The Age of Robert Guiscard. Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest.

Longman (Pearson Education), Harlow (...), 2000. XII,329p. Paperback. ?G.A. Loud has produced a valuable resource for scholars and students interested in southern Italy and sicily at the time of the Norman conquest. Based on years of archival research and an intimate knowledge of the sources, The Age of Robert Guiscard provides a detailed description of the conquest itself, based on the careers of the three chief protagonists, Richard of Capua, Robert Guiscard, and Roger I of Sicily, as well as a careful exegesis of the chronicles that narrate the conquest. Chapter 1 (?) includes detailed discussions of the political history of Byzantine and Lombard regions (?) and includes a short section on ?society?, in which the author briefly discusses the economy and the religion and ethnic diversity characteristic of southern Italy. (?) Chapter 2 (?) provides an excellent synthesis of the conflicting historical accounts of the Normans? arrival. By delineating certain themes common to all the sources, the author attempts to reconcile the contradictions and give a plausible explanation for the Norman migration to Italy. (?) Chapter 3 narrates the conquest of the mainland, tracing how the Normans went from being mercenaries to rulers in their own right. Once again Loud demonstrates his mastery over the source material (?). In chapter 4 the author focuses on the conquest of Sicily by Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger, again providing a thorough narrative of the events. (?) Chapter 5 examines the volatile relationship between the Normans and the paps as well as Robert Guiscard?s ambitions in Byzantine territories. The chapter begins with careful analysis of the oath of Melfi in 1059, in which the author insists on viewing the oath within a contemporary framework rather than from the perspective of a later time. (?) Chapter 6 examines the aristocracy, the church, and ethnicity. Loud discusses the limitations of Robert Guiscard?s state building, seen in the fragmentation of his duchy and the emergence of aristocratic particularism after his death. (?) According to Loud, the Norman takeover of southern Italy was more an infiltration than a conquest since it took many years and included only a small number of individuals who quickly assimilated into southern Italian society. In this chapter Loud also places developments in southern Italy within a larger European framework, stressing how similar southern Italy was to other areas in Latin Christendom in its economic expansion and church reform. (?) G.A. Loud?s book provides a careful reconstruction of the events surrounding the Norman takeover of southern Italy. The author has an excellent eye for detail and offers a solid and exhaustive political narrative based almost solely on primary sources. The book is clearly the product of years of research and work.? (VALERIE RAMSEYER in Speculum, 2002, pp.584-586).