“ LVI. complaint. "Is it thus," she cried, "ye magnanimous he- CHAP. that roes, ye wage war against women, against women "who have never injured ye, and whose only arms are the "distaff and the loom?" Theobald denied the charge, and protested, that, since the Amazons, he had never heard of a female war. "And how," she furiously exclaimed, "can you attack us more directly, how can you wound us in a (6 more vital part, than by robbing our husbands of what we "most dearly cherish, the source of our joys, and the hope "of our posterity? The plunder of our flocks and herds I "have endured without a murmur, but this fatal injury, this "irreparable loss, subdues my patience, and calls aloud on "the justice of heaven and earth." A general laugh applauded her eloquence; the savage Franks inaccessible to pity, were moved by her ridiculous, yet rational, despair; and with the deliverance of the captives, she obtained the restitution of her effects. As she returned in triumph to the castle, she was overtaken by a messenger, to inquire, in the name of Theobald, what punishment should be inflicted on her husband, were he again taken in arms? "Should such," she answered without hesitation, " be his guilt and misfortune, "he has eyes, and a nose, and hands and feet. These are "his own, and these he may deserve to forfeit by his per"sonal offences. But let my lord be pleased to spare what "his little handmaid presumes to claim as her peculiar and "lawful property."14 the Nor mans in The establishment of the Normans in the kingdoms of Origin of Naples and Sicily," is an event most romantic in its origin, and in its consequences most important both to Italy and Italy, the Eastern empire. The broken provinces of the Greeks, Lombards, and Saracens, were exposed to every invader, and every sea and land were invaded by the adventurous 14 Liutprand, Hist. 1. iv. c. iv. in the Rerum Italic. Script. tom. i. pars i. p. 453, 454. Should the licentiousness of the tale be questioned, I may exclaim, with poor Sterne, that it is hard if I may not transcribe with caution, what a bishop could write without scruple! What if I had translated, ut viris certetis testiculos amputare, in quibus nostri corporis refocillatio, &c.? 15 The original monuments of the Normans in Italy are collected in the vth volume of Muratori, and among these we may distinguish the poem of William Appulus (p. 245...278), and the history of Galfridus (Jeffrey) Malaterra (p. 537...607). Both were natives of France, but they wrote on the spot, in the age of the first conquerors (before A, D. 1100), and with the spirit of freemen. It is needless to recapitulate the compilers and critics of Italian history, Sigonius, Baronius, Pagi, Gannone, Muratori, St. Marc, &c. whom I have always consulted, and never copied. A. D. 1016. LVI. CHAP. spirit of the Scandinavian pirates. After a long indulgence of rapine and slaughter, a fair and ample territory was accepted, occupied, and named, by the Normans of France; they renounced their gods for the God of the Christians ;16 and the dukes of Normandy acknowledged, themselves the vassals of the successors of Charlemagne and Capet. The savage fierceness which they had brought from the snowy mountains of Noyway, was refined, without being corrupted, in a warmer climate; the companions of Rollo insensibly mingled with the natives; they imbibed the manners, language, and gallantry, of the French nation; and, in a martial age, the Normans might claim the palm of valour and glorious achievements. Of the fashionable superstitions, they embraced with ardour the pilgrimages of Rome, Italy, and the Holy Land. In this active devotion, their minds and bodies were invigorated by exercise: danger was the incentive, novelty the recompense: and the prospect of the world was decorated by wonder, credulity, and ambitious hope. They confederated for their mutual defence; and the robbers of the Alps, who had been allured by the garb of a pilgrim, were often chastised by the arm of a warrior. In one of these pious visits to the cavern of mount Garganus in Apulia, which had been sanctified by the apparition of the archangel Michael,'s they were accosted by a stranger in the Greek habit, but who soon revealed himself as a rebel, a fugitive, and a mortal foe of the Greek empire. His name was Melo; a noble citizen of Bari, who, after an 16 Some of the first converts were baptised ten or twelve times, for the sake of the white garment usually given at this ceremony. At the funeral of Rollo, the gifts to monasteries for the repose of his soul, were accompanied by a sacrifice of one hundred captives. But in a generation or two, the national change was pure and general. 17 The Danish language was still spoken by the Normans of Bayeux on the sea-coast, at a time (A. D. 940), when it was already forgotten at Rouen, in the court and capital. Quem (Richard I.) confestim pater Baiocas mittens Botoni militiæ suæ principi nutriendem tradidit, ut ibi lingua eruditus Danica suis exterisque hominibus sciret aperte dare responsa (Willielm. Gemeticensis de Ducibus Normanis, 1. iii. c. 8. p. 623. edit. Camden). Of the vernacular and favourite idiom of William the conqueror (A. D. 1035), Selden (Opera. tom. ii p. 1640...1656), has given a specimen obsolete and obscure even to antiquarians and lawyers. 18 See Leandro Alberti (Descrizione d'Italia, p. 250), and Baronius (A. D. 493, No. 43). If the archangel inherited the temple and oracle, perhaps the cavern, of old Calchas the soothsayer (Strab. Geograph. 1. vi. p. 435,436), the Catholics (on this occasion) have surpassed the Greeks in the elegance of their superstition. LVI. unsuccessful revolt, was compelled to seek new allies and CHAP. avengers of his country. The bold appearance of the Normans revived his hopes and solicited his confidence: they listened to the complaints, and still more to the promises, of the patriot. The assurance of wealth demonstrated the justice of his cause; and they viewed as the inheritance of the brave, the fruitful land which was oppressed by effeminate tyrants. On their return to Normandy, they kindled a spark of enterprise; and a small but intrepid band was freely associated for the deliverance of Apulia. They passed the Alps by separate roads, and in the disguise of pilgrims; but in the neighbourhood of Rome they were saluted by the chief of Bari, who supplied the more indigent with arms and horses, and instantly led them to the field of action. In the first conflict, their valour prevailed; but in the second engagement they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their faces to the enemy. The unfortunate Melo ended his life, a suppliant at the court of Germany: his Norman followers, excluded from their native and their promised land, wandered among the hills and vallies of Italy, and earned their daily subsistence by the sword. To that formidable sword, the princes of Capua, Beneventum, Salerno, and Naples, alternately appealed in their domestic quarrels ; the superior spirit and discipline of the Normans gave victory to the side which they espoused; and their cautious policy observed the balance of power, lest the preponderance of any rival state should render their aid less important and their service less profitable. Their first asylum was a strong camp in the depth of the marshes of Campania; but they were soon endowed by the liberality of the duke of Naples with a more plentiful and permanent seat. Eight Foundamiles from his residence, as a bulwark against Capua, the tion of town of Aversa was built and fortified for their use; and they enjoyed as their own, the corn and fruits, the meadows and groves, of that fertile district. The report of their success attracted every year new swarms of pilgrims and soldiers: the poor were urged by necessity; the rich were excited by hope; and the brave and active spirits of Normandy were impatient of ease and ambitions of renown. The independent standard of Aversa afforded shelter and encouragement Aversa, A. D. 1029. LVI. CHAP. to the outlaws of the province, to every fugitive who had escaped from the injustice or justice of his superiors; and these foreign associates were quickly assimilated in manners and language to the Gallic colony. The first leader of the Normans was count Rainulf; and in the origin of society, pre-eminence of rank is the reward and the proof of superior merit.19 The Nor in Sicily, AD 1038. Since the conquest of Sicily by the Arabs, the Grecian mans serve emperors had been anxious to regain that valuable possession; but their efforts, however strenuous, had been opposed by the distance and the sea. Their costly armaments, after a gleam of success, added new pages of calamity and disgrace to the Byzantine annals: twenty thousand of their best troops were lost in a single expedition; and the victorious Moslems derided the policy of a nation, which entrusted eunuchs not only with the custody of their women but with the command of their men.20 After a reign of two hundred years, the Saracens were ruined by their divisions.21 The emir disclaimed the authority of the king of Tunis; the people rose against the emir; the cities were usurped by the chiefs; each meaner rebel was independent in his village or castle; and the weaker of two rival brothers implored the friendship of the Christians. In every service of danger the Normans were prompt and useful; and five hundred knights, or warriors on horseback, were enrolled by Arduin, the agent and interpreter of the Greeks, under the standard of Maniaces governor of Lombardy. Before their landing, the brothers were reconciled; the union of Sicily and Africa was restored; and the island was guarded to the water's edge. The Normans led the van, and the Arabs of Messina felt the valour of an untried foe. In a second action the emir of Syracuse was unhorsed and transpierced by the iron arm of William of 19 See the first book of William Appulus. His words are applicable to every swarm of Barbarians and freebocters: Si vicinerum quis pernitiosus ad illos And elsewhere, of the native adventurers of Normandy; Pars parat exiguæ vel opes aderant quia nullæ. 20 Liutprand in Legatione, p. 485. Pagi has illustrated this event from the MS. history of the deacon Leo (com. iv. A D. 965, No. 17.....19). 21 See the Arabian Chronicle of Sicily, apud Muratori Script. Rerum Ital. tom. i. p. 253. LVI. Hauteville. In a third engagement his intrepid companions CHAP. discomfited the host of sixty thousand Saracens, and left the Greeks no more than the labour of the pursuit: a splendid victory, but of which the pen of the historian may divide the merit with the lance of the Normans. It is, however, true, that they essentially promoted the success of Maniaces, who reduced thirteen cities and the greater part of Sicily under the obedience of the emperor. But his military fame was sullied by ingratitude and tyranny. In the division of the spoil, the deserts of his brave auxiliaries were forgotten: and neither their avarice nor their pride could brook this injurious treatment. They complained, by the mouth of their interpreter: their complaint was disregarded; their interpreter was scourged; the sufferings were his; the insult and resentment belonged to those whose sentiments he had delivered. Yet they dissembled till they had obtained, or stolen, a safe passage to the Italian continent: their brethren of Aversa sympathised in their indignation, and the province of Apulia was invaded as the forfeit of the debt.22 Above twenty years Their conafter the first emigration, the Normans took the field with quest of Apulia, no more than seven hundred horse and five hundred foot; A. D. 1040 and after the recall of the Byzantine legions 23 from the Si-...1043. cilian war, their numbers are magnified to the amount of threescore thousand men. Their herald proposed the option of battle or retreat; "of battle," was the unanimous cry of the Normans; and one of their stoutest warriors, with a stroke of his fist, felled to the ground the horse of the Greek messenger. He was dismissed with a fresh horse; the insult was concealed from the Imperial troops; but in two successive battles they were more fatally instructed of the prowess of their adversaries. In the plains of Cannæ, the Asiatics fled before the adventurers of France; the duke of Lombardy was made prisoner; the Apulians acquiesced in a new dominion; and the four places of Bari, Otranto, Brundusium, and Tarentum, were alone saved in the shipwreck of 22 Jeffrey Malaterra, who relates the Sicilian war, and the conquest of Apulia (1. i. c. 7, 8, 9. 19). The same events are described by Cedrenus (tom. ii. p. 741...743 755, 756.) and Zonaras (tom. ii. p. 237, 238); and the Greeks are so hardened to disgrace, that their narratives are impartial enough. 23 Cedrenus specifies the rayna of the Obsequiem (Phrygia), and the μepos of the Thracesians (Lydia; consult Constantine de Thematibus, i. 3, 4. with Delisle's map); and afterwards names the Pisidians and Lycaonians, with the fœderati. |