LVI. CHAP. the Grecian fortunes. From this æra we may date the establishment of the Norman power, which soon eclipsed the infant colony of Aversa. Twelve counts 24 were chosen by the popular suffrage; and age, birth, and merit, were the motives of their choice. The tributes of their peculiar districts were appropriated to their use; and each count erected a fortress in the midst of his lands, and at the head of his vassals. In the centre of the province, the common habitation of Melphi was reserved as the metropolis and citadel of the republic; an house and separate quarter was allotted to each of the twelve counts; and the national concerns were regulated by this military senate. The first of his peers, their president and general, was entitled count of Apulia; and this dignity was conferred on William of the iron arm, who, in the language of the age, is styled a lion in battle, a lamb in society, and an angel in council.25 The manners of his countrymen are fairly delineated by a contemporary and naCharacter tional historian. 26 "The Normans," says Malaterra, "are a cunning and revengeful people; eloquence and dissimu"lation appear to be their hereditary qualities: they can stoop of the Normans. “ to flatter; but unless they are curbed by the restraint of "law, they indulge the licentiousness of nature and passion. "Their princes affect the praise of popular munificence; the people observe the medium, or rather blend the extremes, "of avarice and prodigality; and, in their eager thirst of 24 Omnes conveniunt et bis sex nobiliores Quos genus et gravitas morum decorabat et ætas, Singula proponunt loca quæ contingere sorte And after speaking of Melphi, William Appulus adds, Pro numero comitum bis sex statuere plateas Atque domus comitum totidem fabricantur in urbe. Leo Ostiensis (1. ii. c. 67.) enumerates the divisions of the Apulian cities, which it is needless to repeat. 25 Gulielm. Appulus, 1. ii. c. 12. according to the reference of Giannone (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. p. 31), which I cannot verify in the original. The Apulian praises indeed his validas vires, probitas antni, and vivida virtus: and declares, that had he lived, no poet could have equaled his merits (1. i. p. 258. 1. ii. p. 259). He was bewailed by the Normans, quippe qui tanti consilij virum (says Malaterra, I. i. c. 12. p. 552.) tam armis strenuum, tam sibi munificum, affabilem, morigeratum ulterius se habere diffidebant. 26 The gens astutissima, injuriarum ultrix . . . . adulari sciens . . . . eloquentiis inserviens, of Malaterra (1. i. c. 3. p. 550), are expressive of the popular and proverbial character of the Normans. LVI. “wealth and dominion, they despise whatever they possess, CHAP. " and hope whatever they desire. Arms and horses, the "luxury of dress, the exercises of hunting and hawking,27 "are the delight of the Normans; but on pressing occasions they can endure with incredible patience the inclemency "of every climate, and the toil and abstinence of a military "life.”28 The Normans of Apulia were seated on the verge of the Oppression of Apulia. two empires; and, according to the policy of the hour, they A. D. accepted the investiture of their lands from the sovereigns 1046, &c. of Germany or Constantinople. But the firmest title of these adventurers was the right of conquest: they neither loved nor trusted; they were neither trusted nor beloved: the contempt of the princes was mixed with fear, and the fear of the natives was mingled with hatred and resentment.... Every object of desire, an horse, a woman, a garden, tempted and gratified the rapaciousness of the strangers ;29 and the avarice of their chiefs was only coloured by the more specious names of ambition and glory. The twelve counts were sometimes joined in a league of injustice: in their domestic quarrels they disputed the spoils of the people: the virtues of William were buried in his grave; and Drogo, his brother and successor was better qualified to lead the valour, than to restrain the violence, of his peers. Under the reign of Constantine Monomachus, the policy, rather than benevolence, of the Byzantine court attempted to relieve Italy from this adherent mischief, more grievous than a flight of Barbarians;30 and Argyrus, the son of Melo, was invested for this purpose with the most lofty titles 31 and 31 27 The hunting and hawking more properly belong to the descendants of the Norwegian sailors; though they might import from Norway and Iceland the finest casts of falcons. 28 We may compare this portrait with that of William of Malmsbury (de Gestis Anglorum, l. iii. p. 101, 102), who appreciates, like a philosophic historian, the vices and virtues of the Saxons and Normans. England was assuredly a gainer by the conquest. 29 The biographer of St. Leo IX. pours his holy venom on the Normans. Videns indisciplinatam et alienam gentem Normannorum, crudeli et inauditâ rabie et plusquam Paganâ impietate adversus ecclesias Dei insurgere, passim Christianos trucidare, &c. (Wibert, c. 6.) The honest Apulian (1. ii. p. 259.) says calmly of their accuser, Veris commiscens fallacia. 30 The policy of the Greeks, revolt of Maniaces, &c. must be collected from Cedrenus (tom. ii. p. 757,758), William Apulus (1. i. p 257, 258. 1. ii. p. 259), and the two Chronicles of Bari, by Lupus Protospata (Muratori, Script. Ital. tom. v. p. 42, 43, 44), and an anonymous writer (An iquirat. Italiæ medii Ævi, tom. i. p. 31...35). This last is a fragment of some value. 31 Argyrus received, says the anonymous Chronicle of Bari, imperial let LVI. the pope and the two em ...1054. CHAP. the most ample commission. The memory of his father might recommend him to the Normans; and he had already engaged their voluntary service to quell the revolt of Maniaces, and to avenge their own and the public injury. It was the design of Constantine to transplant this warlike colony from the Italian provinces to the Persian war; and the son of Milo distributed among the chiefs the gold and manufactures of Greece, as the first fruits of the Imperial bounty. But his arts were baffled by the sense and spirit of the conquerors of Apulia: his gifts, or at least his proposals, were rejected; and they unanimously refused to relinquish their possessions and their hopes for the distant prosLeague of pect of Asiatic fortune. of Asiatic fortune. After the means of persuasion had failed, Argyrus resolved to compel or to destroy; the Latin powers were solicited against the common enemy; pires, A. D. 1049 and an offensive alliance was formed of the pope and the two emperors of the East and West. The throne of St. Peter was occupied by Leo the ninth, a simple saint,32 of a temper most apt to deceive himself and the world, and whose venerable character would consecrate with the name of piety, the measures least compatible with the practice of religion. His humanity was affected by the complaints, perhaps the calumnies, of an injured people: the impious Normans had interrupted the payment of tithes; and the temporal sword might be lawfully unsheathed against the sacrilegious robbers, who were deaf to the censures of the church. As a German of noble birth and royal kindred, Leo had free access to the court and confidence of the emperor Henry the third; and in search of arms and allies, his ardent zeal transported him from Apulia to Saxony, from the Elbe to the Tiber. During these hostile preparations, Argyrus indulged himself in the use of secret and guilty weapons: a crowd of Normans became the victims of public or private revenge; and the valiant Drogo was murdered in a church. A. D. 1051. But his ters, Federatûs et Patriciatûs, et Catapani et Vestatûs. In his Annals, Muratori (tom. viii. p. 426.) very properly reads, or interprets, Sevestatus, the title of Sebastos or Augustus. But in his Antiquities, he was taught by Ducange to make it a palatine office, master of the wardrobe. 32 A life of St. Leo IX. deeply tinged with the passions and prejudices of the age, has been composed by Wibert, printed at Paris, 1615, in octavo, and since inserted in the Collections of the Bollandists, of Mabillon, and of Muratori, The public and private history of that pope is diligently treated by M. de St. Marc (Abregé, tom. ii. p. 140...210. and p. 25...95. 2d column.) LVI. spirit survived in his brother Humphrey, the third count of CHAP. Apulia. The assassins were chastised; and the son of Melo, overthrown and wounded, was driven from the field to hide his shame behind the walls of Bari, and to await the tardy succour of his allies. Leo IX. A. D. 1053. But the power of Constantine was distracted by a Turk- Expedition ish war; the mind of Henry was feeble and irresolute; and of pope the pope, instead of repassing the Alps with a German army, against the was accompanied only by a guard of seven hundred Swa- Normans, bians and some volunteers of Lorraine. In his long progress from Mantua to Beneventum, a vile and promiscuous multitude of Italians was enlisted under the holy standard:3 the priest and the robber slept in the same tent; the pikes and crosses were intermingled in the front; and the martial saint repeated the lessons of his youth in the order of march, of encampment, and of combat. The Normans of Apulia could muster in the field no more than three thousand horse, with an handful of infantry: the defection of the natives. intercepted their provisions and retreat; and their spirit, incapable of fear, was chilled for a moment by superstitious awe. On the hostile approach of Leo, they knelt without disgrace or reluctance before their spiritual father. But the pope was inexorable; his lofty Germans affected to deride. the diminutive stature of their adversaries; and the Normans were informed that death or exile was their only alternative. Flight they disdained, and, as many of them had been three days without tasting food, they embraced the assurance of a more easy and honourable death. They climbed the hill of Civitella, descended into the plain, and charged in three divisions the army of the pope. On the left, and in the centre, Richard count of Aversa, and Ro- His defeat bert the famous Guiscard, attacked, broke, routed, and purand captivity, June sued the Italian multitudes, who fought without discipline 18. and fled without shame. A harder trial was reserved for the valour of count Humphrey, who led the cavalry of the right wing. The Germans have been described as un 33 See the expedition of Leo IX. against the Normans. See William Appulus (1. ii. p. 259...261.) and Jeffrey Malaterra (1. i. c. 13, 14, 15. p. 253). They are impartial, as the national, is counterbalanced by the clerical, prejudice. 34 Teutonici quia cæsaries et forma decoros Corpora LVI. CHAP. skilful in the management of the horse and lance: but on foot they formed a strong and impenetrable phalanx; and neither man, nor steed, nor armour, could resist the weight of their long and two handed swords. After a severe conflict, they were encompassed by the squadrons returning from the pursuit; and died in their ranks with the esteem of their foes, and the satisfaction of revenge. The gates of Civitella were shut against the flying pope, and he was overtaken by the pious conquerors, who kissed his feet to implore his blessing and the absolution of their sinful victory. The soldiers beheld in their enemy and captive, the vicar of Christ; and, though we may suppose the policy of the chiefs, it is probable that they were infected by the popular superstition. In the calm of retirement, the wellmeaning pope deplored the effusion of Christian blood, which must be imputed to his account: he felt, that he had been the author of sin and scandal: and as his undertaking had failed, the indecency of his military character was universally condemned.35 With these dispositions, he listened to the offers of a beneficial treaty; deserted an alliance which he had preached as the cause of God; and ratified the past Origin of and future conquests of the Normans. By whatever hands the papal they had been usurped, the provinces of Apulia and Calabria to the Nor- were a part of the donation of Constantine and the patrimo investiture mans. ny of St. Peter: the grant and the acceptance confirmed the mutual claims of the pontiff and the adventurers. They promised to support each other with spiritual and temporal arms; a tribute or quit-rent of twelvepence was afterwards stipulated for every plough-land: and since this memorable transaction, the kingdom of Naples has remained above se ven hundred years a fief of the Holy See.38 Corpora derident Normannica quæ breviora Esse videbantur. The verses of the Apulian are commonly in this strain, though he heats himself a little in the battle. Two of his similies from hawking and sorcery are descriptive of manners. 35 Several respectable censures or complaints are produced by M. de St. Marc (tom. ii. p. 200...204). As Peter Damianus, the oracle of the times, had denied the popes the right of making war, the hermit (lugens eremi incola) is arraigned by the cardinal, and Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 1053, No. 10...17.) most strenuously asserts the two swords of St. Peter. 36 The origin and nature of the papal investitures are ably discussed by Giannone (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. ii. p. 37...49. 57...66.) as a lawyer and antiquarian. Yet he vainly strives to reconcile the duties of patriot and catholic, adopts an empty distinction of "Ecclesia Romana non dedit sed accepit," and shrinks from an honest but dangerous confession of the truth. |