Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries.
Graham A. Loud|Barbara M. Kreutz
This study explores the land, political structures and cultures of southern Italy in two centuries before Norman conquests. was a pan-Mediterranean society, where Roman past Lombard-Germanic culture met Islamic civilization, creating rich unusual mix. Although earlier scholarship has divided area into distinct Lombard spheres, Kreutz contends that this model is inadequate. While there nominal dominance specific cities or regions, argues actual control often weak illusory. A supposedly Byzantine city like Amalfi likely to have closer ties principality Salerno than either had any outside power. Moreover, shows sociocultural trends washing across with little regard for boundaries. Drawing on wide range sources, places particular emphasis independent states Benevento, Capua Salerno, Naples Amalfi. The text demonstrates how economic developments within these - throughout would later prove significant regime.
The American Historical Review