mores of the local population', 21-22.
101. Loud, 'How "Norman"', 22.
102. Cava XXIV,6 (1136).
103. Cava G,12 (1134). See also Cava XXIV,60 (1139) and XXIV,75 (1140). Loud has performed a painstaking and valuable service by reconstructing the 'de Mannia' kin group, in 'Continuity', 326.
104. The roles of counts and the distinction between Norman and Lombard counts are issues of some scholarly studies. For both the Norman and pre-Norman period, the title of 'count' was a mark of status. According to Taviani, for pre-Norman Salerno, 'count' was most likely an honorary title, lacking in any administrative function (Taviani, La Principauté, 725ff). The Norman period witnessed significant increase in the real status of counts. This is seen by the increase in references among the Cava charters to territorial counts, that is, counts who were 'the count of an area. Examples include 'count Richard of the Normans' (Cava XX,27 (1115)) and the 'Count of the casale of Tusciano' (Cava XXIII, 70 (1134)). Not only did the actual power or territorial control of counts appear to have increased during this period, but also the number of counts increased from the early decades of the twelfth century. This may reflect a territorial reorganization advanced by Roger II, as Cuozzo has argued, though much work remains to be done on this question. Studies that investigate these issues include the following: Cuozzo, 'Quei Maledetti Normanni' Cavalieri e organizzazione militare nel mezzogiorno normanno. (Naples, 1988);
105. Jamison, 'Additional', 22;
106. Chalandon, Histoire, vol. 2, 567-68.
107. While I have argued elsewhere that charters most often recorded agnatic descent, an exception to this pattern may support my hypothesis concerning Lombard memory practices. Two charters, from among those which probably included matronymics, mentioned 'Peter de Maralda son of John de Comitissa'. [Cava XX,82 (1117); XX,110 (1118)]. It is further possible that 'de Comitissa' suggests a toponym as opposed to a matronymic. I have not found evidence for this, however. Although this is an isolated example and there is no way of knowing if it referred to a family of Lombard or Norman descent, it does reveal the occasional definition of lineage through the female line; in this case, however, the female line is distinguished by the title of 'countess'. With the exception of the Lombard princely family, this is one of only a few examples where both father (John de Comitissa) and son (Peter de Maralda) identified themselves through the same ancestor. There maybe one other example: three charters dating from 1106 to 1117 mentioned 'Leo son of John from Amalfi de Constantina' as either witness or guarantor to someone else's transaction. [Cava XVIII,40 (1106) Leo is a witness; XVIII,107 (1109) Leo is a guarantor; XX,89 (1116) Leo is a guarantor.] Leo is a mystery, save for the family relationships expressed in his charters. A charter from 1136 described a land sale made by 'Ursus son of Leo son of John de Constantina'. [XXIII,117 (1136) Ursus sold lands to Peter son of Nicholas - all four charters were recorded] 'Constantina' in this charter might be a reference to a female ancestry; it might also be a place name or a family name. Nonetheless, if the four 'Leo son of John de Constantina' were the same person and Ursus was his son, then the genealogical memory of 'Constantina' endured three generations. As noted previously, it was most common for people to have a genealogical memory that extended to one generation only. It is likely that once again, the link to a prominent ancestor, in this case a woman (a countess), served to underscore or perhaps to confer family status.
108. Many of the Normans in the South were younger sons trying to make their fortunes.
109. For example: Cava XXX,116 (1162), XXXIII,12 (1164), XXXIII,86 (1171), XXXVII,28 (1180), XL,47 (1185). I have recently come across a charter from 1236 which cites a man '-' son of '-' son of '-' son of a Beneventan count. The Lombards controlled the Principality of Benevento as they did the Principality of Salerno. Cava XLIX, 54 (1236).
110. Cf. J.M.Martin, 'L'Italie méridionale', 39.
111. Leyser, 32-33; Maurice Keen, Chivalry (New Haven, 1984), 143.
112. Anthropologist Marshall Sahlins stated that 'by traditional definition, commoners are people who cannot trace their genealogies beyond their grandparents', Islands of History (Chicago, 1985), 25.
113. Cuozzo, 'À propos'.
114. Amatus of Montecassino, Ystoire de li Normani, in: Storia del Normani di Amato di Montecassino, book VIII, ch. 27, ed. Vincenzo de Bartholomaeis (Rome, 1935).
115. Geoffrey Malaterra, De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comites et Roberti Guiscardi ducis, fratris eius, book IV, ch. 24, 102, ed. Ernesto Pontieri Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, I (1928). The translation is G.A. Loud's.
116. The charters which make specific reference to Norman ethnicity include: Cava: XV,20 (1090); XVI,3 (1094); XVI,59 (1096); XVII,65 (1103); XVII,84 (1103); XVIII,27 (1105); XIX,82 (1113); XX,27 (1115); XX,33 (1115); XX,66 (1117); XX,72 (1117); XX,108 (1118); XX,112 (1118); XX,118 (1118); XXI,1 (1118); XXI,5 (1118); XXI,28 (1120); XXII,4 (1125); XXII,8 (1126); XXII,80 (1129); XXII,89 (1129); XXIII,52 (1133); XXIII,88 (1134); XXV,3 (1141); XXV,38 (1142); XXV,40 (1142); XXVI,9 (1145); XXVI,49 (1146); XXXII.115 (1168); XXXIV,6 (1171); XXXIV,9 (1171); XXXVII, 56 (1180); XLII,96 (1191). Also, from the archive of the Holy Trinity, S.S. Abbazia di Montevirgine, contained in Codice Diplomatico Verginiano, ed. P.M Tropeano (Montevergine, 1981-92) 10 vols.: MV.I.90 (1095); MV.I.99 (1102); MV.II.100 (1102); MV.II.103 (1102); MV.II.104 (1102); MV.II.105 (1102); MV.II.121(1112); MV.II.175(1129); MV.II.190(1130); MV.III.244 (1137); MV.III.263 (1140); MV.III.267 (1141).
117. Cava XX, 113 (1118).
118. Cava XXVI,9; other charters about Robert Mustazza include XXV,3 (1142); XXV,38 (1143); XXV,40 (1142); L,2 (1183).
119. For a discussion of the meaning of the term gens see Loud, 'Gens Normannorum', 110,111.
120. Cava, H,44 (1166). It is interesting to note here that William and Tutaynus (?) are Norman names, yet as late as 1166 they relate themselves to the Lombard race. This is probably a good example of the thorough infiltration of Norman names into Southern Italy by this time.
121. Cava, F,39 (1127)
122. Cava L,8 (1184)
123. Emma of Eboli Cava B,21 (1082) and B, 22 (1082); also the San Sevenno family, Cava D,38 (1101) - perhaps also C, 14 (1087??).
124. See note 59 above.
125. L. R. Ménager, 'Inventaire des Familles Normands et Franques émigrées en Italie Méridionale et en Sicilie (XI-XII Siècles)', in: Hommes et Institutions de l'Italie Normande (London, 1981).
126. On the subject of intermarriage in the South, see Loud 'How "Norman"', 23ff.
127. See note 11 above.
128. Codice Vaticano, N. 8782, Fond. Lat. Edited in: Il Diritto Romano nelle leggi normanno e Sveve del Regno di Sicilia, ed. Francesco Brandileone (Turin, 1884, repr. 1982), 95-96 (trans. Loud).
129. The latest one I have come across is Cava, M,1 (1196).
130. See Marongiu, Matrimonio e famiglia nell'Italia meridionale (sec.VIII-XIII) (Società di Storia Patria per la Puglia: Documenti e Monografie, vol. 39 (1944), repr. Bari, 1976), 116-35;
131. Taviani, La Principauté, 516-518;
132. Ménager, 'La législation sud-italienne sous la domination normande', in: I normanni e la loro espansione in europa nell'alto medioevo (Spoleto, 1969),
133. also repr. in Hommes et Institutions de l'Italie Normande (London, 1981), 486-493;
134. Drell, 1996 dissertation, 216-222.