Mercenaries to Conquerors: Norman Warfare in the Eleventh & Twelfth-Century Mediterranean

Paul Brown

tet 2016 · Pen and Sword

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When a band of Norman adventurers arrived in southern Italy to fight in the Lombard insurrections against the Byzantine empire in the early 1000s, few would have predicted that within a generation these men would have seized control of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily. How did they make such extraordinary gains and then consolidate their power? Paul Brown, in this thoroughly researched and absorbing study, seeks to answer these questions and throw light onto the Norman conquests across the Mediterranean. Throughout he focuses on the military side of their progress, as they advanced from mercenaries to conquerors, then crusaders. The story of the campaigns they undertook in Italy, Sicily, the Balkans and the Near East reveals their remarkable talent for war. The dominant role played by a succession of Norman leaders is a key theme of the narrative a line of ambitious and ruthless soldiers that ran from Robert Guiscard and Bohemond to Roger II and Tancred.

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Prior to becoming an independent scholar Dr Paul Brown taught medieval history at the University of New England, Australia for ten years. His research has focused on the cultural, literary and military aspects of relations between the Normans, Lombards and Byzantines in the eleventh century. Pauls work has been published in the Journal of Medieval History, and in a collection of essays on Byzantine history. He has also presented research papers at the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies conference and the International Medieval Congress.