Semester

Summer

Date of Graduation

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

History

Committee Chair

Kate Staples

Committee Co-Chair

Matthew Vester

Committee Member

Joseph Hodge

Abstract

The Norman invasion of Italy in the eleventh century was a process that required political support and legitimacy for its leaders, the Hauteville dynasty. The members of this dynasty either commissioned or financed three individuals as they wrote three respective histories of the Norman conquest in order to accomplish this legitimation. In these sources, each author took inspiration from the classic works of history and poetry of the Greek and Roman world and applied symbolism and direction from their understanding of medieval Christian theology. In addition, these works catalogued examples of events, people, places, animals, and behavior as exotic objects for the audience. In this way, the authors “educated” their audience about the events of the conquest, miniaturizing what might have felt foreign and frightening into simple categories. The three writers used this technique to ease the many contradictions of their own ideology: the violence of the Normans yet the necessity of their rule, the dominance of Islam in a Christian world, and the Greek character of a Roman Empire. Each source, however, had its own focus and key differences with the others. Through comparison, we can see how the priorities of each author, whether that meant cultural ties, theology, personal priorities, or political endeavors, affected their presentation of history. Their similarities are also significant, as the three sources often corroborated a coherent mythological recounting of the arrival of the Normans and their political ambitions in southern Italy.

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