Download or read book The Normans in the South 1016 1130 written by John Julius Norwich and published by London : Longmans. This book was released on 1967 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about the 'other' Norman Conquest. It is the story of Robert Guiscard, perhaps the most extraordinary European adventurer between Caesar and Napoleon. In one year, 1084, he had both the Eastern and Western Emperors retreating before him and one of the most formidable of medieval Popes in his power. It is also the story of his brother Roger, thanks to whom he conquered Sicily from the Saracens; and of Roger's descendants, notably his son Roger II, who converted his father's achievement into a cosmopolitan and cultivated kingdom whose surviving monuments still dazzle us today. The Normans in the South is the first of two volumes that recount the dazzling story of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. The second volume The Kingdom of the Sun is also being reissued in Faber Finds. 'Diligence, narrative skill, and a scholarship fired by enthusiasm' Lord Kinross, Sunday Telegraph 'I found the book very enjoyable indeed. It is beautifully written.' Nancy Mitford
Download or read book The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily written by Gordon S. Brown and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Normans originally came to Italy and Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries looking for adventure or a livelihood, but once there, found opportunity for fame and fortune. The story of the Norman conquest in Italy and Sicily is indeed one of knights and adventurers, great battles and lowly pillage, opportunism and statesmanship, and crusade and coexistence. This rich and often dramatic study focuses on the eight sons of Tancred of Hauteville, especially Robert Guiscard, who has been called "the most dazzling military ruler between Julius Caesar and Napoleon," and his youngest brother Roger, who conquered Sicily. It discusses how they expanded their lands throughout southern Italy, and then took Sicily from its Muslim rulers. The brothers, often in conflict with each other, challenged both the Papacy and the Byzantine Empire, became the main supporters of the reformed Papacy, and founded a rich, sophisticated kingdom that lasted until the nineteenth century.
Download or read book The Normans in Italy 1016 1194 written by Raffaele D’Amato and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-07-23 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Preceding and simultaneously with the conquest of England by Duke William, other ambitious and aggressive Norman noblemen (notably the Drengot, De Hauteville and Guiscard families) found it prudent to leave Normandy. At first taking mercenary employment with Lombard rulers then fighting the Byzantine Empire in southern Italy, many of these noblemen achieved great victories, acquired rich lands of their own, and perfected a feudal military system that lasted for 200 years. As news of the rich pickings to be had in the south spread in Normandy, they were joined by many other opportunists – typically, younger sons who could not inherit lands at home. Steadily, these Norman noblemen fought their way to local power, at first in Apulia, then across the Adriatic in Albania, and finally in Muslim Sicily, defeating in the process the armies of Byzantium, the German 'Holy Roman Empire', and Islamic regional rulers. Finally, in 1130, Roger II founded a unified kingdom incorporating southern Italy and Sicily, which lasted until the death of Tancred of Lecce in 1194 – though its legacy long outlasted Norman political rule. This beautifully illustrated title explores not only the Norman armies, but the armies of their opponents, with full-colour plates and expert analysis revealing fascinating details about the fighting men of Normandy, Byzantium, the Arab armies and more.
Download or read book The Kingdom in the Sun 1130 1194 written by John Julius Norwich and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2010 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There were two Norman Conquests. John Julius Norwich is the consummate historian of the 'other' one: the conquest of Sicily.When on Christmas Day 1130 Roger de Hauteville was crowned first King of Sicily, the island entered a golden age. Norman and Italian, Greek and Arab, Lombard, Englishman and Jew all contributed to a culture that was as brilliant as it was cosmopolitan; and to an atmosphere of racial and religious toleration unparalleled in Europe. But sixty-four years later, to the day, the sun set on the Sicilian Kingdom. In this second volume of his history (The Normans in the South 1016-1130 is also in Faber Finds) Norwich describes the reigns of the grotesquely misnamed William the Bad and the Good and the bastard Tancred. We read, too, of St Bernard, magnetic but insufferable; of Adrian IV, the only English Pope; of Richard the Lionheart (behaving abominably in Messina); and other notables.This scintillating narrative history is also a superb traveller's guide, listing every Norman building extant on Sicily.
Download or read book Before the Normans written by Barbara M. Kreutz and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2011-06-07 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Histories of medieval Europe have typically ignored southern Italy, looking south only in the Norman period. Yet Southern Italy in the ninth and tenth centuries was a complex and vibrant world that deserves to be better understood. In Before the Normans, Barbara M. Kreutz writes the first modern study in English of the land, political structures, and cultures of southern Italy in the two centuries before the Norman conquests. This was a pan-Meditteranean society, where the Roman past and Lombard-Germanic culture met Byzantine and Islamic civilization, creating a rich and unusual mix.
Download or read book The Norman Kingdom of Sicily written by Donald Matthew and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-07-30 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is an introductory account of the kingdom of Sicily established in 1130 by Roger II, a 'Norman' king, and ruled by Roger, his own son and grandsons until 1194 when the kingdom was conquered by his son-in-law, Henry VI of Hohenstaufen. The period covered does, however, extend from Charles of Anjou, a period roughly as long and as coherent as the 'Norman' monarchy of England between 1066 and 1204. Roger II's difficulties in creating an enduring kingdom needed continuous military effort. Even when these efforts were no longer required, the monarchy had still to learn how to function in lands where traditions of local government were strong. Yet when the monarchy itself faltered, the kingdom did not fall apart. Frederick II, the grandson of Roger II, showed that it could be revived and that his sons could maintain it. The ways in which the monarchy made itself indispensable cannot be traced in detail, but pointers to its success can be seen. The kingdom did not spring full-armed at birth - it took time and experience to hammer it into shape. When at last it looked capable of assuming the leadership of all Italy, its enemies combined to prevent it from doing so with the most profound consequences for Italy, the papacy and the west.
Download or read book Roger of Sicily and the Normans in Lower Italy 1016 1154 written by Edmund Curtis and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Normans in Europe written by Elisabeth Van Houts and published by Manchester University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a selection from the abundant source material generated by the Normans and the peoples they conquered. As this study demonstrates, few other medieval peoples generated historical writing of such quantity and quality. Van Houts takes a wide European perspective on the Normans, assessing and explaining their origin, the Norman expansion and their political and social organisation in the period between c. 900 to c. 1150. The Normans in Europe explores such areas as: the process of assimilation between Scandinavians and Franks and the emergence of Normandy; the internal organisation of the prinicpality with a variety of source materials from chronicles, miracle stories and charters; the roles of women and children in Norman society; the main chronicle sources for the history of the Norman invasion and settlement in Britain; the contacts between the Norman dukes and the territorial princes of France, and the progress of the Normans amongst the settlers in Southern Italy and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
Download or read book The Normans written by David Crouch and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2006-10-15 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first great city to which the Crusaders came in 1089 was Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It was the key to the foundation, survival and ultimate eclipse of the crusading kingdom. The riches and sophistication of the city nevertheless made a lasting impression on the crusaders, and through them on western European culture.
Download or read book The Popes written by John Julius Norwich and published by Arrow. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Julius Norwich examines the oldest continuing institution in the world, tracing the papal line down the centuries from St Peter (traditionally - but by no means historically - the first Pope) to the present. Of the 280-odd holders of the supreme office, some have unquestionably been saints; others have wallowed in unspeakable iniquity. One was said to have been a woman, her sex being revealed only when she improvidently gave birth to a baby during a papal procession. Almost as shocking was Formosus whose murdered corpse was exhumed, clothed in pontifical vestments, propped up on a throne and subjected to trial; or John XII, of whom Gibbon wrote 'his rapes of virgins and widows had deterred the female pilgrims from visiting the shrine of St Peter'. John Julius Norwich brings the story up to date with lively investigations into the anti-semitism of the contemptible Pius XII, the possible murder of John Paul I and the phenomenon of the Polish John Paul II. From the glories of Byzantium to the decay of Rome, from the Albigensian Heresy to controversy within the Church today, "The Popes" is superbly written, witty and revealing.
Download or read book 1066 and All That written by W C Sellar and published by Hassell Street Press. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Download or read book Theodoric the Goth written by Thomas Hodgkin and published by . This book was released on 1891 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Delius and Norway written by Andrew J. Boyle and published by Boydell & Brewer. This book was released on 2017 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frontcover -- Contents -- List of illustrations and tables -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Selected glossary of landscape terms used in place names -- 1 Norway's awakening -- 2 1862-1888: Bradford, Florida and Leipzig -- 3 1888-1889: With Grieg on the heights -- 4 1890-1891: 'C'est de la Norderie' -- 5 1892-1895: Norway lost -- 6 1896: Norway regained -- 7 1897: Front page news -- 8 1898-1902: Unshakeable self-belief -- 9 1903-1907: Breakthrough in Germany and England -- 10 1908-1912: Changes of direction -- 11 1912-1918: High hills, dark forests -- 12 1919-1934: Myth and reality in Lesjaskog -- Appendix I: List of visits to Norway -- Appendix II: Works with Norwegian and Danish texts and associations -- Selected bibliography and archival sources -- Index
Download or read book Sicily written by John Julius Norwich and published by Random House. This book was released on 2015-07-21 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Critically acclaimed author John Julius Norwich weaves the turbulent story of Sicily into a spellbinding narrative that places the island at the crossroads of world history. “Sicily,” said Goethe, “is the key to everything.” It is the largest island in the Mediterranean, the stepping-stone between Europe and Africa, the link between the Latin West and the Greek East. Sicily’s strategic location has tempted Roman emperors, French princes, and Spanish kings. The subsequent struggles to conquer and keep it have played crucial roles in the rise and fall of the world’s most powerful dynasties. Yet Sicily has often been little more than a footnote in books about other empires. John Julius Norwich’s engrossing narrative is the first to knit together all of the colorful strands of Sicilian history into a single comprehensive study. Here is a vivid, erudite, page-turning chronicle of an island and the remarkable kings, queens, and tyrants who fought to rule it. From its beginnings as a Greek city-state to its emergence as a multicultural trading hub during the Crusades, from the rebellion against Italian unification to the rise of the Mafia, the story of Sicily is rich with extraordinary moments and dramatic characters. Writing with his customary deftness and humor, Norwich outlines the surprising influence Sicily has had on world history—the Romans’ fascination with Greek civilization dates back to their sack of Sicily—and tells the story of one of the world’s most kaleidoscopic cultures in a galvanizing, contemporary way. This volume has been a long time coming—Norwich began to explore Sicily’s colorful history during his first visit to the island in the early 1960s. The dean of popular historians leads his readers through the millennia with the steady narrative hand of a master teacher or the world’s most learned tour guide. Like the island itself, Sicily is a book brimming with bold flavors that begs to be revisited again and again. Praise for Sicily “Suavely readable . . . The very model of a popular historian, [Norwich] writes to give pleasure to the common reader. And what pleasure it is.”—The Wall Street Journal “Entertaining on every page . . . There is something ancient and sorrowful in Sicily, ‘some dark, brooding quality,’ just as captivating as its spellbinding history or its beautiful and varied landscapes, from beaches to lemon groves, pine forests to volcanoes. . . . The most amiable and freewheeling of guides, Norwich will always find time for the amusing anecdote.”—The Sunday Times “Utterly engrossing . . . written with passion about the art and architecture of this magical island, filled with gossipy tidbits and sweeping historical theories.”—The Daily Beast “Dazzling . . . Norwich is an elegantly graceful and entertaining storyteller.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch “Charming . . . richly nuanced history relayed with enormous fondness.”—Kirkus Reviews “A brisk and always-lively tour.”—Open Letters Monthly “Norwich is deeply in love with Sicily. [His] boundless affection has inspired a determined effort to understand its painful past. The result is impressionistic, as love often is.”—The Times “Norwich sketches personalities vividly. . . . He does the island and the reader a generous service in providing such an amiable introduction.”—The Sunday Telegraph “Norwich tells [Sicily’s] long, sad but fascinating story with sympathy and brio.”—Literary Review
Download or read book Frederick II written by Richard Bressler and published by Westholme Publishing. This book was released on 2015-10-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Frederick II was unusually modern in his sensibilities. Sicily was a cultural melting pot in the thirteenth century and Frederick ended up speaking several languages. He protected Jews and Muslims in his realms and prosecuted Christian heretics throughout his thirty-year reign. He was a polymath with interests ranging from sculpture, architecture, and poetry to mathematics and science in many forms, earning him admiration from his contemporaries who called him Stupor mundi, "Wonder of the World." His lifelong interest in hunting with birds of prey led to the writing of the classic work De Arte Venandi cum Avibus (The Art of Falconry), which is still in print. Based on the latest scholarship and written for the general reader, Frederick II: The Wonder of the World by Richard Bressler provides the complete story of this complex and fascinating man.
Download or read book Four Princes written by John Julius Norwich and published by Open Road + Grove/Atlantic. This book was released on 2017-04-04 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Bad behavior makes for entertaining history” in this bold history of Europe, the Middle East, and the men who ruled them in the early sixteenth century (Kirkus Reviews). John Julius Norwich—“the very model of a popular historian”—is acclaimed for his distinctive ability to weave together a fascinating narrative through vivid detail, colorful anecdotes, and captivating characters. Here, he explores four leaders—Henry VIII, Francis I, Charles V, and Suleiman—who led their countries during the Renaissance (The Wall Street Journal). Francis I of France was the personification of the Renaissance, and a highly influential patron of the arts and education. Henry VIII, who was not expected to inherit the throne but embraced the role with gusto, broke with the Roman Catholic Church and appointed himself head of the Church of England. Charles V was the most powerful man of the time, and unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor. And Suleiman the Magnificent—who stood apart as a Muslim—brought the Ottoman Empire to its apogee of political, military, and economic power. These men collectively shaped the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains. With remarkable erudition, John Julius Norwich offers “an important history, masterfully written,” indelibly depicting four dynamic characters and how their incredible achievements—and obsessions with one another—changed Europe forever (The Washington Times).
Download or read book The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles written by Ella S. Armitage and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
