"Promoting the newcomer: Myths, Stereotypes and Reality in the Norman Expansion in Italy in the XIth century", Porphyra 24 (2015), pp. 38-48 By Georgios Theotokis

https://www.academia.edu/24194717/_Promoting_the_newcomer_Myths_Stereotypes_and_Reality_in_the_Norman_Expansion_in_Italy_in_the_XIth_century_Porphyra_24_2015_pp_38_48?nav_from=764f123f-d988-4236-840b-a614fcab6655 This paper is primarily a comparative study and will attempt to give answers to a series of questions regarding the image of the Normans as elite warriors. My focus will be the Norman expansion in the south of Italy and I will compare the image of the Norman soldier in different parts of the European continent, namely Italy, Normandy, and England. What role did the Norman “warlike nature”, energy (strenuitas), courage (corage), boldness (hardiesce), and valour (vaillantize) play in shaping the identity of these newcomers in Italy? I will also compare this with the figure of the Normans on the other side of the Adriatic and I will examine the ways in which Byzantine authors tried to build a comprehensive image of the “Frankish” military tactics and of the “Frankish” soldier as an individual warrior. Was the “Norman invincibility” really a myth? ...