Chapter I: Muscle of the South - Part I
Chapter I
Muscle of the South
Few have not heard of the Normans. Their footprint on history is both large and important. The death of King Edward the Confessor of England on January 5th, 1066, would lay the foundations for one of the most significant power struggles Europe had ever seen. Three men claimed the crown of England: Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex; Harald III Hardraade, King of Norway; William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy. In a swift and brutal war, Hardraade was killed by the Saxons at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, struck in the throat with an arrow. He was followed by Harold Godwinson, who had been officially crowned King of England as Harold II earlier that year, also killed by an arrow, this time to the eye
[1], at the hands of William. The Duke was then crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey on Christmas day, 1066. In a war that had taken less than a year, two monarchs lie dead on the fields of battle, Hardraade taking the long Scandinavian Viking age, which had for so long plagued Europe. The consequences of the war, despite its own short length, were profound and altered the face of Europe in a way that would reverberate for centuries. So great were these changes that this year, 1066, has often been regarded as a major turning point in history as a whole, and is often hailed, for few other conceivable reasons
[2], as the dawn of the medieval age.
However, amidst the huge events happening in northern Europe, one could easily forget that William had motives coming from much further south. Long before there were any designs made by the Normans for the conquest of England, the Normans had been staging a much more interesting and difficult invasion, though this term is more difficult to use in circumstances that shall become clear, of southern Italy. Their presence in southern Italy for several decades had left a lasting impression on the region, and their success in acquiring land, riches, power and influence whilst building a complex, cosmopolitan and potent power base; and the constant interest that the Pope and Emperors of both East and West placed in them, had not gone unnoticed to the young Duke back in Normandy, or indeed Northern Europe as a whole. Many of the tactics that the Normans employed in southern Italy would both noted and copied by William during and after his successful conquest of England. And, indeed, the simple fact that there were possibly Normans, many of them no more than lowly knights, holding more power than the Duchy they had left may well have been a motive for William’s invasion of England, purely out of pride. Added to this, the staggering success of but a few Norman knights in a large and, most considered, ungovernable region of the world showed William that the Normans had incredible qualities of both conquest and governance, and that they could manage, and deserved, more than the paltry Duchy could offer.
But who are these mysterious warriors, southern conquerors that were the cause, directly or indirectly, of so much important political upheaval during the 11th Century? How had they forged their own realm out of one of the most politically unstable regions in Europe, made themselves rich men and powerful rulers, and spurred on one of the most important conquests of history? And why, for heaven’s sake why, so many of their adversaries asked, were Normans in southern Italy in the first place? Why had these unwelcome warriors, respected but mistrusted and hated by all around them, travelled half way across Europe to forge a Kingdom?
Notes:
1 – This has been a long debated fact. The Bayeux Tapestry, the main source of information about the Battle of Hastings, does not make it clear. Either Harold was killed by an arrow to the eye or was ridden down by a mounted Knight. The former story is more popular.
2 – Europe was, otherwise, in a quiet period during 1066. No other events of note took place. All the Chroniclers, at least, were focussed on the events in England.
