An investigation into the central role played by the Kingdom of Sicily during the High Middle Ages

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	• The Normans in Sicily: The Normans in the South 1016-1130 and the Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194 John Julius Norwich Penguin Global, 2004 - 816 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An investigation into the central role played by the Kingdom of Sicily during the High Middle Ages

The prospect of reading a 750-page tome on the history of Sicily between 1016 and 1194 would probably seem inviting only to the most masochistic of history buffs. That Norwich's book (originally published as two works, "The Normans in the South" and "The Kingdom in the Sun") has enjoyed its well-deserved longevity and such an admiring audience is a testament both to the thoroughness of his investigation and to the enthusiasm of his prose.

By necessity, Norwich populates his history on a crowded and expansive stage. This is less a chronicle of Sicily than the story of Europe during the Middle Ages, with the Normans in Sicily playing a starring role. Popes from Urban II to Alexander III, kings from Henry II of England to Louis VII of France, emperors from Frederick Barbarossa to Manuel Comnenus--they all warily circled the arenas in southern Italy and Sicily, with the Normans of Sicily at the center of nearly every major confrontation of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, from the investiture controversy to the Crusades.

But the real heroes of Norwich's masterpiece are the Sicilian rulers themselves, along with several of their often-insubordinate underlings. We are introduced to a sequence of memorable dukes and duchesses and kings and queens: Robert Guiscard and Sichelgaita, the fearsome husband-and-wife team who led the conquest of southern Italy and the campaign against Byzantium; Roger II, the first king of Sicily and a brilliant warrior, diplomat, and administrator; William the Bad, William the Good, and the final William III, who ruled over the island and its fragile government in its glory days; and Queen Constance, whose marriage to Henry VI, of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, brought Sicily into the Holy Roman Empire.

As the above dramatis personae suggests, "The Normans in Sicily" is largely a history of military campaigns, political intrigue, and diplomatic schemes. Norwich supplements his story, which was purportedly written with the tourist in mind, with doses of cultural history (particularly art and architecture) and with descriptions of the palaces, churches, monasteries, and other sites that have survived eight centuries of upheaval and restoration. He also examines the unusual melding of the three religious traditions (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Islamic) and how their occasional harmony and ultimate conflict affected the society and culture of Sicily in ways not coincidentally reminiscent of Spain during the same period.

Especially notable is his resuscitation of the reputation of William the Bad (or Wicked): "The epithet rings false. There was nothing evil about him. . . . [His] reluctance to face up to so many of his political responsibilities was due not only to his natural indolence but to a genuine conviction that there were others around him better qualified for the task. . . . Perhaps William the Sad might have been a more accurate description."

Of social and economic history, there is (not surprisingly) very little. The sources for such an investigation are limited, and these concerns were barely beginning to blossom among English-speaking historians in the 1960s--and Norwich admits he is not a scholar, though he writes far better than many of them. He was, however, conspicuously ahead of his time both in his assessment of the role of women in the expansion of the kingdom of Sicily and in his even-handed presentation of various religious customs.

"The Normans in Sicily" is, then, a traditional history, but one whose scope and whose value cannot be overestimated. And it doesn't hurt that it's exciting to read.

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A sweep through Sicilian medieval shenanigans

This is one of the best layman's books about any conquest. Norwich is unputownable history at its best. Witty, wise and taking rather a different view of the Norman Conquest of Sicily and South Italy than Norman Lewis, his is above all a kind of adventure story. It is also a look at a dynasty that makes the Colby family look pathetic. The humour that sparkles throughout the book helps make the whole experience more enlightening. A masterpiece of popular history at its best, it may be unfashionably concerned with the doings of the mighty, but who can resist the corrupt Popes, the machiavellian intrigues of the Byzantines, the gormless Germans and of course the Italians themselves, and the city-states and vassal-states endlessly changing sides, like an Italian football supporter when his own team isn't playing.

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Double Your Lord Norwich Fun...for the Price of One.

This excellent volume combines 2 books by the highly readable Viscount Norwich. His history of the Normans in south Italy and Sicily in the 10th and 11th centuries fills a gap in our knowledge of these fascinating mercenaries who-would-be-kings and rings true even today with the impact of Europeans on the Arab world and vice-versa. Remember, the Normans (of Norman Conquest of England fame) were the descendants of Viking raiders who settled in France and their military prowess against the Byzantine Empire and conquests in Italy were just as important as their better known invasion and conquest of England and Ireland in the same centuries.

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Fascinating history, great story

Norwich is a storyteller as much as he is a historian. He resembles Barbara Tuchman -- you might not base a doctoral thesis on his work, but he certaily provides a great read. In many ways, this work is superior to his Byzantium trilogy. This may be because he has bitten off a more managable slice of history. This allows Norwich to go deeper on the main personalities and events he is covering. You really come a way with a feeling for this remarkable adventure of the Normans in Southern Italy and the advanced and powerful state they were able to create. It also highlights thier impact on the crusades, Byzantium, and the broader struggle between the Pope and secular power. I really enjoyed this book -- so much so that I travelled to Sicily to visit some of the many amazing artifacts left behind by this underdocumented "other conquest" of the Normans.

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The Other Normans

Dull and daunting as this title might seem for the general reader, this is actually a facinating and important episode in European history. For the more cynical it could serve as a primer for any group seeking to achieve political power by taking advantage of the inherent problems of a weak and divided polity. Diplomatically, it proves a brilliant example of a weaker party playing off stronger powers to its considerable advantage. For the more hopeful, it provides one of the regrettably few examples of Christians (Roman and Orthodox) and Muslims not only coexisting, but mutually prospering and profiting, under a pragmatic but culturally informed leadership. Lord Norwich's writing style and sense of what is actually important creates a lively, entertaining and informative look at the period.

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reviews: page 1, 2

In 1016, a rebel Lombard lord appealed to a group of pilgrims for help-and unwittingly set in motion "the other Norman Conquest." The Normans in the South is the epic story of the House of Hauteville: of Robert Guiscard, perhaps the most extraordinary European adventurer between Caesar and Napoleon; his brother Roger, who helped him win Sicily from the Saracens; and his nephew Roger II, crowned at Palermo in 1130. The Kingdom in the Sun vividly evokes this "sad, superb, half-forgotten kingdom, cultivated, cosmopolitan, and tolerant," which lasted a mere 64 years. It concludes with the poignant defeat of the bastard King Tancred in 1194, bringing to a close this extraordinary chapter in Italian history. With a comprehensive listing of all of Sicily's surviving Norman monuments, the result is a superb traveler's companion and a masterpiece of the historian's art.

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