The kingdom of Sicily did not form the southern limit of the Norman world. On the contrary, it merely served as a springboard into the Mediterranean region. Soon after the arrival of the Normans in southern Italy, the Byzantines became their enemies whom they ultimately drove out of southern Italy. Some years later, Norman ambitions had grown. They were now aiming for the core of the Byzantine empire. However, Robert Guiscard’s campaign of conquest ended with his death. The subsequent relationship between Normans and Byzantium remained ambivalent, oscillating between imitation, rapprochement, and antagonism. After the start of the Crusades, centres of conflict also developed in the Levant. The conquest of Antioch and the establishment of the Norman principality by Bohemond of Taranto (d. 1111) constituted a violation of Byzantine claims. Despite this, the principality of Antioch remained in existence until 1268. From Sicily, the Normans also looked to the Southern Mediterranean and the coast of Northern Africa (Ifrîqiya), where wealthy trade centres beckoned. The expansion to the South began under the rule of Roger II. The conquest of Malta was followed by the occupation of coastal towns of Ifrîqiya as well as the control over some coastal sections and offshore islands. However, this rule did not last and was mainly indirect in nature.
Barletta, from the destroyed church of S. Maria of Nazareth, end of the 12th c.
Stone
Barletta, Museo Civico-Castello, Inv. 74
The sculpture once belonged to a portal or window of the Old Church of Nazareth in Barletta. Members of the local Norman elite donated the church to the canons of Nazareth in 1158. Under Norman rule, artistic exchange between southern Italy and the Holy Land intensified. This relief has several features that were influenced by the art of the Crusader states. They include the pronounced emphasis of the physical features, for which there are only few contemporary comparisons in Apulia.