Writing History in Times of Political Upheaval: Contexts of Contemporary Historiography in Norman and Staufen Southern Italy (12th century)

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Modern historical research on the history of Southern Italy in the Twelfth Century tends to focus on two major political events: the creation of the Norman kingdom of Sicily in 1130 and its conquest by Emperor Henry VI in 1194. According to the master narrative, the first upheaval led to the division of Italy with the communes in the north and the Regno in the south. After the conquest of the latter in 1190/94, the Mezzogiorno became a centre of the empire. Modern interpretations of contemporary Southern Italian chronicles largely follow this master narrative, reading them as propaganda of the Norman and Staufen courts or communal historiography. This project aims to set a counterpoint to the master narrative by focusing on the specific local contexts of the chronicles and their pragmatic function. By identifying the social groups whose perspectives and interests are reflected in the chronicles, the texts and their causae scribendi may be better understood in their specific social contexts, thus enabling a new approach to the history of these two fundamental political upheavals in the history of Southern Italy.