The Normans During The Period 11th-12th Centuries

The period 11th -12th centuries saw the Normans spread out hither and thither to many parts of the world, different lands and countries. Not like the conquest of England or other invasions, the Normans’ conquest of southern Italy and Sicily shows more ‘Norman Achievements’ compared with other conquests that time. Southern Italy and Sicily were divided land for complex political and religious groups. However, under the rule of Normans, the cultural syncretic of Southern Italy and Sicily was never so apparent . This essay argues how did the Normans deal with different ethnic and religious groups in southern Italy and Sicily?
The period 11th century, Southern Italy was a complex land. Byzantine rule in south and south-east (Apulia and Calabria)
The penalty for such activity is rapid loss of identity; the reward is a large share in the general development of civilization. If the Normans paid the penalty, they also reaped the reward, and they were never more Norman than in adopting the statesmanlike policy of toleration and assimilation which led to their ultimate extinction.
Another factor which made a big role in the interaction between Norman settlers and the indigenous groups in Southern Italy is the marriage strategies. The period 11th century, Normans took intermarriage strategies which considered the role of Normans in political dealing with the relationship to the natives in Southern Italy. Intermarriage between Ranulf (1045) and Robert Guiscard (1085) as a political tool which can be seen as a marriage alliance.
During the time under Robert Guiscard, it is well known that he repudiated Norman wife to marry the princess of Lombard, Sichelgaita, and used connection to ally himself with the Lombard princely family. This caused tensions when conquest of Salerno at 1077. The city of Salerno, controlled by his brother Gisulf. When they met during the battle, Robert tried to make peace with him. But refused by
You should not pay attention to your Norman kinship but to your kinship with me, we who were joined together…
After the death of Robert Guiscard, his territorial dominions proved failure. All the hope now is on Roger Borsa, the son through his marriage with the princess Sichelgaita of Salerno. This was one of the typical marriage alliance between invaders and natives. As we know, the Norman’s numbers emigrated to Southern Italy is much smaller compared to the natives they met. The Normans was tried to distinguish themselves from Lombard indigenous at first, but this distinctions and chaos were gradually disappearing after long period of intermarriage.
In sum, for the Normans conquest of Southern Italy, no one like Roger II himself realized the importance of kingdom’s cultural and customs diversity. He balanced different cultural and political groups and support the mixture of culture and groups in his kingdom:
We order that the laws newly promulgated …should be fully observed by all. Because of the variety of different people subject to our rule, the usages, customs and laws which have existed among them up to now are not abrogated unless what is observed in them is clearly in contradiction to our edicts