County and Nobility in Norman Italy: Aristocratic Agency in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1130-1189
Publisher
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Date Issued
2020
Author(s)
Type
book
Abstract
Whilst historians often regard the Norman Kingdom of Sicily as centralised and administratively advanced, County and Nobility in Norman Italy counters this traditional interpretation; far from centralised and streamlined, this book reveals how the genesis and social structures of the kingdom were constantly fraught between the forces of royal power and local aristocracy authority. In doing so, Hervin Fernandez Aceves sheds important new light on medieval Italy. This book is the result of thorough research conducted on the vast source material for the history of this fascinating 12th-century world. Starting with the activities of Norman counts and the configuration of the counties, it explores how social control operated in these nodes of regional authority, and argues that the Sicilian monarchy relied on the counties (and the counts’ authority) to keep the realm united and exercise control. © Hervin Fernández-Aceves 2020.
License
Acceso Restringido.
URL License
How to cite
Fernández-Aceves, H. (2020). County and Nobility in Norman Italy: Aristocratic Agency in the Kingdom of Sicily, 1130–1189. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Retrieved March 5, 2026, from http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350138322
Table of contents
Introduction -- 1. The counts of Norman Italy before Roger II -- 2. The new kingdom’s nobility and the creation of the south Italian counties -- 3. Leadership and opposition under the count of Loritello -- 4. Coalition and survival of the nobility -- 5. New spheres of comital action under Margaret’s regency -- 6. Consolidated counties during the reign of William II -- 7. Beyond the county -- Conclusions.