Conferences - The conquest of Sicily and southern Italy

The conquest seen by the Normans. Mounds and castles between Normandy and southern Italy: architectures and decorative arts in Haut-Cotentin.
Series of 3 lectures on the conquest of Sicily and southern Italy as viewed by the Normans.

This series of three lectures offers to discover the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily through the perspective of the Normans. It discusses the rise of the Duchy of Normandy, born in the 10th century from the settlement of Danes and Norwegians in Neustria, and the political troubles that marked the 11th century around the succession of Richard III, Robert the Magnificent, and William the Conqueror.

In this context, political rivalries, population growth, and lack of land push many Normans to head toward the Mezzogiorno. Initially mercenaries in the service of the Lombards and Byzantines, they gradually settle in southern Italy. Among them are Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Hauteville, who become the main architects of the Norman expansion in the Mediterranean.

Starting in 1061, Roger I undertakes the conquest of Sicily, which is completed in 1091. Taking advantage of the weakening of the Kalbid emirate, he establishes his power from Mileto in Calabria and organizes the territory by creating fortresses, cathedrals, and religious establishments. His actions contribute to the formation of a durable Norman state, precursor to the Regnum of the Hautevilles in the 12th century.

The lectures also address the role of Norman exiles in this conquest, notably that of Robert de Grandmesnil, former abbot of Saint-Évroult-en-Ouche and later abbot of Sainte-Euphémie. His influence in the development of Latin monasticism in Sicily and Calabria accompanies the policy of control and settlement led by Roger I.

Through the pathways of William the Conqueror, victor of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and Roger I of Hauteville, conqueror of Sicily, this cycle highlights the exchanges, migrations, and ambitions that shape the Norman expansion between Northern Europe and the Mediterranean in the 11th century.

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