Norman Italy

Whilst historians often regard the Norman Kingdom of Sicily as centralised and administratively advanced, County and Nobility in Norman Italy counters this traditional interpretation; far from centralised and streamlined, this book reveals how the genesis and social structures of the kingdom were constantly fraught between the forces of royal power and a re-invented local aristocracy. The result of thorough research conducted on the vast source material for the history of this fascinating twelfth-century world, this book sheds important new light on medieval Italy.

This article analyzes how the neighbors of the Byzantines, the Lombards (who occupied a portion of southern Italy), and the Normans (who put an end to Byzantine rule in southern Italy in 1071), described their common adversary. The examination of the features that the chroniclers living in early medieval southern Italy attributed to the Byzantines demonstrates that, at least for this part of Europe, there is evidence of strong hostility to Byzantium before the twelfth century, a period traditionally perceived as crucial for the deterioration of relations between Westerners and Constantinople.

The Norman Kingdom of Sicily is reputed to be a haven of peaceful coexistence of cultures and a paragon of Christian religious tolerance in Medieval Europe. Many scholarly works discussing tolerance in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily focus on Muslims under Norman rule. The kings’ favorable attitude toward Muslims is most often quoted as proof of their religious tolerance, while Ibn Jubair, a traveler from Spain, reveals feelings of humiliation and slavery of Muslims. In this article, I have examined how the status of Muslims changed in a changing political situation, and concluded that the relationship between Normans and Muslims were not so simple. Opposition could be created by not only religion but also other factors. The difference in religion or cultural background did not serve as a clear line of confrontation, and those who were at the center of power in the Norman kingdom of Sicily had various cultural backgrounds. Thus, we cannot simply regard the Normans as the majority in the kingdom, or see the Normans’ stance towards Muslims as being «religious tolerance ».

Nell'area NE della città di Venosa 1 si colloca il sito in cui furono costruiti i due edifi ci ecclesiastici, presenta fasi di occupazione risalenti ai primi anni di vita della colonia Latina, e che proseguono senza soluzione di continuità almeno fi no al V-VI secolo d. C., dando modo di osservare un vero e proprio palinsesto insediativo 2 [ ].

The ceilings of the Cappella Palatina were decorated by Muslim artists who probably trained in Fāṭimid Egypt before coming to Norman Palermo in circa 1140. Most of the figural scenes belong to the traditional Islamic palatial cycle. Less than 10% of them have been attributed to a variety of Christian sources, and were presumably commissioned by the Norman patron or his agents. After a detailed introduction on the ceiling and its paintings, four groups of Christian scenes, derived principally from Romanesque models, are discussed — King David and Nabī Daʾūd; Daniel and Dāniyāl; St Theodore, St George and "The Marvellous combat between horseman and dragon"; and "Samson as super-model". Their likely impact is imagined upon the newly arrived Muslim artists, as they were set to work alongside other immigrant artisans to create the visual aspect of King Roger’s new monarchy, the most characteristic feature of which was the deliberate and polemical juxtaposition of the three cultures of his kingdom — Arabic, Greek and Latin.

L’edizione del brebion della Metropoli di Reggio, curata da
A. Guillou, nel quale tutte le cifre sono conteggiate in
tarì aurei, ha portato storici e numismatici a considerare
come dato acquisito la circolazione di moneta araba
aurea nella Calabria bizantina. Analizzando tutti i dati a
nostra disposizione, cercheremo di dimostrare come la
supposta circolazione di moneta araba trova come unico
sostegno proprio la menzione di tarì nel brebion, mentre
mancano esemplari rinvenuti nella regione con coordinate
di ritrovamento certe.

Per il settantesimo compleanno di Horst Enzensberger colleghi, amici e allievi hanno unito in questo volume una serie di contributi che testimoniano l'affetto e la stima nei confronti dello storico bavarese. Gli argomenti affrontati si spostano dalla storia Siciliana  fino alla Germania, passando per le regioni centrali e settentrionali dell'Italia, ricoprono un arco cronologico che parte dal tardo antico e si conclude nell'età contemporanea. La moltitudine di tematiche affrontate in questo volume sono originate proprio dalla stessa vastità di interessi che ha contraddistinto Horst Enzensberger come storico, capace di spingere le sue competenze tecniche sino agli argomenti più moderni.

Die Festschrift zum 70. Geburtstag von Horst Enzensberger greift mit ihren Beiträgen die Forschungsgebiete des Jubilars auf. Das Spektrum reicht von der spätantiken Geschichte Italiens bis zur deutschen Mittelalterforschung im 20. Jahrhundert. Die Beiträge geben Einblick in die vielfältigen kulturellen Einflüsse und Überlagerungen auf Sizilien, in die Geschichte religiöser Orden, Praktiken und kirchlicher Strukturen sowie in die kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen Europas. Besonders hervorgehoben werden dabei die Kontakte zwischen der italienischen Halbinsel und Mitteleuropa

All the articles united in this volume on the occasion of Horst Enzensberger’s 70th anniversary refer to his manifold fields of research. The issues range from the late Antiquity in Italy to German medieval studies in the 20th century. The articles provide an insight into varied cultural influences and interactions in Sicily, into the history of religious orders, practices and ecclesiastical structures as well as into Europe’s military conflicts. Particular attention is drawn to the contacts between the Italian peninsula and Central Europe

Il tema delle cripte di età normanna - presente in Calabria con esempi di strutture a colonne (Gerace, Scalea Umbriatico) e strutture a pilastri (San Marco Argentano) - fa sì che la produzione architettonica calabrese si possa rapportare con quella europea, mentre la circostanza che vede nelle cripte a colonne l'impego di spolia, allinea questi esempi ad altri molto numerosi presenti in tutte le regioni italiane.

Il tema aleramico tra erudizione e storiografia di interesse siciliano (secoli XVI-XX) 1. Gli Aleramici nell'erudizione siciliana tra Cinquecento e Settecento: da Tommaso Fazello a Giovanni Evangelista Di Blasi Questo contributo mira a delineare un profilo critico e descrittivo degli itinerari storiografici sugli Aleramici di Sicilia, discendenti dell'alta aristocrazia militare e funzionariale subalpina di matrice franca, traslati nell'isola sullo scorcio dell'XI secolo nel solco della conquista normanna che annullò i residui potentati islamici scaturiti dalla dissoluzione dell'emirato kalbita. 1 Rielaboriamo a tal fine parte degli argomenti trattati nella nostra tesi di laurea, che rileggeva a tappeto tutti gli aspetti dell'esperienza aleramica nella realtà isolana del XII secolo. 2 Nella storiografia siciliana gli albori di una "questione aleramica" si palesano nel terzo volume della Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia di Michele Amari, licenziato alle stampe nel 1868 per i tipi dell'editore fiorentino Le Monnier. Solo nel corso del Novecento, però, prende forma un composito carosello di studi, i più interessanti dei quali ascrivibili al tema dei poteri feudo-signorili riguardati come soggetti organizzatori o responsabili di

Nel corso dell’indagine condotta presso numerosi archivi italiani sono stati rinvenuti nuovi documenti riguardanti la storia dell’abbazia beneventana di S. Sofia, una delle fondazioni monastiche più importanti dell’Italia meridionale. È stato così possibile integrare i generici riferimenti alla commenda abbaziale, iniziata secondo una secolare tradizione storiografica nel 1455 con la concessione del beneficio a Rodrigo Borgia, e stabilire una successione temporale degli abati commendatari sulla base di documenti datati. Importanti notizie sono poi emerse in relazione sia alle vicende che alla fine del Settecento hanno visto l’abbazia parte in causa nel procedimento discusso davanti alla Curia del Cappellano Maggiore di Napoli per la dichiarazione di regio patronato, sia agli avvenimenti che hanno portato nei primi decenni dell’Ottocento, alla sua esclusione dal ‘piano di restituzione’ elaborato dall’arcivescovo della città e da papa Pio VII al momento della restaurazione del governo pontificio.

During the studies conducted in several Italian archives, I found new documents concerning the history of the Benevento Abbey of S. Sofia, one of the most important monastic foundations in Southern Italy. It was thus possible to integrate the generic references to the abbey commendation, which began according to a centuries-old historiographic tradition in 1455 with the concession of the benefit to Rodrigo Borgia, and to establish a temporal succession of the commendatory abbots. Important informations then emerged in relation both to the events that at the end of the eighteenth century saw the abbey involved in the proceedings discussed before the Curia of the Cappellano Maggiore of Naples for the declaration of royal patronage, and to the events that led in the first decades of the nineteenth century to its exclusion from the 'restitution plan' drawn up by the archbishop of the city and by Pope Pius VII at the time of the restoration of the papal government.

BarBara visentin, Identità signorili e sistemi di gestione tra IX e XII secolo. Le terre del Castrum Iufuni e la Trinità di Cava lamia HaDDa, Il bassorilievo di Mahdiya. Vicende storico-artistiche tra Ziridi e Normanni nel Mediterraneo medievale (XI-XII sec.) mario r. ZeccHino, Recenti ritrovamenti di monete medievali in Irpinia Benoît Grévin, Un dictator peut en cacher un autre… À propos de la lettre «Expectantes expectavimus-noscitis emanasse» et de la jeunesse de Pierre de la Vigne teoFilo De anGelis, Note propedeutiche all'edizione del libro VI del cosiddetto Epistolario di Pier della Vigna Fulvio Delle Donne, Su un codice stravagante del cosiddetto Epistolario di Pier della Vigna: Innsbruck, Universitäts-bibliothek, 400 rosanna lamBoGlia, Aspetti della guerra del Vespro: il biennio 1296-1298 nella prospettiva di Federico III, re di Sicilia, e di Ruggero di Lauria Giovanni coPPola -carmine meGna, Due castelli medievali in terra d'Irpinia: Avella e Summonte Recensioni e schede Nel febbraio del 1160 il magister Gaugellus della città di Matera si presentò di fronte ai giudici Michele e Maraldicio della stessa città e al magister Marco per esprimere la sua volontà di donare se stesso e tutti suoi beni alla chiesa di S. Agata, nelle mani del sacerdote Ursone, in quel momento eiusdem ecclesie prior. Il donatore ritenne però necessario aggiungere che la sua donazione avveniva voluntate et precepto domini Melie Sclavide regiy comestabulis dominorum amiratorum sororiy et benefactoris magnifici, qui eandem suam ecclesiam ad laudem et gloriam divini nominis suis opibus ordinavit. Apprendiamo quindi che la donazione era avvenuta su espressa sollecitazione di Melia (o Melo) Sclavide (o de Sclavo), a sua volta fondatore della chiesa di S. Agata, istituzione destinataria della nuova donazione.

The introduction describes the context around Desiderius' reform, reaching from the conflict between Byzantium and Rome during Ottonic times (late 10th century) to the establishment of Greek monastic centres in Southern Italy during the Norman reign of the 12th century. The first part about the perspective of the reform is dedicated to the experiments of Beneventan cantors dealing with certain genres and tonal concepts of Italo-Byzantine chant, as they can be studied in manuscripts written for a reform of Beneventan chant. The second part is an analysis of the akrosticha dedicated to St. Benedict composed about a complex canon of the Heirmologion by Nilus the Younger (S. Nilo da Rossano), when he introduced his community at Montecassino during the 980s.

Drawing attention to the challenges of cultivating a fledgling maritime state in a world that prized precedent and tradition, this study examines various strategies used by early Norman rulers - but above all Roger II (r. 1112-1154) - to establish legitimacy and security in their new home from approximately 1071 to the end of Roger’s reign. While acknowledging that the Normans assimilated to their new geographic and cultural contexts, it also demonstrates that they retained a strong western focus. Behind the mélange that was the early Norman state were very occidental interests and a number of the elements of Norman assimilation, as a few scholars have argued, were very likely adopted simply to help cultivate the Normans’ authority in a land of enormous diversity. Indeed, as the Normans worked to install themselves as legitimate rulers, they drew on various sources of authority, some indigenous and others at a distance.

Part I explores how Roger II’s three marriages tied him to the legacy of Alfonso VI of León-Castile, a protagonist of Spain’s Reconquista famed for recapturing Toledo in 1085, as well as to members of the powerful House of Burgundy and the House of Rethel, whose scions ruled the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem in the twelfth century. The latter two brides also placed Roger in the family trees of storied kings and emperors such as Hugh Capet and Charlemagne, partially compensating for his own lack of illustrious lineage.

Part II looks at how early Norman rulers such as Robert Guiscard and his son, Bohemond of Antioch, harnessed the potential in a preexisting cult to St. Nicholas in Bari to address their own concerns as well as those of their subjects and travelers who visited from more distant lands. Roger II would also demonstrate a strong devotion to the saint, though likely for different reasons as he dealt with the challenges of ruling non-contiguous lands separated by an unpredictable sea.

Part III completes the study by looking both eastward and westward as it closely examines various elements of what is perhaps the best-known mosaic of the Norman period, the image of Roger II being crowned by Christ in the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio (La Martorana). It argues that the work is encoded with the king’s aspirations as he worked to forge a closer alliance with France while he contemplated a coup against the Byzantine Empire, the very civilization the mosaic appears to celebrate. Seemingly straightforward cultural residue from the kingdom – in this case, art that seems to be simple reflections of Byzantine models - must be closely examined for departures from the standards of the day because it is often here where the evidence speaks most powerfully.

9 Bougard, Noyé, Hesse 1988, 520-528. 10 Le indagini condotte nei pressi del muro di cinta della città sono state dirette da M.me F. Piponnier nel corso delle campagne di scavo 1994-1997. 2. -Indagine geoelettrica dellʼabitato di Vaccarizza. Una prima informazione di queste indagini è riportata in Bougard, Noyé, Hesse 1988, 520-528.

Latin traditions in southern Italy, especially Beneventan and Norman chant traditions, followed in chant as well as in architecture Byzantine prototypes. Although the historical imagination of the Orthodox Archdiocese Italy and Malta associates the Norman conquest of Byzantine Apulia with the expulsion of Greek traditions, Greek monastic centres were established under Norman rule and Franconorman patrons founded and supported also Greek monasteries, while the process of Latinization continued very slowly.

Though the relationship between Greek and Latin Christians was ambiguous and complex, the richness of local traditions in southern Italy is the result of a long period of exchange. In a comparative study I would like to give some examples of chant and sacral architecture, which may illustrate, how the different traditions could flourish by an exchange in craftship, in science, and in the art of chant.

The main subject of this essay is the conversion of Bari from a Greek into a Latin centre of Christianity. This town located in central Apulia, played a central role in the medieval history of southern Italy, because it was the capital of the Byzantine catepanate which ruled over the three Byzantine provinces (themata) including Calabria, Basilicata and Campania. After the Norman conquest of the catepanate Bari could still hold a key position, the reliquaries of S. Nicola were transferred from Myra in Lycia and turned the capital of Byzantine Italy into a centre of Eastern and Western pilgrimage.

After having examined the historiography of the Norman administration and the framework for analysis of earlier scholars which greatly affected the studies of later scholars, I show my understanding of the Norman administration summarized as follows. The administrative organization of the kingdom was based on the existing administrative institutions of the former rulers, or was created to control the existing different offices. The boundaries of the former duchies and principalities were made use of as the largest of their administrative units by the Norman rulers. The core regional unit of administration was the former county of Calabria and Sicily. It had a more solid and cohesive administration, based on the surviving institutions and divisions of the Muslim rulers. This area was controlled by the king more closely than any other area. The peninsula north of Calabria had a different administration. The king tried to control this area through his local officials like chamberlains and justiciars, but to a large extent his vassals were the most important medium to control the inhabitants here. The time lag in absorbing different regions, each of which had its political and historical integrity, made it difficult to organize a homogeneous administrative system over the whole kingdom, and, as a result, led to the coexistence of different administrative systems. Although some scholars have seen in this kingdom an advanced centralization of government, and even the origin of modern states, our study suggests that its administrative system was still a mixture of different systems.

This paper examines comparatively the naming patterns of the Normans of southern Italy and the Latins of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem—two regions that were targets of Western Latin conquest and migration. Based on the premise that naming
preferences reveal cultural, social, and religious attitudes, recent studies of the anthroponymic patterns of medieval European and Mediterranean regions aim at exploring the cultural ties, influences, and barriers between different religious and social groups, and the interaction between immigration/colonization and naming patterns.
This study asks whether the evidence from the name-giving practices of the settlers bears out the similarities or the differences between these immigrant groups, and aims to contribute indirectly to the question of the groups’ internal identity. The comparative analysis reveals the uniqueness of each group and adds a perspective to the question of the cultural identity of these groups, which has not hitherto been examined in a comparative and quantitative manner.

In our bachelor work „The Normans in southern Italy in the eleventh century” we have set as an objective the analysis of the arrival of the Normans to the south of the Apennine Peninsula and the siege of the last Byzantine possession of this teritory, city of Bari by the duke Robert Guiscard. The work was divided into five chapters, in which we progress from the description of the sources used by us, throught a description of the Normans and their arrival in southern Italy, where we focused mainly on house Hauteville, to the siege of Bari in the years 1068-1071. In analyzing these events we are using period sources of three chroniclers from the southern Italy, which are complemented with the modern secondary literature dedicated to this subject.

The monograph (text in Greek language) examines in depth the life, military career and especially the uprising ("stasis") of the Norman (some claim Frank) mercenary commander of the Byzantine imperial army Ursel (or Roussel) de Bailleul, also known as "Ursellus de Ballione" (in Latin), "Roscelin" and "Roskelin". In medieval Greek narrative texts Ursel's name was attributed as "Ρουσέλιος" or "Ουρσέλιος" or "Ρωσέλης ο Φράγγος" and not as "Φραγγόπωλος" (= "Son of Frank"), as many modern researchers claim incorrectly. Besides Ursel's life and actions, the book also studies the internal political and military situation of the Byzantine Empire during the crucial period of the mid-11th century AD.

From what we know, Ursel served initially under the leaders of the Norman Hauteville family during their conquest campaigns in the Southern part of the Italian peninsula and in Sicily. According to Gaufredus Malaterra, he took part under the command of Roger de Hauteville in the battle of Cerami (Sicily, June 1063 AD) against the Saracens (i.e. Zirid Arabs), where he fought with bravery. Soon after that though, he chose to enlist in the ranks of the contemporary Byzantine army; for a time he served in the Balkan peninsula as an imperial mercenary officer. According to the inscription of his preserved seal, he held the Byzantine title of "vestes" (the reverse seal's invocation to Virgin Mary reads "Θεοτόκε βοήθει τω σω δούλω Ουρσελίω βέστη τω Φράγγω" / "Mother of God protect your servant vestes Ursel the Frank").

Some years later, Ursel took active part in the campaign, that led to the famous battle of Manzikert (26 August 1071 AD) between the Byzantine army, led by the emperor Romanos IV Diogenes, and the Seljuk army of sultan Alp Arslan; he did not fight in the battle itself though, as his cavalry force was obliged to withdraw from nearby Chliat and retreat to the West suffering casualties under strong enemy pressure. For his failure to reunite and reinforce the forces of Romanos, before the critical main clash of the two armies in Manzikert, Ursel was accused -rather incorrectly in our opinion- of cowardice and betrayal.

After the dethronement and the blinding of of Romanos IV (1072), Ursel continued to serve his successor, emperor Michael VII Doukas (1071-1078). He then decided though to betray the Byzantines (1073) and take advantage of the chaotic conditions that prevailed in Asia Minor (Anatolia) after the battle of Manzikert (intra-Byzantine conflicts, Turkish incursions, population fleeing etc.). Apparently, Ursel's main aim between 1073-1076 was the foundation of a personal hegemony within the limits of the same geographical region (perhaps a new small "Normandy", as the Hautevilles managed to create in Southern Italy). After defeating the Byzantines in the battle of Zombos bridge (in Sangarios river), he marched until the Asian suburbs of Constantinople, where he sacked Chrysopolis; he then even tried to impose his own candidate for the imperial throne (the captured Caesar John Doukas, uncle of Michael VII). In his efforts, Ursel was supported primarily by the Frankish and Norman knights and soldiers that the Byzantine government had already posted in Asia Minor, especially in the Armeniakon thema and the local city of Amaseia, where the Norman leader was apparently popular (primarily because of fear, according to Byzantine writers). The Byzantine government had to negotiate then with Turkish emirs (i.e. Artuch and Tutach), who had infiltrate with their forces in the area of Bithynia; Michael Doukas' regime also tried to secure the support of the "Great Seljuk" sultan Malik Shah, in order to suppress the movement of Ursel. The Turks managed to defeat the numerically inferior army of Ursel and captured the Norman leader; soon after that though the latter managed to escape. Ursel found then refuge, along with his family, in the Armeniakon, where he had additional trusted soldiers as local guards. Finally, the talented young general (and future emperor) Alexios I Komnenos achieved Ursel's arrest in Amaseia and took him as a captive to the Byzantine capital.

In our opinion, the rebellion and actions of Ursel has been of key importance for the collapse of imperial control in the interior of Asia Minor after 1073 and the establishment of incoming Turkish tribes within the area. It also prevented for three years (i.e. 1073-1076) the immediate communications of Constantinople with the vast Eastern border and neighboring areas of the Empire (extending from Cappadocia and Cilicia to Northern Syria, Northern Mesopotamia and Western Pontus); that situation led -more or less- to the loss of central imperial control over the local (Armenian and other) officers and forces and -consequently- of the above geographical area. In a sense, Ursel's movement heralded subsequent political and military developments (i.e. the arrival of the Western Crusaders and its implications) in the Middle East.

Gastalds 998, Lucera, Nord de la Pouille, depuis un siècle territoire frontalier entre le catépanat byzantin (chef-lieu Bari) et les principautés lombardes 2 . Les gastalds Polcari, Jean, Ilduini et Octavien vendent une maison à Grégoire, abbé du monastère Sainte-Sophie de Bénévent. Cette maison avait appartenu au prêtre Pierre, homme libre, mort sans héritier. Les gastalds auraient employé les trois sous d'or tirés de cette vente pour leurs besoins personnels et pour améliorer leur palais à Lucera (ad opus nostrum et perfectionem nostri palatii) 3 .

Catania 2011 © Tutti i diritti riservati. È vietata la riproduzione di testi ed illustrazioni senza il permesso scritto dell'Editore, dei Curatori, del Responsabile scientifico del Progetto e degli Autori. Ricerche di archeologia classica e post-classica, vol. I priolo roMana, tarDo roMana e MeDievale Documenti, paesaggi, cultura materiale 416 pp., ill. 17 x 24 cm. ISBN: 978-88-89375-07-5 I.

BarBara visentin, Identità signorili e sistemi di gestione tra IX e XII secolo. Le terre del Castrum Iufuni e la Trinità di Cava lamia HaDDa, Il bassorilievo di Mahdiya. Vicende storico-artistiche tra Ziridi e Normanni nel Mediterraneo medievale (XI-XII sec.) mario r. ZeccHino, Recenti ritrovamenti di monete medievali in Irpinia Benoît Grévin, Un dictator peut en cacher un autre… À propos de la lettre «Expectantes expectavimus-noscitis emanasse» et de la jeunesse de Pierre de la Vigne teoFilo De anGelis, Note propedeutiche all'edizione del libro VI del cosiddetto Epistolario di Pier della Vigna Fulvio Delle Donne, Su un codice stravagante del cosiddetto Epistolario di Pier della Vigna: Innsbruck, Universitäts-bibliothek, 400 rosanna lamBoGlia, Aspetti della guerra del Vespro: il biennio 1296-1298 nella prospettiva di Federico III, re di Sicilia, e di Ruggero di Lauria Giovanni coPPola -carmine meGna, Due castelli medievali in terra d'Irpinia: Avella e Summonte Recensioni e schede 7 19 33 59 69 89 105 113 121 153 179 arnos 3 (2012) sommario LE ISCRIZIONI DEL MAUSOLEO DI BOEMONDO D'ALTAVILLA A CANOSA

In this article I have elucidated that familiares regis were not simple royal household members as has been understood before, but members of the royal inner council which decided the state policy in the latter half of the twelfth century. This new understanding is now commonly accepted by scholars. Existence of the inner council and its importance in royal policy changes a picture of kingship and central power of the kingdom of Sicily. This article prompted studies of familiares regis in other regions from a comparative viewpoint.

This article investigates the development of land registry traditions in the medieval Mediterranean by examining a distinctive aspect of Latin, Greek and Arabic formularies used in boundary clauses. The paper makes particular reference to Islamic and Norman Sicily. The argument begins by recalling that the archetypal way of defining limits according to Classical Roman land surveyors was to begin ab oriente. Many practices from Antiquity were discontinued in the Latin West, but the idea of starting with or from the east endured in many cases where boundaries were assigned cardinal directions. In the Byzantine Empire, the ‘Roman’ model was prescribed and emulated by Greek surveyors and scribes too. But in the Arab-Muslim Mediterranean, lands were defined with the southern limit first. This contrast forms the basis of a typology that can be tested against charter evidence in frontier zones – for example, in twelfth-century Sicily, which had been under Byzantine, Muslim and Norman rulers. It concludes that, under the Normans, private documents drawn up in Arabic began mainly with the southern limit following the ‘Islamic’ model. However, Arabic descriptions of crown lands started mainly in the ‘Romano-Byzantine’ way. These findings offer a higher resolution view of early Norman governance and suggest that such boundary definitions of the royal chancery could not have been based on older ones written in the Islamic period.

The paper discusses the research possibilities created both by document digitalisation and relational sociology for the study and usage of Italo-Norman charters. Following the footsteps of scholars who have already edited, organised, and classified the documentary heritage for the study of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily (codices and cartularia, diplomatic critiques, critical editions, and a handful of local prosopographies), I evaluate here how data collection can be conducted having in mind a socio-relational method. I argue here that the possibility to access a large number of documents—thanks to all the palaeographical and diplomatic work already done—and the opportunity to process them digitally significantly change the way social and political historians (as well as sociologists and political scientists) make use of diplomatic material. The paper accordingly indicates the steps followed in order to extract sociologically relevant relational data from medieval charters. I also provide examples of results obtained so far by examining documents related to the upper aristocracy of the kingdom of Sicily in the twelfth century. The database constructed from the Italo-Norman charters studied has made it possible to organise the prosopographical and diplomatic information, found in a large but scattered corpora of documents, into a series of sociomatrices. This information can thus be visualised as a series of connected systems, and parsed through network analytical tools. I come to the conclusion that relational sociology is not only a pertinent theoretical approach, but also a methodological guideline that helps to relieve the study of social structures as documented in medieval charters from constraints determined by the conceptualisation of its results as lists of attributes or one-dimensional sequences of events.