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9. Epilogue: The Eleventh Century andMter BY THE LAST QUARTER ofthe eleventh century the Normans held virtually all of southern Italy. It had happened very quickly; and since Sicily was speedily taken too, and the Crusades provided additional distraction, it is no wonder that few, then or now, have looked back. Pre-Norman southern Italy seemed forgotten in the rush ofevents. Yet that is where it had all begun. Fully to understand the variegated splendors of the Norman Regno and the comparative ease with which the Normans would exercise control over the mainland, a backward glance is essential. The southern Italy that has been the subject ofthis study did leave a mark on what was to come, and we need to assess this legacy. First, however, we must take note of two developments that affected what was passed on. One relates to Byzantium's eleventh-century campaign . The second is the fate of the autonomous states whose history has been traced here through the tenth century. The Byzantine Overlay Byzantium's new effort to dominate southern Italy more or less coincided with the arrival of the first Normans, early in the eleventh century. The latter soon became key players-and ultimately the decisive factor. For the first few decades, however, when the Byzantine forces were led by the great Byzantine strategist Boioannes and the Normans simply marketed their services to the highest bidder (even if Byzantine), Byzantium's effort looked very likely to succeed. Jules Gay placed Byzantine power in southern Italy at its apogee in the last years ofBasil II (1020-25) and he saw its decline commencing only in the 104-0S, when combined Lombard-Norman armies began to win major battles.l Even then the decline was gradual; the end did not actually come until 1071, a generation later, when Bari fell to a Norman force led by Robert Guiscard. For our purposes, it is particularly important to note the appalling Epilogue: The Eleventh Century and After lSI violence of this eleventh-century struggle-and its total disruption of the "Beneventan" region. There, the Byzantine thrust was not the sole cause of disruption; German emperors, too, were now steadily making inroads in the south, installing their own abbots at Monte Cassino and harassing all of the Campanian states within reach. Forgetting cohesion, each Campanian ruler reacted differently, whether to interventions by popes and German emperors or to anti-Byzantine rebellions by the Lombards living in Apulia. Meanwhile, Norman mercenaries fanned out across southern Italy, now supporting Lombards against Byzantines, now Byzantines against Lombards , now Naples against Capua or vice versa. It was all reminiscent ofthe ninth century with its Arab mercenaries; but this was far more brutal and much more widely destructive.2 Only Amalfi remained mostly detached. And yet, despite the almost continuous violence ofthis period, it was now that Byzantium began truly to leave marks on the landscape and culture ofsouthern Italy-a sign ofhow close Byzantium came to winning the contest. In the tenth century, there had been no flowering ofByzantine culture in southern Italy; as we have seen, Byzantium then had been mostly represented by garrisons, military governors, and the ascetic anchorite saints preaching disdain for things material. In the eleventh century, however, Monte Cassino manuscripts began to reflect contemporary Byzantine style in their illustrations. And in the Byzantine-held regions the developments were striking. The painted Byzantine cave churches ofApulia probably date to the eleventh century, and also the most impressive Byzantine church still standing in southern Italy, at Stilo in Calabria.3 In Calabria, too, entire new towns and cities were created.4 Furthermore, Vera von Falkenhausen has noted a marked increase in Greek signatures to Apulian charters in the eleventh century.5 This was especially noteworthy, for until then the population of Apulia had remained overwhelmingly Lombard. It seems clear that, in the eleventh century, Byzantium not only poured in more soldiers but also new settlers, and aimed not merely at subduing its portion of southern Italy but also rendering it more genuinely Byzantine. The end result was that, just as Byzantium was about to lose the whole ofsouthern Italy, much ofit did at last become "Byzantinesque"-thereby encouraging many scholars to assume , wrongly, a continuous Byzantine flavor over centuries. The Fate ofthe Autonomous States In the tumultuous eleventh century, each principality and duchy fared differently. But in at least one case the end ofautonomy came quickly. The 152 Chapter 9 city of Benevento, rich in memories of Arichis and...

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