“For he was a most handsome young man, tall and well-made, a most fluent speaker, shrewd in counsel, far-sighted in the planning of things to be done, cheerful and pleasant to everyone, strong and valiant, and fierce in battle.”
Alongside military means and violence, in southern Italy, the Normans employed various strategies to secure their rule, too. These included marital links and alliances, but also the promotion of monasteries. In addition, the Normans pursued a policy of pragmatic tolerance and maintained existing structures. They adopted traditions and adapted to cultural peculiarities. In that way, a comparatively small number of conquerors succeeded in consolidating their rule. After the conquest of Sicily, Roger I (d. 1101) proved himself a sapient and skilful ruler.
Palermo, San Pietro la Bagnara, 1080/1
Marble
Palermo, Galleria regionale della Sicilia di Palazzo Abatellis, Inv. EL SG 34
“The most venerable church of the holy and revered apostles Peter and Paul was completed in the time of the glorious duke Robert and his bride Sikelgaita (δουκὸς Ῥουμβέρτου καὶ Σικελγαίτας) [...].”
A Greek official commissioned this inscription for a church in Palermo. Even after the Norman conquest of Sicily, churches of Greek rite where common in Sicily and Greek remained for a long time the most important language of administration. The inscription mentiones Robert Guiscard as overlord of Palermo as well as his wife Sichelgaita, long after they had left the island for the last time.
Mileto, 1085/1098–1101
Avers: ROQERIVS COMES
Revers: MARIA MATER D(omi)NI
Bronze
Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Münzkabinett, Nr. 18205981 (1);
Stuttgart, Landesmuseum Württemberg, Inv. MK 1949-253 (2)
These coins are some of the few material evidences directly linked to Roger I. The rider on the front can be identified as a Norman warrior by his drop-shaped shield and the typical helmet. The depiction represents the count himself who had these coins minted in Mileto. With a banner over his shoulder Roger is shown as warrior going into battle. The reverse is adorned with an image of the Mother of God.
Recipient’s copy, before the 29th December 1080
Parchment
Rom, Archivio del Pontificio Collegio Greco di Sant’Atanasio, perg. A VI
In this document Roger I announces the foundation of the abbey S. Michele Arcangelo (later SS. Trinità) in Mileto, the capital of his county. The abbey was located closely to the count’s court. Furthermore, Roger appoints the Norman cleric Robert of Grandmesnil as abbot of the new foundation and gives it immunity. He also establishes the abbey as the new location of the family tomb and endows it with numerous estates in Calabria and Sicily.
Mileto, Abbey SS. Trinità, 11th c.
Glass, Ornaments in Grisaille technique
Mileto, Museo Statale di Mileto, Inv. 167
This fragment probably originally belonged to a glass window with figure produced in grisaille which was once slightly higher than a metre. It once decorated the apse of the abbey SS. Trinità. Parts of a male face can still be recognised: an eye with an eyeborw arch, part of the nose and a wrinkled forehead. Because ther are no comparisons known from Calabria it can be assumed that the artist of this glass painting came to Mileto in the retinue of Robert of Grandmesnil.
Mileto, Cathedral, 12th c.
Ceramik mit polychrome Decor, engobe glaze
Mileto, Museo Statale di Mileto, Inv. 102
This ceramic fragment was found near the apsis of the cathedral in Mileto. On it, a painted decoration in form of a knight turning right can be recognised. There are still visible parts of his figure astride on a horse: his legs, the brown body of a horse and the bridle. Visible is also his foot set on a stirrup and the attached straps. The arms and upper body of the knights are lost.
Palermo, 11th c.
Marble
Palermo, Galleria regionale della Sicilia di Palazzo Abatellis, Inv. 5101
„Kufic script“ is one of the oldest calligraphic forms of the Arabic writing. The upper inscription on this pillar represents the basmala with which the Koran also begins and which can be translated as: “in the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate”. The inscription in the pillar’s centre reads „there is no God except for God and Mohammed is his prophet.“ Even under Norman rule Muslim culture and faith in Sicily remained important and many people were still muslims. Muslim artists continued to be employed and their rational, almost undecorated, Fatimid style appreciated.