the Nor Italy. A.D. The establishment of the Normans in the kingdoms of Origin of Naples and Sicily 16 is an event most romantic in its origin, mans in and in its consequences most important both to Italy and the 1016 Eastern empire. The broken provinces of the Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens were exposed to every invader, and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous spirit of the Scandinavian pirates. After a long indulgence of rapine and slaughter, a fair and ample territory was accepted, occupied, and named, by the Normans of France; they renounced their gods for the God of the Christians; and the dukes of Normandy acknowledged themselves the vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Capet. The savage fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of Norway was refined, without being corrupted, in a warmer climate; the companions of Rollo insensibly mingled with the natives; they imbibed the manners, language,18 and gallantry of the French nation; and, in a martial age, the Normans might claim the palm of valour and glorious achievements. Of the fashionable superstitions, they embraced with ardour the pilgrimages of Rome, Italy, and the Holy Land. In this active devotion, their minds and bodies were invigorated by exercise danger was the incentive, novelty the recompense; and the prospect of the world was decorated by wonder, credu poor Sterne, that it is hard if I may not transcribe with caution what a bishop could write without scruple! What if I had translated, ut viris certetis testiculos amputare, in quibus nostri corporis refocillatio, &c. ? 16 The original monuments of the Normans in Italy are collected in the vth volume of Muratori, and among these we may distinguish the poem of William Apulus (p. 245-278), and the history of Galfridus (Jeffery) Malaterra (p. 537-607). Both were natives of France, but they wrote on the spot, in the age of the first conquerors (before A.D. 1100), and with the spirit of freemen. It is needless to recapitulate the compilers and critics of Italian history, Sigonius, Baronius, Pagi, Giannone, Muratori, St. Marc, &c. whom I have always consulted and never copied. [See Appendix 1. The best history of the Normans in Italy and Sicily is F. Chalandon's Histoire de la domination en Italie et en Sicile, 2 vols., 1907.] "Some of the first converts were baptized ten or twelve times, for the sake of the white garments usually given at this ceremony. At the funeral of Rollo, the gifts to monasteries, for the repose of his soul, were accompanied by a sacrifice of one hundred captives. But in a generation or two the national change was pure and general. is The Danish language was still spoken by the Normans of Bayeux on the seacoast, at a time (A.D. 940) when it was already forgotten at Rouen, in the court and capital. Quem (Richard I.) confestim pater Baiocas mittens Botoni militiæ sus principi nutriendum tradidit, ut, ubi linguâ eruditus Danicâ, suis exterisque hominibus sciret aperte dare responsa (Wilhelm. Gemeticensis de Ducibus Normannis, l. iii. c. 8, p. 623, edit. Camden). Of the vernacular and favourite idiom of William the Conqueror (A.D. 1035) Selden (Opera, tom. ii. p. 1640-1656) has given a specimen, obsolete and obscure even to antiquarians and lawyers. [Melus] 21 lity, and ambitious hope. They confederated for their mutual defence; and the robbers of the Alps, who had been allured by the garb of a pilgrim, were often chastised by the arm of a warrior. In one of these pious visits 19 to the cavern of mount Garganus in Apulia, which had been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel Michael,20 they were accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit, but who soon revealed himself as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of the Greek empire. His name was Melo: a noble citizen of Bari, who, after an unsuccessful revolt, was compelled to seek new allies and avengers of his country. The bold appearance of the Normans revived his hopes and solicited his confidence: they listened to the complaints, and still more to the promises, of the patriot. The assurance of wealth demonstrated the justice of his cause; and they viewed, as the inheritance of the brave, the fruitful land which was oppressed by effeminate tyrants. On their return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of enterprise; and a small but intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia. They passed the Alps by separate roads, and in the disguise of pilgrims; but in the neighbourhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari, who supplied the more indigent with arms [A.D. 1017] and horses, and instantly led them to the field of action. In the first conflict, their valour prevailed; 22 but, in the second engagement, they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military 19 [In A.D. 1016, as a Saracen fleet besieged Salerno, 40 Norman knights returning from the Holy Land disembarked in the neighbourhood, and hearing that the place was hard pressed offered their services to Prince Waimar. Their bravery delivered the town, and laden with rich presents they returned to Normandy, promising to induce their countrymen to visit the south and help in the defence of the land against the unbelievers. See Aimé, Ystorie de li Normant, i. c. 17 (and op. H. Bresslau, Jahrbücher des deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich II., B. iii. Excurs. 4). Before the year was over, a certain Rudolf with his four brothers started to seek their fortune in the south; when they reached Italy, they came to terms with Melus, the rebel of Bari, through the mediation of the Pope.] 20 See Leandro Alberti (Descrizione d'Italia, p. 250) and Baronius (A.D. 493, No. 43). If the archangel inherited the temple and oracle, perhaps the cavern, of old Calchas the soothsayer (Strab. Geograph. 1. vi. p. 435, 436), the Catholics (on this occasion) have surpassed the Greeks in the elegance of their superstition. 21 [Melus was the leader of the anti-Greek party in Bari. His first revolt was for a time successful, but was put down in 1010 by the Catepan Basil Mesardonites.] 22 [There were three battles. Melus and the Normans invaded the Capitanate in 1017. They gained a victory at Arenula on the river Fortore, and a second, more decisive, at Vaccaricia (near Troja). See Heinemann, op. cit., p. 36 (and Appendix). In the following year they suffered the great defeat on the plain of Canne, at the hands of the Catepan Basil Bojannes.] Melus. tion of engines of the Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their faces [A.D. 1018] to the enemy. The unfortunate Melo ended his life, a suppliant (Death of at the court of Germany: his Norman followers, excluded from A.D. 1020] their native and their promised land, wandered among the hills and valleys of Italy, and earned their daily subsistence by the sword. To that formidable sword the princes of Capua, Beneventum, Salerno, and Naples, alternately appealed in their domestic quarrels; the superior spirit and discipline of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused; and their cautious policy observed the balance of power, lest the preponderance of any rival state should render their aid less important and their service less profitable. Their first asylum was a strong camp in the depth of the marshes of Campania; but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the duke of Naples with a more plentiful and permanent seat. Eight miles from his Founda residence, as a bulwark against Capua, the town of Aversa was Aversa. built and fortified for their use; 23 and they enjoyed as their own [1080] the corn and fruits, the meadows and groves, of that fertile district. The report of their success attracted every year new swarms of pilgrims and soldiers; the poor were urged by necessity; the rich were excited by hope; and the brave and active spirits of Normandy were impatient of ease and ambitious of The independent standard of Aversa afforded shelter and encouragement to the outlaws of the province, to every fugitive who had escaped from the injustice or justice of his superiors; and these foreign associates were quickly assimilated in manners and language to the Gallic colony. The first leader of the Normans was count Rainulf; and, in the origin of society, pre-eminence of rank is the reward and the proof of superior merit.24 renown. 25 [The settlement was assigned to Rainulf-one of Rudolph's brothers-by Duke Sergius IV. of Naples. Aversa was founded in 1030 (Heinemann, op. cit., p. 58, note 2). Rainulf married the sister of Sergius, but after her death he deserted the cause of Naples and went over to the interests of the foe, Pandulf of Capua, married his niece and became his vassal,-Aversa being disputed territory between Naples and Capus. But, when the Emperor Conrad visited Southern Italy in 1038, Pandulf was deposed, and the county of Aversa was united with the principality of Salerno. This, as Heinemann observes (p. 69), was a political event of the first importance. The Norman settlement was formally recognized by the Emperor,-taken as it were under the protection of the Western Empire.] 24 See the first book of William Appulus. His words are applicable to every swarm of barbarians and freebooters : A.D. 1029 |