Social Change in Town and Country in Eleventh-Century Byzantium by James Howard-Johnston;

Author:James Howard-Johnston; [Howard-Johnston, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780192578686
Publisher: OUP Premium
Published: 2020-08-27T00:00:00+00:00

7

New Light on the Society of Byzantine Italy

Ghislaine Noyé

Introduction

Towards the middle of the eleventh century, as the Normans were beginning to assert themselves, Byzantium still had substantial possessions in southern Italy. The traditional view is that, despite several revolts, the Italian provinces were subject to effective Byzantine authority, especially so in the case of Calabria, which was thoroughly Hellenized. However, it is possible to paint an alternative picture of these peripheral provinces, on the basis of a rereading of the written sources, particularly narrative and hagiographic ones, and careful consideration of the archaeological evidence. Stress can be laid rather on the numerous Italian revolts and attempts at secession, due to the change in local society and its relationship to the imperial centre induced (1) by the raids of Muslims, Lombards, and Franks, and (2) by economic growth which started at the end of the tenth century.

While concepts of centre and periphery have been popular with historians, hitherto they have privileged the notion of empire and have viewed the margins from the centre.1 This has been true of thinking about the Byzantine Empire.2 But the perspective can, of course, be inverted. Then we approach the relationship of Italy to the capital from the local level, and start by endeavouring to define the point of view of the provincials. This is the guiding principle which underpinned the work of André Guillou, a pioneer in this respect,3 and of several recent studies.4

In the eleventh century, Byzantium at first appeared to be in a strong position in the south of the peninsula: it dominated or tried to control (1) the theme of Calabria, created in the tenth century alongside the pre-existing theme of Sicily (before its final conquest by the Muslims),5 (2) the theme of Longobardia which had been raised in status to become the Catepanate of Italy,6 and (3) the recently created theme of Lucania.7 Even if the project of carving out a southern ‘Grand Lombardy’—which would have brought the Principalities of Capua-Benevento and Salerno under the authority of the basileus—ended in failure in the late ninth century, the fact remains that after the occupation of Capitanata around 980, Byzantium held more territory in the peninsula than it had since the sixth century.

The three regions of southern Italy, Apulia (Longobardia), Lucania, and Calabria, are physically very different. In Apulia, the landscape is one of vast, flat expanses which are almost uniform. The plain of the Tavoliere—bordered to the west by the hills of the pre-Apennines—is covered mainly by clay. The limestone plateaux of the Murge rise in tiers from the Adriatic, to fall away abruptly to the south-west at the Bradano gap. They reach their lowest point in the Salento peninsula, which is devoted to cereal cultivation. Settlement is concentrated where the water which drains through the karst bedrock collects on tertiary plates.8 Apulia is in general conducive to olive cultivation. The mountain country of Lucania and Calabria is, on the other hand, the realm of forest and animal husbandry. There are also

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