The Norman Knight Figures of Monreale’s Cloister ©1994 Louis Mendola

Condensed from “English and Italian Legacy of the Norman Knight Figures of Monreale” in The Coat of Arms, journal of The Heraldry Society, London, edited by John P. Brooke-Little, Norroy and Ulster King of Arms; NS Volume X, Number 166, Summer 1994 (ISSN 0010-003X), pages 245-254. About a century after the Bayeux Tapestry was woven, the Norman King of Sicily completed work on the cloister courtyard of the Benedictine Abbey of Monreale, near Palermo. If, as one English scholar of Norman Sicily (Donald Matthew) asserts, “the Norman Kingdom of Sicily has an assured place in the teaching of medieval European history in this country,” the figures of the knights sculpted into the capitals of the cloister’s colonnade are nothing less than essential to a fuller understanding of the early development of both English and Italian heraldry. In a real sense, they serve to complement the Bayeux Tapestry, the two works thus framing the period of a century in which armorial heraldry developed. It is only within the last quarter-century that British historians have completely recognised the connection between the residual Norman cultures of southern Italy (particularly Sicily) and England; most of their Italian counterparts have yet to do so. One wonders why a medieval work the magnitude of Monreale Abbey has not been considered previously for its heraldic implications, or at least photographed for analysis by British heraldists. This may be due, in part, to medieval scholars so rarely being heraldic ones. Our study necessarily commences with a number of preliminary observations which place this work of art into its proper perspective, for no such work is ever entirely isolated from its time, and this one reflects its epoch eloquently. Siculo Norman, Arab and Byzantine Greek artisans completed the cloister court of Monreale Abbey circa 1175, during the reign of King William II of Sicily, in a style that is decidedly Norman with obvious Provençal influences. Other works, such as the mosaics in the cathedral, are Byzantine in design and technique. There are comparatively few Arab elements present, but one notes the motifs of the apse exterior and, in a corner of the courtyard, an Arab fountain. Many other churches in Sicily are indeed Norman-Arab in style. The mosaic icons of the cathedral, completed a few years after the capital relief works, include one of the earliest known representations of Saint Thomas Becket. The Anglo-Norman presence in Sicily was already well-established, many Siculo Norman families having kinsmen in England, their ancestors having taken part in both Conquests — at Messina and then at Hastings. It was probably William’s marriage to an English princess that prompted the veneration of Thomas “of Canterbury” in Sicily. In 1177, prior to the presumed time of completion of the mosaics, William wed the young Joanna (born 1165), a daughter of King Henry II of England. By then, the cloister figures were probably completed. Although it is believed that armorial heraldry was already in use by that time, the twelve Monreale figures do not feature any heraldic insignia. Whilst some Monreale figures depict contemporary events, the wedding of William to Joanna is not featured among them. Either it had not yet taken place, or it was not deemed important enough to warrant inclusion. Was Joanna’s father, in fact, armigerous? If the bride’s father had been depicted at Monreale, would his attributed arms be represented? We can only speculate on these matters. The capitals of the cloister of the Monastery of Saint John of the Hermits, near the Norman Palace in Palermo, are devoid of any decoration comparable to those of Monreale. The most similar examples in Sicily are those of Cefalù Cathedral. Lacking true heraldic devices, the escutcheons rendered at Monreale greatly resemble those appearing in the Bayeux Tapestry circa 1077. This tempts us to question whether they were, in fact, intended as contemporary images. As the figures of the knights at Monreale are primarily decorative, not alluding to particular historical events, and as armour had changed only slightly in a century, we have little choice but to accept them as images of their own time, namely the reign of William II. One of the striking differences between the Bayeux Tapestry and the Monreale figures is that the former is essentially a chronicle whereas the latter are not. If some rudimentary form of heraldry was in use by 1170, one might conclude from its absence at Monreale that it was as yet unknown in Sicily. This seems unlikely because Sicilian society at that time was perhaps the most advanced in Europe — socially, scientifically, artistically. If it were already known in England, somebody in Joanna’s court could be presumed to have known something of armorial heraldry. Assuming the prior completion of the Monreale knight figures (i.e. before the marriage), this would argue an Anglo-Norman introduction of heraldry in Sicily. King William could not reasonably be expected to redesign the recently-completed Monreale escutcheons simply because his distant kinsmen in England had decided to embellish their shields with novel decoration. However, it is also possible that true armorial heraldry did not yet exist in England, either, despite certain evidence traditionally cited to the contrary. It should be remembered that particular insignia, such as the famous lion passant guardant (see the previous chapter), are attributed to the Anglo-Norman kings, with little evidence of actual use by those same sovereigns until the reign of Richard Lionheart. The two armed, standing knights depicted in one capital are typical of those at Monreale, though they are slightly larger than the others. The others are depicted in combat or jousting; one is shown slaying a boar. Apart from all other factors, the Monreale figures indicate that heraldry had yet to develop in Sicily circa 1175. It may have been introduced shortly thereafter. Did true heraldry already exist in Norman England? If so, why did it not exist in Sicily during the same era? Like the Bayeux Tapestry, the Monreale Knight Figures are clues to that discovery.