Urban Society and Communal Independence in Twelfth-Century Southern Italy
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Urban society and communal independence in Twelfth-Century Southern Italy Paul Oldfield Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD. The University of Leeds The School of History September 2006 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks for the help of so many different people, without which there would simply have been no thesis. The funding of the AHRC (formerly AHRB) and the support of the School of History at the University of Leeds made this research possible in the first place. I am grateful too for the general support, and advice on reading and sources, provided by Dr. A. J. Metcalfe, Dr. P. Skinner, Professor E. Van Houts, and Donald Matthew. Thanks also to Professor J-M. Martin, of the Ecole Francoise de Rome, for his continual eagerness to offer guidance and to discuss the subject. A particularly large thanks to Mr. I. S. Moxon, of the School of History at the University of Leeds, for innumerable afternoons spent pouring over troublesome Latin, for reading drafts, and for just chatting! Last but not least, I am hugely indebted to the support, understanding and endless efforts of my supervisor Professor G. A. Loud. His knowledge and energy for the subject has been infectious, and his generosity in offering me numerous personal translations of key narrative and documentary sources (many of which are used within) allowed this research to take shape and will never be forgotten. My family and friends have been so important throughout these three years. They have all offered, in their own unique ways (!), enormous encouragement, time, laughter, drinks, and other welcome distractions that have maintained my sanity. Finally and above all, I would like to dedicate this work to my wife. I have been so lucky to write this thesis with her arms around me every step of the way. Having spent three years searching for the right words to say the right things in my work, now I can not find even one suitable enough to describe how much her love, belief and support has meant to me. I will be forever touched by you and grateful for everything. Abstract This study offers a broad exploration of urban society in twelfth-century mainland Southern Italy. It does so primarily through a comparative and in depth analysis of around eight cities of varying size, function and tradition, supported by relevant material from a handful of other urban centres. The findings are based on detailed investigation of the vast charter material combined with a wide range of other important narrative and literary sources. The aim of the study is essentially divided into two main themes. Firstly, to investigate the development of urban government throughout this critical period for the South, above all by ascertaining what role the local community played in its own government and to uncover any continuities and discontinuities. Secondly, to look below the level of political organization and explore the social ordering and economic activities of the urban community and the interaction which took place between its varied constituent groups. Also within this sphere, the aim is to analyze contact between the urban community and the Church and to trace the development of civic identity. It will be argued that, although Southern Italy was subject to a number of regime changes, civil wars and rebellions during the twelfth-century, a notable range of continuities can be traced within the cities both at a political, social and economic level throughout the period. Such a finding should encourage further revision of the traditional interpretation that the creation of a unified 'Norman' kingdom of Sicily in 1130 marked a drastic and deleterious watershed in all aspects of urban development. It suggests that the cities were still able to enjoy a level of autonomy within the monarchy in those affairs that were most important to their inhabitants. Moreover by emphasizing the fluidity of the social structures and groups found in these cities, alongside the powerful role of both the Church and civic consciousness, this study underlines the multi-layered complexity of the urban communities of Southern Italy. Contents Abbreviations Introduction 2 Part I: Urban government and communal independence Chapter 1: Before 1085: the arrival of the 'Normans' 17 Chapter 2: The Fragmentation of power (1085-1127) 29 Chapter 3: Civil war and 'unification' (1127-1139) 59 Chapter 4: The 'Norman' kingdom of Sicily (1139-1189) 90 Chapter 5: From the 'Normans' to the Hohenstaufen (1189-1220) 137 Part II: Urban society: community, identity and wealth Chapter 6: Population size, cultural identity and citizenship 18] Chapter 7: The Community 203 Chapter 8: The Church, bishop and civic identity 251 Chapter 9: The Urban economy 271 Conclusion: 289 Appendix: 292 Map of Southern Italy: 298 Bibliography: 299 1 Abbreviations B!SME Bulletino dell'Istituto Storico Italiano per if Medio Evo. CDB! Le Pergamene del duomo di Bari (952-1264), ed. G. B. Nitto de Rossi and F. Nitti di Vito, Codice Diplomatico Barese i (Bari, 1867). CDBN [Le] Pergamene di S. Nicola di Bari. Periodo Greco (939-1071), ed. F. Nitti di Vito Codice Diplomatico Barese iv (Bari, 1900). CDBV Le Pergamene di S. Nicola di Bari. Periodo Normanno (1075-1194), ed. F. Nitti di Vito, Codice Diplomatico Barese v (Bari, 1902). CDBV! Le Pergamene di S. Nicola di Bari. Periodo Svevo (1195-1266), ed. F. Nitti di Vito, Codice Diplomatico Barese vi (Bari, 1906). CDNA Codice Diplomatico Normanno di Aversa, ed. A. Gallo (Naples, 1926). CDS Codice Diplomatico Salernitano del Secolo XIII, vol. 1 (1201-1281), ed. C. Carucci (Subiaco, 1931). CDSA Codice Diplomatico Svevo di Aversa [parte prima], ed. C. Salvati (Naples, 1980). FSI Fonti per la storia d'Italia. MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica. PL Patrologia Latina, 221 vols. ed. J. P. Migne, (Paris, 1844-64). PBSR Papers of the British School at Rome. QF Quellen und Forschungen aus Italienischen archiven und Bibliotheken. RIS Rerum Italicarum Scriptores. 2 Urban society and communal independence in Twelfth-Century Southern Italy Introduction At first glance the fractious political history of medieval Southern Italy, from the Abruzzi to Sicily, makes a study of the region's urban societies a problematic endeavour. From the mid-eleventh to the early thirteenth century the political map of mainland Southern Italy was in an almost unabated flux. A snapshot of the region in 1050 would see the zones of Apulia and Calabria under the distant rule of the Byzantine Emperor, Lombard principalities centred on Benevento, Capua and Salerno and some small, but independent, duchies on the Tyrennhian coast at Amalfi, Gaeta and Naples. In the backdrop were bands of Norman adventurers, who had been slowly infiltrating into the region for the previous half-century. Initially appearing around 1000 as a mixture of pilgrims and mercenaries, these Normans soon settled and, from bases such as Aversa and Melfi, placed increasing pressure on the existing governing authorities. By 1100 the Normans had transformed the South Italian political landscape immeasurably. Byzantine rule was no more and the Lombard principalities were without their Lombard princes. Apulia, Calabria (along with the island of Sicily which was previously under Muslim rule), the duchy of Amalfi and the principality of Salerno were controlled by Norman dukes of the Hauteville dynasty. Capua was still governed by a prince, but one from the Norman Quarrel kin-group, while Benevento had placed itself under papal rule. Naples retained a precarious independence under its ancient ducal rulers. In 1139, after twelve years of conflict, all of these lands, except for Benevento, were united, with Sicily, into one central kingdom. The architect of this new realm was Roger II of Sicily, a 'scion' of the Hauteville lineage. I Roger's direct descendants ruled the kingdom until 1189 when conflict over the succession erupted. The contest for the throne was finally settled in 1194 with the successful invasion of the German Emperor Henry VI who took the crown. But the death of Henry in 1197 and that of his Sicilian wife Constance in 1198 left a three year old son, Frederick II, and a huge political vacuum. The resultant anarchy I Alexandri Telesini abbatis Ystoria Rogerii Regis Sicilie Calabrie atque Apulie, ed. L. De Nava, FS/112 (Rome, 1991) [henceforth Alex. Tel.] BkI. I p. 6. 3 in the region was not fully quelled until after Frederick's return to Southern Italy in 1220. Despite the manifest instability, Southern Italy's urban centres stand out as a notable constant. While political boundaries moved and regimes fell the city and its community remained. Civic life did not merely subsist though and particularly in the twelfth century it evolved and thrived. This dichotomy of political volatility and urban evolution was found throughout Europe. However, in its European, and even Italian context, Southern Italy (often termed the Mezzogiorno) has received limited attention, both in broad terms and especially in relation to the study of its urban society. Even Nicholas' immense work, The Growth of the Medieval City, barely refers to the southern part of the Italian peninsula.' This in a work that covers, at a number of levels, a phenomenal range of European cities from Spain to the Baltic and from Britain to the Balkans. There is, of course, a relative plethora of studies on Italian urban life - though in most cases Rome is as far south as the coverage is taken.' The concentration on the centre and north of the peninsula is understandable not only because of the vast source material available.